Chris Brown made a court appearance on Monday wearing a shirt and pants issued by the jail, according to the Los Angeles Times. A judge ordered Brown to be held without bail until April 23.
Brown is in custody because he was expelled from a court-ordered rehab facility. He was sent there in relation to the 2009 conviction for beating Rihanna. Brown’s lawyer, Mark Geragos, argued that Brown should be allowed to wear a business suit during the court hearing.
Geragos said the following: “This will end up being filmed and shown around the world.” Geragos also noted that Brown is scheduled for an assault trial next month in Washington, D.C.
The judge, James R. Brandlin, said that the handcuffs on Brown could be removed, but he did not grant the request for Brown to wear a business suit. The appearance came at the Los Angeles Superior Court. Geragos also requested that the hearing not be videotaped. This was shot down by both the judge and prosecutor in the case. They said that the image of Brown wearing prison clothing would not influence his case in D.C. because that will only be heard in front of a judge.
Brown was arrested on Friday at a rehab facility in Malibu. He was attending the facility for court-ordered anger and mental health treatments. Brown was expelled from the facility for violations of internal rules. He made a threatening comment, failed to take a drug test and touched a female who was there going through treatment.
“It is clear from reading the incident report from the program, the program was concerned about the defendant’s noncompliance and inability to follow the program’s rules,” Brandlin said.
Brown could be sent to prison for up to four years if the judge finds that he violated his probation. Brandlin noted that he is troubled by the reported statement made by Brown at the facility during the ‘morning reflection meeting.’ Brown reportedly added the following comment when reading from a card: “I am good at using guns and knives.”
According to Geragos, the touching of the female was “rubbing elbows” and he compared the statement made by Brown as him saying, “I’m going to ask my higher power to take away my troubles.”
This is the second time Brown has been expelled from a rehab facility. Back in November, during family counseling, Brown stormed out and threw a rock through his mother’s car window. That incident led a judge to order Brown to complete another rehab program, one which required 24 hours per week.
The judge denied Geragos’ request to have Brown enter yet another rehab facility during the session.
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