R&B singer Chris Brown
pleaded not guilty on Monday to misdemeanor
assault after a fight that broke a man's nose on
Sunday outside a Washington hotel, the latest legal
run-in for the Grammy-winner.
After spending the night in jail, Brown left the
courthouse in a crush of security and press as fans
crying "Chris, Chris" tried to rush the artist. He
faces a maximum of six months in jail and a $1,000
fine if convicted.
Brown, 24, was arrested early on Sunday outside
the upscale W Hotel, a few hundred yards from the
White House. Brown's bodyguard, Christopher
Hollosy, 35, was also arrested, charged with assault
and released after pleading not guilty.
Brown won a Grammy for best R&B album for
F.A.M.E. in 2011 and is known for hits including
"Deuces" and "Look at Me Now." He appeared
handcuffed in District of Columbia Superior Court,
where a defense lawyer entered the not guilty plea
on his behalf.
After the not guilty plea, the judge ordered Brown
released, touching off a smattering of applause from
fans in the courtroom. The judge also set a
preliminary hearing for November 25 for both
defendants.
"Christopher Brown committed no crime," his
lawyer, Danny Onorato, said in a statement. "We
understand that his security acted to protect Mr.
Brown and Mr. Brown's property as he is
authorized to do under District of Columbia law. We
are confident that Mr. Brown will be exonerated of
any wrongdoing."
The episode began when two women asked Brown
to be in a photo with them outside the hotel, a
Metropolitan Police Department incident report said.
Brown objected when Parker Adams, 20, of
Beltsville, Maryland, tried to get in the picture.
"I'm not down with that gay shit," Brown said,
according to the report. "I feel like boxing."
Brown, in Washington for a nightclub appearance on
Saturday, punched Adams in the face, and Hollosy
did the same, according to the report. Hollosy then
pulled Brown by the arm to the singer's tour bus,
the report said.
Brown denied punching Adams, and Hollosy said he
intervened when Adams tried to get on Brown's
bus, according to a court charging document.
Adams was taken to the hospital and treated for a
broken nose, the charging document said.
Brown has been on probation since 2009 after
assaulting pop singer Rihanna, his then-girlfriend.
Brown's probation was revoked over the summer
after he was charged in a hit-and-run traffic
accident in Los Angeles, but reinstated after he
agreed to another 1,000 hours of community labor.
The Los Angeles District Attorney's office has
accused Brown of cutting corners on his community
labor sentence, which he was allowed to complete
in his home state of Virginia.