Chris Brown Rejects Plea Deal On Charge in Assault Case
Lawyers of singer Chris Brown told a judge on Wednesday that he has rejected a plea deal in a charge that he hit a man outside a Washington hotel.
The Prosecutors had offered a deal in which Brown would plead guilty to the misdemeanor assault charge he faces. One of Brown’s lawyers, Danny Onorato, said outside of court that attorneys rejected the deal because Brown is not guilty. Brown’s lawyers said in court that they expect a trial date to be set at another hearing, scheduled for February 20. Brown did not speak during the hearing, which lasted less than 10 minutes. He wore a charcoal three-piece suit and had dark hair, rather than the bleached blond hair he had sported when he was arrested in October along with his bodyguard, Christopher Hollosy, who also faces an assault charge.
The R&B singer was arrested after a man said the singer struck him outside the W Hotel when he tried to get in a picture Brown was taking with two other people. Hollosy is also accused of striking the man, and his lawyer says he rejected the same deal that Brown was offered.
At the time Brown was charged in Washington, the Grammy winner was on probation in California for a 2009 attack on singer Rihanna, his then-girlfriend. As a result of the new charge, a judge in December revoked Brown’s probation in California, but the ruling didn’t alter a requirement that Brown complete rehab and community service including roadside cleanup and graffiti removal.
Brown has to return to court in California February 10 for an update on his progress in rehab.
Mark Geragos, the lawyer who is representing Brown in the California case, took part in the hearing in Washington. Geragos said that Brown’s lawyers plan to ask that he would not have to appear at the February 20 hearing in Washington because he would lose three days of treatment by making the trip.
