In the ad, Monzel had a black bar put over Torn's eyes before using the picture. The goal, he said, was to show a generic criminal. But someone still was able to identify the actor. Monzel said he pulled the ad from local television and cable as soon as he was told Torn had been identified. ...

"It was briefly put out there," he said of the photo in the campaign ad. "We had used a mug-shot image and altered it so you couldn't really tell who it was."

Alas, Torn's camp fired off a letter demanding an apology that would cite, among other things, his years of military service and numerous acting awards. Months later, Monzel and Torn reached an accord resulting in Tuesday's contrite ad in the Cincinnati Enquirer: "That commercial discussed, in part, my efforts to get sexual predators off the streets. ... I wish to correct any implication that Mr. Torn has ever had any involvement in the conduct discussed in the commercial, and I apologize to Mr. Torn for any distress this may have caused him." However, we also hear Monzel privately declined to apologize for using Torn's likeness in his crusade to get hammer-wielding, Norman Mailer-biting character actors off the streets, so don't think for a second that this is over.

• Monzel apologizes for TV ad [Cincinnati Enquirer]
• TSG Mug Shot: Rip Torn [The Smoking Gun]

A court clerk told The Journal News on Tuesday that Torn had decided on the nonjury trial, scheduled for June.

The actor was initially represented by Adam Levy of Carmel, who is running for Putnam County district attorney and is the son of television's "Judge Judy" Scheindlin. But Levy said Torn has hired a new lawyer.

Torn's refusal to cop a guilty plea in the case might stem from a similar incident from 2004, when, despite video evidence showing him slurrily mouthing off to cops, the actor was cleared of all charges. We don't know why he would now chose to drop Judge Judy Jr., who represented him in the previous case. Perhaps it was Levy who recused himself, concerned that his signature "he's the boss, applesauce!" defense might not be enough to earn another DWI acquittal.

• Actor Rip Torn to Take DWI Case to Trial [ABCNews.com/AP]

· TVGasm has an exclusive! photo! essay! of the upstate New York scene of Rip Torn's DWI arrest, which resulted in one of the greatest celebrity mugshots ever taken.
Kevin Federline's "lack of public self-pity in the face of a lifetime to be spent as a punchline" game is ridiculous.
Paris Hilton wants kids, Britney doesn't seem to want hers anymore—we think there's a two-babies-for-a-bag-of-strawberry-blow exchange waiting to be made here.
The Office's Jenna Fischer's lack of mastery of an "I'm A Star In Public" Voice does nothing to diminish our love. We're glad she got more water, that's always an excellent choice, but she should ditch the husband. We're just sayin'.
· Gridskipper's Nazi Santa Tracker didn't have to look past Monday night's Studio 60 for its first Hitler Claus sighting.

Truth be told, the details of Rip Torn's DWI arrest this afternoon in upstate New York don't really interest us, as much as we admire the actor for getting liquored up in the middle of the day. His mugshot, however, is breathtaking, a combination of vintage Nick Nolte dishevelment and Gibsonian insouciance, with a puckishly raised eyebrow that seems to say, "Go ahead and take my picture, sugar tits, but both of us know that I'm gonna beat this rap, just like the last one."

• Actor Rip Torn Arrested For DWI In Westchester [CBS/AP]