Chris Brown Avoids Jail For Rihanna Beating Despite Probation Violation

Pop star Chris Brown has once again dodged jail time for the brutal 2009 beating of his then-girlfriend, singer Rihanna, thanks to a charitable judge in a Los Angeles courtroom.

When Chris Brown pled guilty to a felony assault charge on June 22, 2009, he avoided jail time but did receive five years probation on the condition that he perform community service — and avoid legal trouble during that period. The assault that Chris Brown committed against Rihanna, whose full name is Robyn Rihanna Fenty, took place on February 8 of that year on a night when Rihanna was supposed to perform at the Grammy Awards ceremony.

But she and Brown got into an altercation that evening in a car that ended with Chris Brown beating the Barbados-born singer, who had won a Grammy Award two years earlier. A leaked photo of Rihanna later showed the extent of her injuries which included a blackened right eye, facial abrasions, swelling of her right cheekbone and what appeared to be a split lip and bruising around her left eye.

Rihanna canceled her Grammy Awards performance that evening.

But last October, Chris Brown, still on probation, allegedly punched a man in Washington D.C. when the victim attempted to take a picture alongside Brown. The man suffered a broken nose in the incident, but Brown rejected a plea deal — perhaps knowing that a guilty plea would violate his probation and send him to jail — and entered a plea of not guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James Brandlin revoked the 24-year-old singer’s probation anyway but rather than sending Chris Brown to jail, he sentenced Brown to 90 days in a rehabilitation facility to deal with his inability to control his anger.

He was temporarily kicked out of the rehab program in November when he smashed the window of his mother’s car. She was at the facility to participate in family therapy.

On Monday, Los Angeles prosecutors asked that Brown be sent to jail because witnesses from the October 27 Washington incident proved that Chris Brown’s behavior “continues to pose an increasingly violent danger to society,” Deputy District Attorney Mary Murray said. “Brown’s violent behavior continues to increase in severity and frequency.”

But Brandlin declined once again to send Chris Brown to jail, agreeing with a recent probation report on the “Kiss Kiss” singer that said he was “making great strides” in his anger rehab program.

The Washington incident allegedly occurred when a male fan, Parker Adams, attempted to join a photo for which Brown was posing with a woman. At that point, Adams told police, Chris Brown said, “I ain’t down with that gay s***,” and punched him in the face.