Chris Brown’s probation has been revoked after a judge reviewed the details of a case involving an alleged hit-and-run car crash, The Associated Press reports.
Brown appeared in court yesterday, accompanied by family members, sitting with his arms crossed and head down while his lawyer and a prosecutor discussed the case with Superior Court Judge James Brandlin. “In this matter, probation is revoked,” Judge Brandlin declared when they finished.
Though Brown has yet to enter a plea in the hit-and-run case, Brandlin’s ruling means the singer could face up to one year in prison if convicted. His lawyer, Mark Geragos, said that he hoped the matter would be resolved informally without a major probation hearing. Meanwhile, Deputy District Attorney Mary Murray didn’t ask that Brown be jailed, and the judge allowed the singer to remain free.
Brown is set to return to court on July 23rd, with another hearing scheduled for August 16th.
Though the alleged hit-and-run took place in the San Fernando Valley in early May, Brown wasn’t charged until mid-June. According to a police report, Brown was unable to produce a driver’s license or valid insurance information after he supposedly rear-ended a car at a red light. The woman Brown was driving with, Karrueche Tientrese Tran, offered hers and claimed she owned the car as well.
In police documents, the woman in the rear-ended Mercedes Benz, identified as Olga G., said the couple was polite at first but grew frustrated as she continued to demand identification. Eventually, she snapped a photo of the two “and then they went ballistic,” with Brown reportedly shouting expletives and trying to grab her camera.
“I was so shocked that I was speechless,” Olga G. said in the statement. “Just a moment ago he was a nice guy. After screaming some insulting nonsense for a while longer, he slammed a door and drove away fast and noisy.”
The pop star has been on felony probation since assaulting then-girlfriend Rihanna in 2009, and the alleged hit-and-run is far from the first time he’s been accused of violating his probation. In February, Brown and Frank Ocean got into a scuffle over a parking spot (Ocean decided not to pursue a battery case), while last June, Brown and Drake got into a fight at a New York City nightclub. Prosecutors recently cited such incidents as proof that Brown had violated the terms of his probation, while also claiming he had failed to finish his community service.
