Australian businessman Ryan Bowman, his head covered by a jacket, has been whisked away from a Beverly Hills court after Los Angeles prosecutors decided against charging him with manslaughter for the Sunset Strip death of an aspiring American fashion designer.
Bowman, 34, had spent four days in the West Hollywood Sheriff's lock-up after surrendering to the police.
Authorities allege the entrepreneur, who helped expand the Girls Gone Wild soft porn business in Australia, was behind the wheel of his luxury Bentley vehicle just before midnight on Wednesday (local time) when he struck 21-year-old Lauren Ann Freeman on a Sunset Boulevard crosswalk and kept driving.
Ms Freeman, who just graduated from fashion school and scored an internship, died at the scene.
Sheriffs originally arrested Bowman on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and felony hit and run, but during his court appearance at the Beverly Hills Municipal Court building the manslaughter charge was not pursued.
Prosecutors charged Bowman with one felony count of leaving the scene of an accident where there has been bodily injury or death.
Bowman, looking scruffy and dressed in what appeared to be the same white collared shirt he was arrested in, sat in a jury dock guarded by sheriffs while the mother, father and friends of Ms Freeman sat just metres away in the front row of Judge Elden Fox's courtroom.
Bowman's family and friends sat at the rear of the court.
With the decreased charge, the $US2 million bail was reduced to $US50,000.
Two hours after the court appearance, Bowman attempted to slip by the media by leaving the court building through a backdoor where an associate was waiting in a black Audi.
Bowman jumped in the backseat, covered his head, and the Audi sped down an alleyway but was held up in Beverly Hills' notorious afternoon traffic.
To evade the media one last time, the driver cut through traffic and made a U-turn in front of the Beverly Hills Fire Department.
Judge Fox set Bowman's arraignment for January 4, when he is also expected to make a plea.
"He is not to leave the county of Los Angeles or the state of California without prior permission of the court pending the arraignment on January 4th," Judge Fox, who presided over actress Lindsay Lohan's recent court appearances, said.
Bowman's high-profile lawyer, Blair Berk, district attorney Stephen Katz and the families of Bowman and Ms Freeman declined comment.
Ms Freeman's family members were accompanied to court by private investigator, John Nazarian.
