Chris Brown: Sentenced in Rihanna assault case

Chris Brown: Sentenced in Rihanna assault case

A judge on Tuesday sentenced Chris Brown to 5 years' probation and 6 months' community labor for beating Rihanna and ordered the R&B singer to stay away from his ex-girlfriend for the next five years.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patricia Schnegg told Brown that he could be sent to state prison if he violated any terms of his sentence. These include an order to stay 100 yards away from Rihanna unless they will have been attending music industry events.

A probation report prepared for Tuesday's sentencing describes two previous violent incidents. It said that the first happened about three months before his beating on February while the couple was traveling in Europe. Rihanna slapped Brown during an argument, and he shoved her into a wall. In the second instance, Brown allegedly broke the front and passenger side windows on a Range Rover they were driving while visiting Barbados, Rihanna's home country. Neither attack was reported, the probation report states.

Brown will serve his sentence in his home state Virginia  and his community labor will be overseen by the police chief in Richmond.

The judge said that she wanted to ensure that twenty year old Chris Brown performed physical labor instead of community service, such as mentoring young people. He will also undergo a year of domestic violence counseling.

Rihanna did not attend Tuesday's sentencing.

At one point, Brown, who was accompanied by his mother, agreed to the terms of the sentence before Schnegg had finished going through them all.

The hearing had been planned for Thursday afternoon. However Chris Brown's lawyer, Mark Geragos, asked to move up the singer's sentencing to Tuesday. A previous attempt to sentence Brown was postponed when Schnegg said that she had not received adequate assurances that Brown would perform physical labor if allowed to serve probation in Virginia.

The judge said that she was satisfied with a letter presented by Geragos that Richmond Police Chief Bryan T. Norwood will directly oversee Brown's labor program.

After Chris Brown pleaded guilty to felony assault in June, Schnegg ordered the pair to stay away from each other and to not contact one another. Her order on Tuesday essentially extended that till Brown completes his sentence.

Donald Etra, Rihanna's attorney, had remarked that he did not think the strict rules were necessary, but that he and Rihanna favored a less-stringent ruling that simply ordered Brown not to annoy, harass or molest the 21-year-old pop singer. He said after Tuesday's hearing that Rihanna did not object to the stay-away order, which allows the former couple to be within 10 yards of each other if they are attending music industry events.

Schnegg said that she was aware of reports that Brown had been spotted on several occasions in the same places as Rihanna.

A felony charge of making criminal threats was dropped during Tuesday's sentencing.

Sandi Gibbons, a district attorney's spokeswoman said,  "We feel that the sentence for Mr. Brown is an equitable one." "He has his future in his hands. He has control of his fate."

Gibbons said that Brown's charge could eventually be reduced to a misdemeanor if he completes his sentence.

Brown was arrested on Feb. 8, hours after he was accused of beating Rihanna.

The attack occurred in Los Angeles' Hancock Park neighborhood as Brown drove a rented sports car. A Los Angeles police detective described a brutal attack in a search warrant affidavit filed in the case, thereby stating being hit by Brown who also choked and bit Rihanna and tried at one point to push her from the car.

Brown's career suffered after his arrest, with sponsors dropping him and radio stations refusing to play his music. Both he and Rihanna had to cancel several high-profile appearances, including planned performances at the Grammy Awards the day of the attack.

In a probation report released after the sentencing, Brown is quoted as saying that he was "depressed" since the attack and that he "'does not want to carry on that cycle.'"

The report included letters of support for Brown from RCA/Jive Label Group Chairman Barry Weiss as well as an entertainment lawyer and a pastor.