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'Dr. Phil' staff bails out Florida girl charged in videotaped teen beating
BY DAVE GOLDINER
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Updated Monday, April 14th 2008, 1:07 AM

Polk/FilmMagic

Dr. Phil McGraw drew criticism after the staff of his 'Dr. Phil' show helped a suspect in the videotaped beating of a Florida teen make bail.

Skene/AP

Mercades Nichols
Dr. Phil is on the hot seat again - this time for bailing out a teen thug.

TV shrink Phil McGraw was forced to scrap a show about the YouTube girls-on-girl beatdown on Sunday amid outrage that his show bailed the suspected ringleader out of jail.

The show admitted that one of McGraw's producers paid $3,300 to a Florida court to spring Mercades Nichols, 17, from jail so she could appear this week on his "Dr. Phil" show about the beatings.

The beefy producer ran a humiliating gantlet of news cameras as he led Nichols and relatives out of the court.

"We have exclusivity," the hulking flunky told reporters who unsuccessfully tried to question the teen.

A reporter from one CBS-affiliated TV station insisted that she should get an interview because her station runs "Dr. Phil."

Red-faced show executives said the staffer violated "policies" - and canceled the planned interview.

"In this case, certain staff members went beyond our guidelines," "Dr. Phil" spokeswoman Terri Corigliano said in an e-mail. "We have decided not to go forward with the story as our guidelines have been compromised."

TMZ.com reported the tough-talking staffer was actually a production assistant - and the experienced producer who was supposed to supervise him is now in trouble too.

The show said it was normal procedure to help guests with financial issues like travel expenses or lost wages in order to secure their appearances on the show.

But bailing out accused criminals apparently went too far.

Two of the eight teens accused in the videotaped attack are still behind bars, a Polk County sheriff's office official said.

The Lakeland, Fla., teens face kidnapping and misdemeanor battery charges. Three also face a felony charge of witness tampering.

The case drew nationwide attention after the girls brutally attacked a cheerleader at their school on March 30. They videotaped the assault, and posted it on the Internet.

Millions of Americans have seen the shocking clip on the Web or on TV.

It's not the first embarrassing about-face for Dr. Phil.

McGraw abandoned a planned show about troubled pop star Britney Spears this year after he was criticized for confronting her at a Los Angeles hospital.