"In a move that might spare him jail time, Detroit Piston Ben Wallace waived his right to a district court exam on drunken driving and weapons offenses Monday, choosing instead to send the matter to Oakland County Circuit Court.

In waiving his right to a preliminary exam before 48th District Judge Kimberly Small, Wallace may avoid certain time behind bars. Small has a reputation for sentencing first-time drunken drivers to jail.

Wallace's next court date is an Oct. 11 arraignment before Circuit Judge Shalina Kumar, which might be done by mail, his attorney Steven Fishman told reporters outside court Monday. Asked to predict what type of sentence — if any — Wallace could ultimately expect, Fishman did not rule out probation."