WASHINGTON (AP) – Singer Chris Brown’s trial on an assault charge in Washington, which had been set for Monday, has been postponed until Wednesday.
A judge delayed it while attorneys work out issues over testimony from Brown’s bodyguard, who was convicted of assault in a separate trial.
Both Brown and bodyguard Christopher Hollosy were arrested in October after a man accused them of punching him outside a Washington hotel. Hollosy told police that he punched the man after he tried to get on Brown’s tour bus. But the man says Brown and later Hollosy punched him after he tried to get in a photo Brown was taking with two women.
Judge Patricia Wynn set Hollosy’s sentencing for June 25.
Brown’s attorneys now want Hollosy to testify at the singer’s trial. Hollosy would be expected to say that he, not Brown, punched 20-year-old Parker Adams outside the W Hotel. But Hollosy’s lawyer Bernard Grimm told a judge he plans to appeal his client’s conviction.
Unless prosecutors grant Hollosy immunity, testifying in Brown’s case could affect his appeal. Prosecutors haven’t said if they will grant Hollosy immunity, and waiting until his appeal is over could take a year, prosecutors have said previously.
Brown’s attorney Mark Geragos said outside court that he wants to move forward.
“I don’t think that there’s any doubt Chris Brown is not guilty,” he said.
But Geragos also said Hollosy’s testimony is crucial to Brown’s case. He said prosecutors have a “duty to fairly treat a defendant and to extend immunity in certain situations.”
“It’s going to be our argument that this is one of those situations,” he said.
Geragos said he expects Brown’s trial, when it does start, to last no longer than two days.
