A Georgia judge yesterday (Nov. 12) ordered singer Bobby Brown, arrested last week in Atlanta on drug and speeding charges, to stand trial later this month on 1996 charges including driving under the influence of alcohol. Brown, the 33-year-old husband of pop diva Whitney Houston, stood silently in a courtroom in the Atlanta suburb of Decatur, Ga., as DeKalb County Judge Wayne Purdom ordered him to return to court on Nov. 25 to face trial on the six-year-old misdemeanor charges.
Purdom also told the singer to remain in the state of Georgia and to report to county authorities each week until the trial. Brown had failed to appear in court after his 1996 arrest.
Xavier Dicks, Brown’s lawyer, said he had held talks with DeKalb County prosecutors in an effort to resolve the 1996 charges. “I’m confident that we’ll resolve this case,” possibly before the trial date, Dicks said.
Brown was arrested in 1996 and charged with misdemeanor counts of driving under the influence, failure to show proof of insurance, speeding, and failing to maintain a lane while driving. Gwen Keyes, solicitor for DeKalb County, said the maximum penalty for any misdemeanor was up to a year in jail.
The 1996 charges resurfaced when the singer was arrested last week in Atlanta and charged with possessing less than an ounce of marijuana, speeding, and having no driver’s license or proof of insurance. After Brown posted bond for those charges, Atlanta police turned him over to authorities in nearby DeKalb County.
Brown is scheduled to appear in an Atlanta court next month to answer the charges stemming from last week’s arrest.
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