Singer Chris Brown has logged more than
1,400 hours of community service for the 2009 beating of former
girlfriend Rihanna, basically completing his sentence. One-third of
those hours were recorded at a rural Virginia day care centre where the
singer spent time as a child and his mother once served as director.
Brown’s service records have
come under scrutiny by a prosecutor and a judge, who are trying to
ascertain their accuracy. At a Monday hearing, Los Angeles Superior
Court Judge Patricia Schnegg called the accounting of Brown’s community
service by Richmond, Virginia, Police Chief Bryan T. Norwood “somewhat
cryptic.”
Brown pleaded guilty to
felony assault in June 2009 over the beating incident. Before this week,
he had received praise from the judge and had never been in danger of
violating his probation. But that could change if the inquiry the judge
ordered turns up irregularities with his service.
An analysis of the work
records indicates that Brown’s labour credits in the last seven months
increased by four times from what they had been during the previous two
years. He was credited for working 701 hours — a feat that previously
took him 28 months to achieve.
Yet through it all, Brown
hasn’t stopped being an R&B superstar, performing worldwide,
releasing an album and even getting injured in a nightclub brawl.
In recent months, the logs
show Brown has essentially been working three jobs — performing cleanup
duty in Richmond police precincts by day, janitorial chores at the day
care 45 miles (72 kilometers) away by night, and hit songs for global
audiences in between.
Ida Minter,
the administrator of the Tappahannock Children’s Center, said Brown
attended the nonprofit facility “off and on” for more than 12 years and
his mother was employed there for 24 years, including as director.
Brown’s community service at
the center began in January 2010, but work entries dramatically
increased in March of this year. Most of his shifts were logged between
6pm and 2am and were typically listed as “general cleaning,” with some
entries describing him painting or stripping and waxing floors. It is
unclear who supervised him.
Brown’s attorney Mark Geragos
said on Monday that he welcomed inquiries from Los Angeles probation
officials and said he urged Brown to work double shifts so the lawyer
wouldn’t have to keep coming back to court.
Minter described Brown’s work at the day-care centre favourably.
“I think Chris always goes
beyond because he always wants to give back to where he grew up,” she
said. “And this was a part of his home because his mum worked here
full-time.”
“If you’ve ever been involved in stripping and waxing, it’s hard,” she said. “It’s a lot of work.”
Minter said Brown was always accompanied by someone while working at the centre, but she said she couldn’t discuss who it was.The singer only worked at
night and on weekends when no children were present, Minter said. That
is supported by the logs, which also showed that Brown only worked one
other weekend shift that wasn’t at the day-care centre.
Brown has been busy in
recent months, releasing his new album “Fortune,” travelling to France
for a video shoot, winning a Grammy Award, performing at other award
shows and resuming his friendship and music collaboration with Rihanna.
He has also drawn negative
attention for being present at a bottle-throwing brawl at a New York
City nightclub that left him with a cut chin. And in February, a woman
in Miami accused him of taking her cellphone to prevent her from
snapping pictures of him.
It was after that incident that Brown, 23, accelerated his work schedule, according to the records filed Monday.The singer is not the only
celebrity to perform community service for an entity with which they
have close ties. Mel Gibson and Sean Penn had similar arrangements.
Both actors had received
permission in advance for the assignments in misdemeanour cases. Before
Monday’s filings, there had been no mention of Brown working at his
boyhood day-care centre in probation reports.
Brown’s international travel,
which must be approved by the judge, has somehow been squeezed around
his marathon community service sessions.
In July, for instance, Brown
is listed as working 42 hours in four days before leaving for France.
Upon his return, he worked 12 consecutive days, logging 164 hours, 100
of which were at the day care.
March was similarly busy,
with Brown being credited for work on 20 of the month’s 30 days. He was
approved to travel to Cancun, Mexico, for five of the remaining days.
The judge allowed Brown to
perform his work in his home state of Virginia under the supervision of
Norwood, but on Monday noted there are discrepancies in the chief’s
accounting.
For one, Brown’s work log
shows he has put in 1,402 hours, but a couple of errors in the data may
push the total up to 1,404. And although Brown was sentenced to perform
1,440 hours of labour, the chief wrote in a letter dated September 14
that Brown had completed all his service hours.
Norwood’s spokesman declined
to respond to questions from the AP on the discrepancies. “Chief Norwood
has reported directly to the judge, providing periodic updates
regarding the progress of Chris Brown’s community service,” spokesman
Gene Lepley said.
District Attorney’s spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said the office would make all its comments on the case in court.
The judge and prosecution
aren’t the only ones concerned. In August, Virginia probation
authorities recommended that Richmond police stop supervising Brown
after the singer tested positive for marijuana and what they believed
was unapproved travel to France. However, they made no critical comments
about his community service.
Geragos, Brown’s attorney,
declined comment, but he said at Monday’s court hearing that he believes
his client has completed all his community service.
Brown’s labours have left a
lasting mark at the Tappahannock Children’s Center: a colourful wall
mural featuring a huge clown face and splashes of purple, orange, green
and yellow. The words “Big Room” — the informal name of the large space
amid smaller classrooms — is painted in fat letters along a wall.
Brown approached Minter, who has known Brown since his birth, to ask if he could use his art skills on the walls, she said.
