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Legal
Rihanna due in court over Brown beating next month
By CMU Editorial | Published on Friday 29 May 2009
Rihanna’s lawyer has confirmed that the singer has been subpoenaed to appear at a prelim court hearing, in relation to her altercation with Chris Brown earlier this year, on 22 Jun. The hearing will ascertain whether or not there is enough evidence against Brown to proceed with the case against him. As previously reported, Brown faces charges of assault and making criminal threats in relation to a fight he had with then girlfriend Rihanna after a pre-Grammy party, a fight which left the R&B songstress bruised and unconscious. Although Rihanna herself is not pushing for he now ex-boyfriend to be charged, her lawyer has said she will testify without objection if asked to do so.
In related news, two bits of bad news relating to photographs for Brown yesterday. First, his lawyer’s attempt to find out who leaked photos of a bruised Rihanna to the press shortly after the aforementioned altercation has been blocked by an LA Superior Court judge. Brown’s lawyer, Mark Geragos, is trying to use criticism of the behaviour of the LAPD in their handling of the Rihanna assault allegations as one way of fighting the charges against his client. The leaking of the photos was one of the key criticisms Geragos referenced, but his attempts to force the police to reveal who and how the photos reached the media have failed – presumably because the judge believes the photo issue to be a distraction and, after all, it was Rihanna and not Brown’s privacy that was invaded by the publication of the police photos.
Elsewhere, an LA photographer is suing Brown over allegations he was beaten by the R&B star’s bodyguards after attempting to take pictures of him at a gym. Robert Rosen is seeking unspecified damages for multiple claims, including assault, battery, negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The aforementioned Geragos has dismissed the lawsuit, pointing out that the same photographer unsuccessfully sued actor Pierce Brosnan over similar claims back in 2007. The legal man told reporters: “This is a specious and frivolous lawsuit by one of the paparazzi seeking publicity and a payday. He’s done this before and lost. We will vigorously defend against this”.
