R&B Singer Chris Brown Rejects Plea Deal

Renown R&B singer, Chris Brown has rejected a plea deal on his assault case charge. Brown was in court facing an assault charge where he is said to have hit a man who was trying to get into a picture that he was taking with two other people outside his Washington hotel in October last year.

According to TMZ, the prosecutor revealed in court they had offered Brown a deal that would see his charges reduced to simple assault, instead of misdemeanor assault, which carries a more severe penalty. However, Brown’s lawyer, Danny Onorato, rejected the plea on grounds that his client is not guilty.

Law enforcement sources had been looking for surveillance video capturing the run-in but their search had not been futile and for a long time had insisted that they had nothing. Prosecutors said in court they will be turning over substantial video surveillance but did not say what it shows.

Brown’s lawyers said in court that they expect a trial date to be set at another hearing, scheduled for the February 20th. The Grammy winner was on probation in California for an attack on singer Rihanna, his then-girlfriend at the time of his assault charge in Washington. As a result of the attack on Rihanna, a judge ruled that Brown complete rehab and community service including roadside cleanup and graffiti removal and is expected to be back in court on February 10th for an update on his rehab progress.

Mark Geragos, who is a celebrity attorney and represents Brown in the California case, took part in the Washington hearing and said that they plan to ask that Brown doesn’t show up for his hearing on the 20th since it would make him lose three days of treatment.