Brown, 24, wore an orange
jail jumpsuit at court, with his mother sitting behind him, while
attorney Mark Geragos argued the singer should be allowed to enter
another rehab program instead of spending the next month in jail.
The singer was locked up on a probation violation warrant Friday after he was booted from a court-ordered drug rehab program.
Assistant District
Attorney Mary Murray said Brown has already been ejected from two rehab
programs in the last five months and another program should not be
considered.
Los Angeles County
Superior Court Judge James Brandlin said he was concerned about a
"provocative" statement counselors said Brown wrote on a card at the
Malibu rehab center. "I am good at using guns and knives," according to a
document read in court.
The rehab program told
Brown to leave because of that statement and two other rules violations,
the document said. Brown refused a drug test -- which his lawyer denied
-- and he touched elbows with a female patient, according to the
document.
Brown's next chance to
get out of jail comes on April 23 when Brandlin considers if his arrest
on a misdemeanor assault charge in Washington justifies keeping him
locked up. There is a possibility the judge will speed up that decision
so Brown can travel to D.C. for a trial on that charge.
Brown's legal troubles
began five years ago, when he beat Rihanna as the two sat in a rented
Lamborghini on a Hollywood street. He pleaded guilty to felony assault
in June 2009, which resulted in a sentence of five years of probation
and 1,400 hours of community labor.
The judge has revoked
Brown's probation twice in the past year, most recently because of his
arrest on a sidewalk near the White House after he allegedly punched a
man.
Brown voluntarily
entered a rehab program a day after being released from a Washington
jail in October, but he was kicked out a few days later for "throwing a
rock through his mother's car window" after a family session at the
center, a probation report said. Brown was upset because his mother said
she wanted him to stay in treatment, the report said.
"Mr. Brown proceeded to
walk outside and pick up a rock and threw it through his mother's car
window and it shattered," according to a letter from the rehab center
included in the probation report.
His probation was
revoked in November, but the judge allowed him to stay out of jail by
entering a 90-day anger management and drug rehab program. Although he
completed that program last month, the judge had ordered him to remain a
resident at the Malibu treatment facility until a hearing on April 23.
Brown's probation
officer reported at a hearing last month that the singer "continues to
make great improvement" in dealing with anger, stress and drugs, but the
judge decided he could not go free until after his trial for the
assault charge in Washington on April 17. If he is convicted in that
case, the judge would decide April 23 whether Brown should complete his
probation in jail.
Brown has been working
on a highway cleanup labor crew in Los Angeles three days a week to
fulfill the 750 hours of service remaining in his probation
requirements, his probation report said. At that rate, Brown could
complete the labor in mid-October and possibly be free from probation
requirements by the end of the year. However, the clock is stopped while
Brown is locked up.
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