Chris Brown pled guilty to felony assault on Rihanna. In exchange for pleading guilty, he avoided a preliminary hearing, trial and received 5 years probation. Did he receive celebrity justice? Was he treated fairly? Should he have received jail time?
The pictures leaked earlier through the media suggest a vicious attack occurred on Rihanna. Yet, I never expected Chris Brown to get any jail time. Unless, there was some mitigating circumstances, he deserved some measure of jail time along with the other conditions he received. I can’t imagine any mititgating circumstances. He didn’t need jail time to send any message. He didn’t deserve jail time to make him a bad poster boy for domestic abuse. He deserved jail time because of the seriousness of the felony assault charge. His charge was not reduced to a misdemeanor assault with far less seriousness involved. The fact that the prosecutor required him to pead guilty to a felony shows the seriousness involved.
Michael Vick received jail time for cruelty against dogs. Of course, the system wanted to make an example of him. That wasn’t fair either. I have seen defendants receive jail time for first time DWI charges where no one was injured. Having prosecuted and also represented defendants in similar felony assaults, a split sentence would have likely occurred to a non-celebrity defendant. A split sentence would have given him some amount of jail time followed by probation and the conditions he received.
Celebrities do receive celebrity justice. Remember Paris Hilton cried her way out of jail. Who could do that except a celebrity? On June 16, Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte Stallworth received a 30 day sentence for killing a pedestrian while driving drunk in Florida. He was facing 15 years.
Chris Brown will have 5 years probation hanging over his head. Should he go on another rampage again or commit any crime in 5 years, he will face jail time.
Leave a Reply