Rolling away from a recording industry party in Beverly Hills in a sleek Lamborghini, Chris Brown and Rihanna seemed the image of red carpet glamour. But several minutes into that midnight ride, according to court papers released Thursday, the luxury car morphed into a bloody crime scene with the R&B singer punching, biting, threatening and choking his pop star girlfriend as she desperately fought to get away.
"I'm going to beat the . . . out of you when we get home! You wait and see," a police affidavit quoted Brown, famed for his soulful singing and sensitive lyrics, as shouting at Rihanna.
Details of a violent Feb. 8 encounter between two of music's biggest young stars emerged as the Los Angeles County district attorney's office Thursday charged Brown with two felonies: assault and criminal threats.
In a two-minute appearance in Superior Court, Brown, 19, wore a somber expression as his attorney was granted a monthlong postponement of the scheduled arraignment. The singer, a Virginia native known for hits such as "Forever" and "Run It," faces a maximum sentence of nearly five years in prison if convicted.
Brown departed without talking to the scores of reporters and paparazzi who swarmed the downtown L.A. courthouse. Rihanna -- whose real name is Robyn Rihanna Fenty -- did not attend the hearing, but an appearance by her lawyer seemed to signal some level of support for Brown.
Her attorney told the judge that the 21-year-old singer opposed a "stay-away" order that would bar all contact.
"Miss Fenty does not request that," attorney Donald Etra told Superior Court Commissioner Kristi Lousteau.
The judge instead ordered Brown not to "annoy, harass, molest, threaten or use force or violence against anyone."
Etra, who told reporters he was at the hearing to "protect Miss Fenty's interests," stood shoulder to shoulder with Brown and his attorney, Mark Geragos, and several feet away from the prosecutor at the proceeding. Afterward, he whispered quietly with Brown.
After the hearing, Etra declined to answer questions about a possible reconciliation, but brushed off the suggestion that Rihanna was no longer cooperating with authorities.
"My client is doing everything that the law requires her to do. Whatever she is required to do as a witness in the case she'll do," he said, declining to discuss details of the alleged assault.
