Chris Brown Pleads Not Guilty (!!!)

Accompanied by his mother and four bodyguards, the 19-year-old Chris Brown arrived at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center and was escorted inside surrounded by sherriff’s deputies.  After hearing the counts against him (assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury and making criminal threats) and being asked for his plea by the judge (Patricia Schnegg), Brown pleaded ‘not guilty, your honor.’

Ugh. This makes me queasy.

Brown’s attorney Mark Geragos, has been busy trying to strike a plea deal with prosecutors that would prevent him from having to serve any jail time.  If convicted on both charges, he faces a maximum sentence of four years and eight months in prison. Rihanna was not present at the hearing but at home in Barbados. She is still said to be cooperating with the L.A. District Attorney’s Office on Brown’s case, and her attorney, Donald Etra, was in court this afternoon.

Crazy, crazy stuff. I’ll be pissed if he pleads out and doesn’t get significant jail time — an example needs to be made of him.