Chris Brown, as expected, was in LA court Monday afternoon to enter a plea of not guilty to the two felony charges that he has been charged with (felony assault and making a criminal threat) in the wake of the alleged assault of his girlfriend Rihanna in the early morning hours of February 8. It was reported that Brown‘s lawyer had been working furiously with the LA District Attorney to try and work out a plea bargain wherein Brown might admit guilt but serve no jailtime … clearly, that deal could not be worked out so the prosecutor’s office moved forward with Brown‘s arraignment Monday afternoon:
R&B star Chris Brown pleaded not guilty in a Los Angeles court on Monday to charges stemming from an alleged attack on his girlfriend, pop singer Rihanna. Brown, 19, entered the pleas during his arraignment in Los Angeles Superior Court. Rihanna’s attorney, Donald Etra, told reporters after the hearing that Rihanna hoped a plea bargain could be struck but that she would testify against Brown if required. Brown and his attorney Mark Geragos did not speak to reporters. Judge Patricia Schnegg set an April 29 status hearing for Brown. Los Angeles prosecutors have said Brown attacked Rihanna, 21, during a roadside dispute in his rented Lamborghini last February. A photo of Rihanna’s bruised and battered face was leaked onto the Internet. Brown later issued a statement saying he was “sorry and saddened” about the incident, and was seeking counseling. The formal charges accuse Brown of assaulting Rihanna “by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury” and threatening to commit a crime “which would result in death and great bodily injury.” He could face up to four years in prison if convicted. A police affidavit said Brown shoved Rihanna’s head against the passenger window, repeatedly punched her in the face, bit her ear and finger, and put her into a headlock. At one stage, the affidavit said, Brown told Rihanna: “I’m going to kill you.”
I have to say, I am RELIEVED the the LA District Attorney’s office is diligently moving forward with this case and seems uninterested in working out a deal where Brown would get off without serving any jailtime. It seems clear that the prosecutor’s office feels confident in the evidence that they have in the case to move forward with the case. I worried that Brown‘s legal team might be able to work out a sweet deal for him but, judging by today’s outcome, that seems unlikely. It remains to be seen if Brown would eventually be willing to agree to jailtime in order to avoid a trial but, even then, the prosecutor’s office might choose to still move forward with the trial in order to secure the maximum punishment allowed by law. The fact that Chris Brown himself admitted some bit of guilt by releasing his “sorry and saddened” statement about a week after the alleged assault took place seems pretty clear to me that he is guilty of these crimes. Here’s hoping the LA District Attorney will work to ensure that he ends up paying for those crimes. Thus far, it looks like that’s the way things are shaping up.
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He is being so stupid! If he plead guilty wouldnt he be able to get a shorter jail sentence? But pleading not guilty, and then proven guilty will surely mean he will face longer. Not that I want him in for a short time but he is just being very stupid about this. I hope they give him the maximum sentence for his crime, he deserves it. Just because he is famous does not mean he should be let off lightly, and for a horrible crime like this!
I’m convinced this blog has the most intelligent readers out there. The comments I have read in inference to this story on other sites are completely ridiculous. “She started it…she deserved it… Team Chris” <– Who are these people? Who raised them?
Either way, I’m glad to be in such logical company!
@neptune–i’m with you
he looked stupid in that sweater.
i don’t get it, why do people think his apology doesn’t prove his guilt? who apologizes for something they didn’t do?
I can’t believe he’s actually pleading not guilty. How the heck does he plan to explain how Rihanna got all those cuts and bruises on her body? It’s such a shame she will not testify against him, why she continues to want to protect him is beyond me.
Man, I canNOT stand Mark Garagos and wishwishwish that dude would fall on his face so monumentally that his “law career” would be forever ruined. How appropriate that Douche Brown call on this tool to defend him! Hey, maybe he’s trying to hook up Scott Peterson or OJ with a date, who knows?
And christine, I totally agree with you: you don’t apologize for something you didn’t do, so all those “innocent until proven guilty” people out there can just chill out. If only the other Rihanna pics would leak! Case would be CLOSED.
Hopefully, his career goes down the drain after this.
I really just hope that justice is served and Chris gets the punishment he deserves. I also hope the pregnancy rumors aren’t true so that Rhianna has time to realize what has happened and will LEAVE HIM. It is hard to enough to leave after abuse, but if she is preggers it will probably only be even harder.
@freddygirl – I agree that he really is innocent until proven guilty… which is actually the beautiful thing about how our justice system works… Thing is though the guy has an overwhelming amount of evidence stacked against him, even without Rihanna’s testimony. And his semi-admission of guilt when he released that press statement about being saddened and whatnot well that also speaks to his character. The thing is if he did it and he’s truely sorry then why not plead guilty and take whatever is coming to you? I’ve never understood that… if it can be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are to blame you might as well call a spade a spade and admit it… I think it might be a lot worse for him by dragging this thing out… because he’s wasting the time and money of a lot of people, not just himself. Also and I like Chris Brown, I really do… it makes him look extremely arrogant and self-centered by doing this… like he’s so sure of himself that he can get away with what he’s done because he is in fact Chris Brown. I gotta say I lost a little respect for the guy yesterday.
The person that stated that other websites were ignorant because they know that Rihanna’s past incidents of slappin on Chris, had to come into play in this incident – is an arrogant ass. There is no way this man should go to jail if Rihanna was slapping and hitting on him while he was trying to drive a high powered car like a lamborghini. He tried to get her to get out the car, before he took off. She has security – she should have called them to pick he up. Then while they were fighting – if she was concerned about him killing her why did she sit on the keys – why didn’t she get out of the car and yell for help or run? The person that called 911 said she was just screaming uncontrollably – but not screaming for help. Sounds like her problem was that she was out of control from jealous and Chris was trying to get her to calm down – like he’s had to do before. So stop all this stupid demonizing of of the nicest young men in the celeb world, until you hear his side of the story..of course he apologized, he’s decent and didn’t want to hit her – but does that mean she wasn’t out of control…I don’t think so..Leave this alone and go judge your own perfect selves…
asdf, you sound like you were actually there in the car, and the fact that you say he was justified in beating the sh*t out of her makes you sound either very, very stupid or someone who’s in one of those same kinds of relationships. Sad.
You also sound like someone wishing to be a Chris Brown babymama. Go away.
@ asdf – your a moron. You don’t know she was doing any of that, but say she was. That gives him noo right whatsoever to beat the crap out of her. Hes a strong guy, he could have restrained her. Restraining does not involve punching. biting, and slamming.
People apologize all the time for things that they did not do. How about, I am sorry you are so ignorant; I am sorry you were not born rich; I am really sorry you were born; I sorry you can not sing; because I apologize does not mean that I am responsible for your short comings. Chris’ public apology could have been for allowing himself to be involved in this altercation creating an embarrassment to his family, friends and the people who are important to him. It does not mean he is admitting to beating her down. I believe it was girl/boyfriend fight as we have heard nothing from neither one of them just the media. Some of you keep forgetting Rihanna went to military school and her highest rank was Corporal. She went there to show the guys that she was tough as they were. There is no doubt she learned some defensive moves there on how to do a beat down. I believe he just got a lucky elbow or lick in on her when she spazzed out on him. I would spazzed out too, if my BF got a booty call text with me in the car. When the heart is involved anger overrides common sense. Some of you prissy azzes would have to, just will not admit it.
@asdf and 2looktwice–you both have issues