Friday, 4 April 2014
Chris Brown’s entourage includes some unwanted new members — armed U.S. marshals.
The Grammy winner was collected from a Los Angeles lockup Wednesday and was out of California, en route to a Washington-area jail, as of Thursday evening, a source with the U.S. Marshals Service told the Daily News.
“He’s been transferred,” the source said, adding Brown, like all federal prisoners, has guards and cuffs. “It’s not the glamorous way to go.”
Brown, 24, is due back East for an April 17 misdemeanor assault trial. He’s pleaded not guilty to punching a man in the face outside a Washington hotel in October, and his lawyers plan to argue for dismissal Monday.
Brown’s prominent criminal lawyer, Mark Geragos, was in a Los Angeles courtroom Tuesday after filing a motion to quash the marshals’ transfer order and have Brown released to his custody for a flight to Washington that wouldn’t cost taxpayers a dime.
The judge continued the matter and is expected to issue a written ruling without taking the bench. Meanwhile, Brown has already been transferred.
The singer has been behind bars on a no-bail hold since March 14. He was arrested after getting kicked out of court-ordered anger-management rehab. Brown allegedly resisted a drug test and boasted he was good at using guns and knives.
The judge had ordered him to remain in rehab pending a decision on the October scuffle probation in his 2009 Rihanna assault case.
Geragos said Tuesday it wasn't appropriate for the marshals to transfer his client because Brown is not a sentenced state prisoner, and holding him in a Washington-area jail would impede his right to effective counsel at trial.
Geragos also cautioned the custody transfer could cause unnecessary delays and deprive Brown of his right to a speedy probation violation hearing back in Los Angeles.
“He’s good,” Geragos said of Brown on Tuesday as he left court to visit his famous client in jail.
Brown’s Washington-based lawyer, Danny Onorato, and Geragos filed their pending dismissal motion last week, citing alleged grand jury abuse.
“To me, this is outrageous,” Geragos told The News then. "They stripped (Brown) of his right to a jury trial by filing this as a misdemeanor and then go abuse the grand jury to freeze witness testimony," he said.
IMEH AKPANUDOSEN/GETTY IMAGESBrown has pleaded not guilty to punching a man in the face outside a Washington hotel in October, and his lawyers plan to argue for dismissal Monday.
Misdemeanor cases in Washington are usually decided without a jury.
Washington prosecutors filed an opposing motion Monday, arguing they had "probable cause to believe" Brown or his co-defendant bodyguard committed a felony, not a misdemeanor as originally filed.
"It therefore is appropriate for the government to present evidence to the grand jury in anticipation that a felony indictment may be sought," the reply motion obtained by The News said.
A felony indictment was not returned.
"The case remains a misdemeanor, and no changes are anticipated," a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney in Washington told The News Tuesday.
The alleged victim in the Washington case is Parker Adams, a 20-year-old art student now suing Brown and his bodyguard for $1.5 million each.
While in rehab, Brown was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and severe insomnia, a probation report obtained by The News revealed.
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