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He had faced four years in prison if convicted in a trial on charges of assault and a making a criminal threat but pleaded guilty to the charges of battery. There was no plea deal on a second charge.
Los Angeles Judge Patricia Schnegg issued a stay away order, which means he must stay at least 50 yards away from Rihanna – except at industry events, when it's 10 yards – despite a request from Rihanna's lawyer for a less-restrictive order. In addition, he is not allowed to contact her, whether by sms, phonecall or any other form of correspondence.
"I want Mr. Brown to be treated the same as any other defendant who would come into this court. That means something like Caltrans [trash pickup] or graffiti removal," said Judge Schnegg.
"I think it's commendable that you took responsibility for your conduct, sir," Schnegg told Brown.
"This is a kid who's never been in trouble before, who wants to move past this and make sure that the message gets out that these kinds of things, of domestic violence, are not acceptable," said Brown's lawyer Mark Geragos. "And that he has accepted responsibility and continues to do so and embraces this as an opportunity for him to get his life back on track and his career back on track."
"Rihanna believes this is a fair and just resolution to this case," her attorney, Donald Etra said after the hearing. He said Rihanna learned of the plea about an hour before the hearing was set to begin Monday afternoon.
According to a search warrant, Rihanna was assaulted during an argument that began when she read text messages from another woman on Brown's phone as they were driving in a Lamborghini in L.A. the morning before the pair were both scheduled to perform on the Grammy Awards.
Brown will be formally sentenced August 5.
Do you think Chris Brown's punishment is fair?
