Nicole Richie won't be in court Wednesday as originally expected. A spokeswoman for The Los Angeles County District Attorney's office tells The ShowBuzz.com that lawyers for both sides were in court Tuesday arguing over a motion made by the defense to delay the start of the trial. "She wanted a continuance to start the trial because her expert witness was not available during the (days) that they were supposed to start," Jane Robison said.

Lawyers will continue their arguments Wednesday without Richie being present. According to the Associated Press, a court spokesman said that Richie's lawyer, Shawn Chapman Holley, was expected to appear Wednesday on behalf of her client and either accept or reject a plea deal. Terms of the deal were not made available and the district attorney's office declined to comment.

Robison explained Tuesday that, technically, the trial is not really delayed. Richie was granted a continuance in June that changed the start date to July 11 or the following 10 days.

"Everybody thinks tomorrow was the absolute start date; it's not," she said. "It was a window of start dates. It could either start tomorrow or within 10 days. So technically if the delay is for a few days it would still be within the time frame that they said originally."

The 25-year-old reality star was arrested Dec. 11 and pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence. In addition, her case contains an allegation that she had a prior misdemeanor DUI conviction in June 2003.