Chris Brown to be sentenced for assault

[August 05, 2009]  LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Chris Brown has pleaded guilty and publicly apologized for beating Rihanna, but after Wednesday afternoon, plenty more hard work lies ahead.

The 20-year-old R&B singer is scheduled to be sentenced to five years of probation and six months of community labor. A judge has said she wants Brown, who will likely be allowed to serve his probation in his home state of Virginia, to do work that is comparable to graffiti removal or roadside cleanup.

The "Run It!" singer pleaded guilty in late June to felony assault before a preliminary hearing in which Rihanna was likely to testify.

The former couple never faced each other at that hearing. As Brown left through one door, Rihanna entered the courtroom from a private entrance.

Donald Etra, Rihanna's attorney, said Tuesday that the 21-year-old singer would not appear in court for Brown's sentencing. Etra said he would ask Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patricia Schnegg to rescind a restraining order that keeps the pair from talking or meeting one another.

Etra said he would ask that it be replaced by an order that prohibits Brown from harassing, annoying or molesting Rihanna.

Brown said in a public apology video posted on his Web site July 20 that he had repeatedly apologized to Rihanna for the attack. He called his conduct "inexcusable" and pledged to do better.

"I saw firsthand what uncontrolled rage can do," he tells viewers. "I have sought and am continuing to seek help to ensure that what occurred in February can never happen again."

Schnegg will consider a report by probation officials and has warned Brown that he will face substantial scrutiny. She told him in June that he'll have to return to California every three months and attend domestic violence counseling.

Brown was arrested Feb. 8, hours after an early morning fight erupted between the singer and his then-girlfriend in a car in Los Angeles' Hancock Park neighborhood. A search warrant affidavit filed by police described the brutal attack, stating that Brown beat, choked and bit Rihanna and tried to push her out of the car.

The beating occurred hours before the pair were scheduled to appear at the Grammy Awards, and both have been forced to cancel several high-profile appearances since then.

Brown's career has suffered, with radio stations refusing to play his music and sponsors dropping him.

[Associated Press; By ANTHONY McCARTNEY]

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