Chris Brown pleaded guilty to one count of felony assault against Rihanna in a Los Angeles Courtroom on Monday.
As part of the plea bargain, Chris will receive five years probation and spend 180 days doing community labor in Virginia. It was announced by his lawyer, that he will be moving home to Virginia, but will return to California once every three months for updates. During his probation, he must also obey a protective order, which means he cannot harm or harrass Rihanna, and a stay-away order, which requires him to stay at least 50 yards away from Rihanna at all times.
Rihanna did not testify.
Rihanna was not in the courtroom when the judge handed down his decision to Brown.
After Chris left the courtroom, Rihanna entered through a private entrance. She and her lawyer, Donald Etra, discussed the protective order with Judge Patricia Schnegg. Because the two might appear at the same public events, the judge said that in those instances, the 50-yard stay away order would turn into a 10-yard order.
In addition, the judge said that the two-way order prevents Rihanna from contacting Brown at any point. Etra told the judge several times that such a stay-away order was not necessary, but Schnegg said she wanted to be cautious.
He will be formally sentenced Aug. 5.
After the hearing, Geragos addressed the media outside the courthouse.
“This is a kid who has never been in trouble before, who wants to move past this,” his attorney said. “He has accepted responsibility and will continue to do so. He embraces this as an opportunity to get his life back on track and his career back on track.”
Geragos said that although Brown wanted to thank his fans, he has restricted the singer from making a statement until after his official sentencing.
Rihanna’s lawyer, Etra, also spoke to reporters and said that his client was “feeling fine” after the hearing. “She was fully prepared to testify, and she would have told he truth about what happened that evening,” he said.
He added that he and Rihanna — who felt the protective order was sufficient but that the stay-away order was unnecessary — would discuss a reduction in the latter. Schnegg said she would consider such a change only after the August sentencing.