Chris Brown Seeks Legal Delay As Rihanna’s Court Date Looms
With Rihanna set to hit the witness stand June 22nd to answer questions regarding her February 8th altercation with Chris Brown, Brown’s legal team is looking to delay the court date — again. Last week, Brown’s lawyers filed a request with the judge presiding over the case asking to push back the preliminary hearing until they get a look at police personnel records. At issue: the leak of a photo of Rihanna showing visible injuries. Because the judge denied the request, Brown’s lawyers have filed papers with California’s Supreme Court with the same request, the Los Angeles Times reports, as attorney Mark Geragos tries to get his hands on records he considers essential for cross-examining police witnesses.
In denying Geragos’ delay, the trial judge argued that the defense can request the information in question 30 days before the trial actually starts, so the demand shouldn’t affect preliminary hearings. The California Supreme Court has not yet responded to Brown’s motion, and it’s possible that Geragos won’t receive an answer until after the June 22nd hearing. Brown’s legal team has argued that the leaked Rihanna photograph may affect their client’s ability to have his case heard in front of an unbiased jury. Brown was charged with two felonies following the alleged February 8th incident, and pleaded not guilty to both counts.
(The calm before the storm: Track Rihanna and Brown’s Grammy weekend in photos.)
The issue of whether video cameras will be allowed in the courthouse is also undecided at this time. According to Rihanna’s lawyer Donald Etra, his client has not yet decided whether she wants her appearance to be filmed: “I don’t have a definitive answer at this time.”
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