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Chris Brown entered a guilty plea for felony assault yesterday and received five years probation for the brutal beating of his then-girlfriend, singer Rihanna, in February. He was also ordered to complete 180 days of community service in his home state of Virginia and to undergo domestic violence counseling every week for nearly a year. Although Rihanna was in court in anticipation of being called to testify, the plea deal ensured that she was not called to the stand. The judge also issued an order of protection for Rihanna stipulating that Brown stay 50 yards away from her at all times, except at music events, when the distance was limited to 10 yards.
A repentant Chris Brown accepted a plea deal Monday from California prosecutors, avoiding jail time for beating up his ex-girlfriend Rihanna.
Brown, 20, fessed up to one count of felony assault stemming from the February attack…
“Guilty,” Brown said in a soft voice, standing in the packed courtroom with hands clasped behind his back.
[Brown] is expected to receive five years’ probation and be ordered to complete 180 days, or more than 1,400 hours, of community labor when sentenced Aug. 5. He must also undergo 52 weeks of domestic violence counseling.
Asked by Judge Patricia Schnegg if he understood the plea-bargain, Brown said, “Yes, ma’am.”
Wearing a gray plaid suit, a white shirt and a striped cream tie, Brown entered his plea as his mother, Joyce Hawkins, somberly watched from the courtroom gallery.
“I think it’s commendable you took responsibility for your conduct,” Schnegg told [Brown]
Schnegg encouraged Brown to take his counseling sessions seriously, saying, “I hope [it] will have some meaning for you.”
The plea deal allowed Rihanna, 21, to avoid testifying at the hearing, initially intended to determine if there was enough evidence to send Brown to trial.
The “Umbrella” singer made a brief appearance in the courtroom after Brown left. Schnegg told her that she was issuing a protection order barring Brown from coming closer than 50 yards, except at music industry
events, when he must stay 10 yards away from her.“Thank you, Your Honor,” said Rihanna, wearing a short black dress and a pearl necklace.
Prosecutors informed [Rihanna] of the deal shortly before the hearing.
“We discussed the plea with the victim, and she concurred,” said Sandi Gibbons, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles district attorney’s office.
Brown started beating Rihanna after they left a pre-Grammy gala Feb. 8 in a rented Lamborghini.
“He [Brown] punched her in the left eye with his right hand,” a police affidavit stated and “continued to punch her in the face with his right hand while steering the vehicle with his left hand.”
[From The NY Daily News]
We haven’t heard any kind of mea culpa or sincere apology from Brown and he has done absolutely nothing to show that he’s repentant at all for his severe attack on Rihanna. All he did was issue a kind of passive statement that he was “sorry… for what transpired” and record a video in which he called out people for being haters and claimed “I ain’t a monster.” Brown didn’t do a single act of public contrition, like visiting sick kids in the hospital or recording a public service message - about anything, not necessarily domestic violence. I hope his community service is backbreaking, and I hope he gets arrogant and entitled as expected, doesn’t complete his probation requirements and gets sent to jail.
Brown is shown outside of court yesterday. Credit: Horizon Pix/Fame Pictures. Court sketches thanks to MavrixOnline.
Written by Celebitchy
Posted in Abusive, Chris Brown, Court Appearances, Rihanna
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22 Responses to “Chris Brown gets 5 years probation for Rihanna beating”
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I don’t think this punishment was unreasonable, or unusual.
He’s a convicted felon, which will follow him for the rest of his life - he can’t vote, he can’t own a weapon or own many types of businesses. He’ll be refused a visa to many countries, which will certainly hamper his ability to carry out the business he’s already in, if the negative publicity of a “guilty” plea doesn’t destroy his ability to get work in his field the first place.
Plus community service. Plus five years probabation. Plus a restraining order. Plus domestic violence counseling.
I don’t think a hypothetical 19-year-old plumber’s assistant who beat up his girlfriend would be penalized much more severely than that.
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Candy actually the felon part will be dropped if he completes his service - it will be reduced to a misdemeanor. I should have mentioned that.
-edit- the misdemeanor details are on Radar:
http://tinyurl.com/m5b9cv -
Now why is everyone so surprised. The douche knew he was going to get off. You know what…I think I’ll go out and find someone to smack around. Why not?
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I think this is over. I don’t think he would even go near Riri again and if he hits another lady I the future we will know about it, he then would get the max sentence. Time to let go of this we all know not to let any one hit us.
Look at the Hogans. Their boy maimed a person for life. He did a little bit of time and life has gone on for the Hogan’s and the son as usual. This is so over. -
amen mary.. celebitchy needs to let this one go..most people have and by him accepting the plea shows he is accepting his responsibilty..he also does not need to appologize to you but rihanna only..i am sure when he does talk about it, we will get an insight to his feelings..i am happy its over because it is about damn time..he is a young boy and has a lot to learn about life..
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I think the sentence is horrible, but not unusual. I worked for years as a social worker and one man I worked with, who beat his wife repeatedly (he beat up other people as well) said he didn’t realize that the first conviction would follow him, the court acted like it was no big deal, he thought it was like a traffic ticket or something.
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Disgusted. Just disgusted with this whole thing.
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180 days right? Well I can just see how there will be a photo op for the press with him in his little orange jumsuit picking up trash and then it will be 179 days of just sitting around “washing fire trucks” while people around him ask him for autographs, ask him how this and that star are “in real life” and all that non sense. It’s disgusting.
Now HOW did Tommy Lee get put in jail for 6 months for giving Pamela Lee a kick but this a-hole gives Rihanna a real beat down and all he gets is probation?!
Please God, let him associate with the likes of Busta Rhymes so that he violate his probation and actually get some real time: he has shown absolutely NO remorse for his actions and just completely disgusts me. -
We don’t have to let anything go. He is a monster and he will abuse again. It’s just a matter of time. I hope the next woman does not lose her life because people did not have the guts to put this violence douche in jail.
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DV organizations all around this country could have told you how this was going to play out….make your donations to a local Domestic Violence organization and help them help others.
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I think thsi sentence was a joke, he should have done time for what he did to the woman. I am appalled by how light his sentence was.
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PEOPLE, I LOVE YOU BUT DO YOU NOT HAVE ANY LIFE OF YOUR OWN THAT YOU HAVE SO MUCH TIME AND ENERGY TO PUT INTO THESE ‘NEWS’ STORIES. 1ST, YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED, AND IF YOU DID WHAT BUSINESS IS IT OF YOURS. YOU ARE ALL TRYING TO JUDGE THE RIGHTNESS AND WRONGNESS OF SOMETHING THAT YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE TRUTH IS. GET YOUR OWN HOUSE IN ORDER AND THAT WILL TAKE UP ALL YOUR TIME AND ENERGY.
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He pled “guilty” so that’s officially the truth now. And an actual judge judged him.
So get your ostrich head out of the violent-jerk-defending denial sand.
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Bettio - perhaps you hadn’t worked it out yet…this is a gossip website…GOSSIP…for gossiping on. We gossip. It’s like, the entire purpose of this website. It’s a gossip website. That’s gossip. G.O.S.S.I.P. We all put our own houses in order when we aren’t gossiping about people we don’t know and have no firm facts on. We like to gossip, that is why we come to a gossip website. I think you probably don’t like to gossip so you should jog on.
Oh and enuff with the caps…chill the eff out.
In other news - what a frickin’ surprise this douchebag didn’t get any jail time. Lovely. Let him take a plea and we can all pretend he didn’t do anything very serious.
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Well, I don’t want to defend him, but I don’t actually want him to be paying for the rest of his life. If the courts said that was an acceptable plea, so be it. It’s true that, like Candy Kay said, any other domestic abuser wouldn’t get more… the weakness there is in the legal system, folks.
In Brown’s case…I can’t help but feel like we should be a little more open to forgiveness, eventually. He is nineteen. And he is a victim of domestic violence from his childhood. Ask a social worker, they’ll tell you about the cycle of violence. What he did was WAY wrong, but I believe that people can learn from their mistakes, grown and change. If he’s still an ass in 5 years, then I’ll condemn him. -
“And he is a victim of domestic violence from his childhood. Ask a social worker, they’ll tell you about the cycle of violence.”
Which is precisely WHY he needs to be WATCHED for the rest of his life because he is highly likely to do this again.
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@gg: Amen to that. Domestic violence is not taken as seriously as it should be in this country. But I agree with gg: he NEEDS to be watched.
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This sentence is a travesty. Brown’s PR folks have done some great damage control since I didn’t even see this on any news sites.
If anyone reads the affidavit which his guilty plea affirms, this was not a slap in the face, it was a beat down. Please don’t be so naive to think this was a first/one time only thing. There is a pattern of escalation over a period of time. He just got caught.
And nothing, nothing that RiRi might or is alleged to have done would ever, ever, ever excuse this.
As forgiving and moving on his people and various movers an shakers have shut down anyone in the R&B/hip hop community that has condemned his actions. TI is in a federal prison for a weapons violation. Lil Kim was away for a year on a perjury conviction, yet this jerk gets off with probation. Beanie Sigel 1 year gun possession.
Shame on the judge and prosecutor for agreeing to this. It’s an insult to Rihanna and society for this man to get off so easily after such extreme violence. No matter what Rihanna haters think after this her life will never be the same…
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How is being on 5 years probation, a year of domestic violence classes, and doing hard labor an easy ride?
If he does anything that gets him in contact with police he’ll have to go to prison for four years.
Did everyone expect him to go to prison for life or something?
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Using passive language like being “sorry for what transpired” is classic sociopathic behavior. Guy got off, not super easy, not super hard. If he is smart, he either won’t screw up again or won’t get caught. I’m with LJ’s posting: give your money to organizations that help domestic violence victims. This will only stop when women get smart enough to recognize the signs early and get the hell out. DV organizations also work on counselling abusers to try and get them to stop. Hope he follows through with his sessions.
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Just wait…he’ll get pissed off again and pop off at a woman.
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and my faith in humanity continues to dwindle…what are the chances his career actually takes any real hit from this?
Slim to none?
Yeah, that sounds about right.
Sometimes i just hate the universe.
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