Despite worries and rumors that she would refuse to testify, Rihanna has been subpoenaed to appear at ex-boyfriend Chris Brown’s trial on Tuesday. And Rihanna’s lawyer says she will testify, answer questions, and do whatever else is required of her.
Los Angeles prosecutors have subpoenaed Rihanna to appear in court to testify in the assault case against Chris Brown, her lawyer tells PEOPLE.
The “Umbrella” singer, 21, was served in person Tuesday in Los Angeles with the subpoena for the June 22 hearing in Superior Court, her lawyer Donald Etra confirms.
Brown, 20, has pleaded not guilty to two felony counts following his alleged Feb. 8 assault on Rihanna.
“Rihanna was served at my office by L.A. DA investigators,” Etra says. “If the preliminary hearing indeed goes forward, she is now legally required to be there, she will be there, and will answer all questions truthfully.”
The purpose of the hearing is to determine if there’s enough evidence to bind Brown over to trial. Rihanna will also be subject to cross-examination by Brown’s attorney Mark Geragos. The case could end any time with a plea deal, making the hearing unnecessary.
“Rihanna’s testimony can make or break the case,” says L.A. criminal defense attorney Jeffery Rubenstein, who’s not involved with the case. “Her willingness to testify and be truthful about what happened is a step closer to convicting Brown. On the other hand, if prosecutors fail to present a case, Geragos can seek to dismiss or reduce the charges on the spot.”
[From People]
I think everyone is relieved that Rihanna has seemingly moved on from Brown – for about a billion reasons. One being that it obviously would have been hard to get her to testify if she were still dating him. Everyone had assumed Chris would plead out by now, and it is sort of strange that he hasn’t. I can’t help but wonder if it’s because there’s so much attention on the case thus the D.A. is under a lot of pressure to prosecute. Because if it weren’t for that, this seems like the kind of case they’d plea out pretty quickly. First offense, young-ish offender, etc.
Frankly I’d like to see him do as much time as possible, but there is absolutely nothing about the justice system that rehabilitates domestic abusers. Of course you could make that argument for most criminals, but I would say it’s especially true in this case. It just gives them time to stew over whatever they’re pissed about and be on the receiving end themselves – which you’d think would teach them a lesson but generally doesn’t.
Hopefully this will be a good step for Rihanna though, and help her get closer to moving on with her life. I doubt she’ll ever really feel “over it.” But knowing she stood up for herself will make it a hell of a lot easier to be proud and carry on every day.
Here’s Rihanna arriving at JFK to catch a flight out of New York City today. Images thanks to INF Photo.
I hope they make this case enough to break it all over him. Prison would be nice but I doubt they’ll even give him jailtime… Too bad. His bitch-ass needs some reality wake up considering his actions in response to the crime.
Dear Chris Brown, grow up and try to listen to your publicist. I’m sure s/he hates your guts too since you obviously don’t.
I just hope she stays strong and doesn’t backtrack or change her story. I’m sure she’s under a lot of pressure.
I dunno. Everyone is making it seem as though she wants to move on and blah blah blah.
They SUBPOENAED her. That means that she has a court order to testify. She didn’t want to do it herself and would not volunteer to “face” her accuser.
I think she has a lot of healing to go through. Plus I keep hearing rumours of them “breaking” up to save her career and endorsements, but when he isn’t charged for his crimes we’re going to get a statement saying that they have both grown up from the situation and were willing to try again and blah blah blah
She’s gonna be doing a lot of lying up on that stand, being sure to omit the parts about her hitting him in the head with her phone while he was driving. Or that she received the “contusions” on her head when he slammed on the brakes to keep from running into a ditch.
She’s been playing the victim for too long. She beats up on him and he takes all of the blame. You have to wonder why we haven’t seen his mugshot. I’m sure he was just as battered as she was.
The way the media has take to this story is just so one sided and I can’t wait until the truth is FINALLY revealed.
To Rocky….What do you mean playing the
victim?!!! You are a moron. Granted, a woman has no right to hit a man
(or Chris Brown in this case), but under
no circumstances is a man to hit a woman. Don’t know what kind of standards you hold yourself up to, but the truth is FINALLY out. That sh*t for
brains, Chris Brown, did assault Rihanna, period!!!
I kinda think rocky is chris?
Exactly what the hell I said. PLAYING THE VICTIM. When there have been pictures previous to this one incident of him with scratches on his arms and face widely believed to have been caused by HER, it’s hard for me sit and feel sorry for her. Though the pictures of her face (which we should have never even seen) are horrendous, under this circumstance, I can totally see how it happened. “Don’t fucking beat on me while I’m trying to drive you home!”
The police report itself is just too right-leaned. It’s just like, you’ve been beating up on him for how long now? Though, they really should not been putting hands on each other, the fact the Rihanna is skipping around acting as if she’s done NOTHING wrong is just fucking ridiculous to me. Rihanna is crazy, paranoid, violent, and possessive. PERIOD. Not to say she brought the whole ordeal on herself but come the fuck on. When you’re in a dysfunctional relationship, when does it become enough?
They both need counseling or something.
Obviously Rocky is one of those who believe that every woman who gets beat on by their boyfriends/husbands/fathers must deserve it.
If Rhianna did beat up Chris Brown (which if she did? why doesn’t he say something or produce the evidence?) why did he run away when she called the police instead of staying and showing them all his bruises?
Chris is just another punk who thinks that the only way to show his maleness is to beat on people weaker than him. And even worse is he has people like Rocky for friends who encourage him to do so.
I hope she nails his ass. He doesn’t seem to have learned anything from this, which does not bode well for his future girlfriends.
Actually, Rocky, I know exactly what you mean, and I say that as a former longtime victim of domestic abuse with plenty of experience. I think this is one time that it got away from both of them and she also has to live with the fallout this time. A person can’t be the victim for one night then jump back in the driver’s seat (per se) the next day. I do understand what you’re saying, oddly enough.
I hope they BOTH learned something. I don’t want to fight for either of them.
I disagree with Jaybird. Everyone needs to feel the consequences of their crimes. When men don’t, and are even supported by many people in society (that’s you, Rocky), there is absolutely no reason for them to stop. Even if prison weren’t a deterrent, it’s punishment that’s well-deserved. No one said child molesters or rapists were rehabilitated by prison (they notoriously are not) but no one suggests jail isn’t where they belong. I do believe Rhianna and Chris are secretly together, that she will not be helpful to the prosecution during trial and they will “triumphantly” re-unite after it’s over. Sad, sick, and wrong.
i also think there are alot of lies in the report. he’s wrong she’s wrong. so similar to my friend. she beat up her boyfriend our mutual friend and i advised her not to. he hit her back and now she’s upset because i still tlk to him. even though he’s the one who listens to me and helps me through all my obstacle. women need to learn. they’re equal a woman should never hit a man under any circumstances for their own safety and vice versa . cause if he doesnt retaliate his mom will just like my friend’s mother did and what she did was five times worse.
I’m wondering how the world and the people on here are coming to their conclusions about this case when they’ve never heard both sides of the story. Rihanna’s police report has been thrown out. And if anyone had seen Chris Brown over the years, they’d know he was a pretty easy going decent kid. So something went on that night to bring on this type of violence. And I for one believe Rihanna will be decent enough to tell the truth – if she’s called to the stand – which I don’t believe she will. I think her admitting to escalating this to violence and Chris trying to get her out of the car, will only prove that these are not felony level charges. My God what right does anyone have to take away this kid’s constitutional rights to be innocent until proven guilty?And he has been treated unfairly, because it is the media pressure that has stopped the plea bargaining to happen. To me, they are both two decent young people, that have both paid too high a price for an overly emotional incident. I am a female – and I HATE the comments on here or anywhere that state NO man should ever hit a woman. The reality is, we fought to be your equal, so that puts the responsiblity on us to not hit on men also. That is the only way anyone could see it, if they believed in equal rights for both sexes.
@ G…you sound like a sexist ,macho man who believes women are the ‘weaker’ sex and therefore, shouldn’t be president, shouldn’t hold high pressure jobs, but SHOULD be able to fight a man and NOT suffer any consequences because of the man’s inherent strength. Wake UP..it’s the 21st century. For us women to be your equal, you have to set the same standards for us. If we hit you, we are wrong.Hold us accountable for our violence also. Hold Chris reponsible for his part, but don’t make it sound like he’s such a villian ,when the odds are Rihanna is the one that escalated this to violence.
They were both at fault. And true justice system, has to take that into account.
Chris could turn this situation into a real WIN for himself and others if he openly entered counseling for his pain from seeing his own mother beaten, faced those demons & started an organization for children of domestic violence. This could be a growing experience for him and a necessary help for children who share his pain and anger.