chrisbrownpleadealrihanna

(photo of Chris and Rihanna both from today’s hearing. From Getty Images)

according to TMZ’s coverage of the Chris Brown hearing today:

“Chris Brown has copped a plea in his assault case. He won’t do jail time, but he will spend 6 months doing things like road cleanup. He’s also been ordered to [stay] 50 yards clear of Rihanna.
He’ll spend 180 days doing hard labor in Virginia which is where Brown lives – it’s equivalent to Caltrans or graffiti cleanup.
He gets 5 years probation for FELONY assault — he pled guilty. He’ll get supervised probation. He’ll have to come back to court every three months.
He must enroll in a domestic violence counseling program.
The judge said she wanted to make sure that Chris Brown “was treated as any other person who comes through this court.”

According to reporters, Rihanna was in the courthouse, dressed in all black with black shades….but she wasn’t in the courtroom. The 50-yard court-mandated distance is interesting. That exes out any chance of the couple having a relationship. So they won’t be asking for courtside seats near each other any time soon.

So the Judge offered either 180 days in jail or 180 days of community labor-oriented service…

UPDATE: Rihanna’s lawyer held a presser and said:

“Rihanna was told about the plea deal at 12noon and had no objection. Rihanna believes that this is a fair and just resolution of this case. She would like to thank from the bottom of her heart the district attorney’s office and LAPD that showed her only courtesy and compassion….Its inappropriate suffice it to say that now there is a stay away order in effect, I’m sure Chris will abide by that order.”

Lawyer also says, Rihanna would consider a reduction of the “stay away order,” (He can’t come within 50 yards of Rihanna, but if they’re at the same event, the distance is 10 yards) after his sentencing in Aug. She felt that the “protective order” (which just means Chris shouldnt reach out to Rihanna and annoy her) was sufficient, and that the “stay away order” is not necessary.

*After Chris was given the verdict, he was dismissed and then Rihanna came in. Court told Rihanna not to contact Chris as well. So they can not talk to each other. For 5 years (same time as his probation). Again, this “stay-away” may be revised in August.

UPDATE 2: The judge specifically wanted to make sure Chris Brown had labor-oriented community service. So more than just clean-up duty?

UPDATE 3: Chris Brown’s Lawyer says:

“I want to make clear that Chris entered a guilty plea and not a no-contest plea. From the very beginning, he’s always wanted to take responsibility. For a first offender, a kid who’s never been in trouble before who wants to move past thing and who wants to make sure the message gets out that domestic violence is not acceptable. He wants to move past this, get his life back on track and his career back on track. He wants to speak more but I’ve restricted him. He’ll have a statement at his sentencing on Aug 5th.”

More after the jump….footage from the courtroom and a timeline of events


(thanks to Dre and Irod)

CNN posted a timeline of the Chris Brown and Rihanna drama.