|
|
Judge orders Bobby Brown jailed until he pays $63,500 in child support
submitted by: Lisa D.
source: Associated Press, MTV, The Boston Globe, TheBostonChannel
Date: March 24, 2004
CANTON, Mass. -- A family court judge ordered a tearful Bobby Brown jailed for 90 days or until he can come up $63,500 in child support payments that he owes the mother of two children he fathered.
The singer, a Roxbury native, was released early from a Georgia jail so he could attend the hearing. Brown was crying as he was led from the courtroom at Norfolk Probate and Family Court and taken to the county jail in Dedham.
Judge Paula Carey found him in contempt of court and ordered him jailed after Brown testified that he was unable to pay the child support he owes for two children, now 12 and 14, that he fathered with Kim Ward, of Stoughton, who filed the paternity claim.
Carey said the financial statement the troubled former pop star provided the court "lacks all credibility" and declined his lawyers' offers to pay $10,000 by the end of Wednesday, an additional $15,000 within ten days and negotiate the rest.
Brown, who was more than four hours late for the hearing, testified in a hushed voice, telling the judge that he was unable to pay because he had no job and no income.
"I never wanted this to happen," he said.
His attorney, Vincent Dimmock, said although Brown had been a successful pop singer in the 1980s and early 1990s, he has "been nowhere near that in recent years."
Dimmock said Brown was emotional and upset not because he was being taken to jail, but because "his children are involved."
"He cares deeply for his children," Dimmock said.
Brown was jailed in DeKalb County, Ga., after he violated his probation on a drunken driving charge. The violations included his refusal to take drug tests and pay his probation fees, and failing to show proof that he attended counseling and completed his house arrest.
DeKalb County Sheriff Thomas Brown agreed to release Brown three days early after he received the order to appear in the Massachusetts court.
Brown also faces misdemeanor battery charges after he allegedly hit his wife, singer Whitney Houston, leaving her with a bruised cheek and a cut lip. He's scheduled to appear May 5 in a Fulton County, Ga., court on that charge.
Houston, who recently checked herself into a drug rehabilitation center, did not attend Wednesday's hearing.
Brown said he planned to have an album out within 30 days and begin production of movie in Los Angeles. But after the judge was told Brown had not received an advance for the album, Carey said "I don't find it credible that no money has been advanced at all."
Ward's attorney, Linda Medonis, said her client was a "gracious and classy lady" who was seeking the money because she cares about her children.
Bobby Brown Jailed (Again) For Failure To Pay Child Support
Bobby Brown obviously wasn't channeling the future when he told reporters earlier this week, "This is the last time you'll see me coming out of [jail] or going in."
The 35-year-old R&B singer headed back to jail Wednesday (March 24) -- this time in Massachusetts' Norfolk County -- pending payment of $63,000 in back child support to ex-girlfriend Kim Ward.
Brown was released from Georgia's DeKalb County Jail, where he was serving another sentence, to face contempt-of-court charges levied by Ward. Ward is the mother of two children -- LaPrincia, 14, and Bobby Jr., 12, according to the Boston Herald -- Bobby fathered before marrying Whitney Houston.
Brown had been under a court order to pay $5,500 a month to Ward and had complied since the case was adjudicated in the early '90s, according to Norfolk County Register of Probate Patrick McDermott, until last May, when the payments stopped. Brown was in the midst of serving a 60-day sentence in DeKalb County for violating his drunken-driving probation when he was released to attend Wednesday's mandatory child-support hearing.
"It was an emergency based upon the fact that the family of Mr. Brown's ex-girlfriend was without any income," McDermott said, "and his basically not having paid since last May has made their financial situation grave, to the tune that they may lose their home."
Brown was originally scheduled to go free Thursday, after completing about half his jail time, for good behavior. This was the second time he'd been summoned to appear in Norfolk County on the child-support matter, and his previous failure to do so led Judge Paula Carey to sentence him to jail time, lest he disappear again.
Carey also chastised Brown on his tardiness. Initially scheduled to appear at 8:30 a.m., Brown did not arrive until 12:45 p.m. His hearing was pushed to 2 p.m., an unusual same-day rescheduling that was another result of the court's fears that Brown could not be trusted to make a third court date.
Meanwhile, Houston, who has been famously supportive of her husband -- even after he was charged with misdemeanor battery for allegedly hitting her in December -- did not show up to stand by her man. The 40-year-old diva checked herself into a drug-rehab facility on March 15.
Brown will continue his courtroom tour on May 5, when a Fulton County, Georgia, judge is scheduled to rule on the battery charge.
--Nadira A. Hira
Not His Prerogative
Roxbury native and former New Edition singer Bobby Brown is apparently headed this way. The Associated Press reported yesterday that Whitney Houston's husband has been released from jail in Georgia so he can attend a court hearing in Canton related to child support payments. (A Robert Brown is on the docket today at Norfolk Probate and Family Court at 8:30 a.m., according to a clerk there.) Brown's attorney, Vincent Dimmock, said the case involves Brown's two children in Massachusetts. "We're trying to see if we can resolve the matter," Dimmock told the AP. Brown, who's serving 60 days in jail for violating probation, has faced paternity suits before in the Bay State. In 1995, a Roxbury woman claimed the "Humpin' Around" singer fathered her baby but never paid child support. Houston, holed up for the past week at an undisclosed drug rehab center, is "taking care of herself at the moment and continues to support her husband," her publicist Nancy Seltzer said yesterday. Meanwhile, Houston's spiritual adviser, Prince Asiel Ben Israel, told CBS that it was the celebrity lifestyle that led to the singer's addiction to painkillers. "When you've got the demands of the press and the demands of your public, you're trying to take a pill to stay up and one to lay down."
Singer Bobby Brown Appears In Court
Woman Says Brown Behind On Child Support Payments
BOSTON -- Singer and Boston native Bobby Brown was brought to tears in a Bay State courtroom Wednesday.
NewsCenter 5's Pam Cross reported that a family court judge hearing a child support case against him ordered Brown to pay up, or face lock-up. Brown was 10 months behind on child support payments.
Brown cried as the hearing began. In a hushed voice he told the court he regretted what had happened.
"Kim, she knows how much I care about my children ... I will never ... I will never ... I never wanted this to happen," said Brown.
His attorney, Vincent Dimmock, told the court that Brown hasn't paid $63,000 in child support because he is unemployed. He made money in the 80s and 90s, but hasn't had a major hit since. Dimmock said that Brown is living off his wife's resources. Brown is married to singer Whitney Houston.
Kim Ward, the mother of Brown's 14-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son, called Brown to court. Ward lives in Stoughton, Mass., and is reportedly in danger of losing her home.
"He has an obligation to support his children. He has not paid one dime in child support since May of 2003. That's unacceptable," Ward's attorney, Linda Medonis, said.
After hearing both sides, the judge decided that Brown should be taken into custody, and held on $63,000, which is the amount owed in child support.
"This was not a joyous occasion. This was not an occasion where [Ward] felt like she achieved victory. It was a difficult day with an appropriate resolution. We are just glad it is over," Medonis said.
"We are obviously not pleased with the result of today's hearing. We hope that this matter can be resolved in the very near future. Bobby asked that all of his friends and fans continue to pray for him as he goes through this ordeal," Dimmock said.
Dimmock said that Brown was crying in court because he cares for his children and was upset at the public spectacle.
Site design by: Dolphin Webpage Designs © 1996-2004