Chris Brown pleads guilty

Chris Brown pled guilty on felony assault charges for the beating that left singer Rihanna battered and bruised.

In exchange for his guilty plea in the assault case, Brown will avoid jail time. He will be on probation for five years, have a record as a convicted felon, must enroll in a domestic violence counseling program, and spend six months doing hard labor in his home state of Virginia.

In addition, a five-year restraining order will keep Brown at least 50 yards away from Rihanna at all times — unless they are at the same public event, like an awards show, where that distance is lowered to 10 yards.

Since Brown is now a convicted felon, he loses the right to own a gun and sit on a jury, is subject to search and seizure without a warrant and has been weighed down with travel restrictions, making international tours nearly impossible. By pleading out, Brown avoiding a trial and Rihanna avoided having to testify against him — which by all accounts she was loathe to do, as are many victims of domestic violence. While Rihanna was at the courthouse during the proceedings, she did not enter the courtroom until Brown was removed so the judge could explain the plea package and order of protection to her. What do you say to that, haters? Still insist Brown is the angel and Rihanna made the whole thing up?

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