Chris Brown knows the drill.
During his appearance today in a Washington, D.C., courtroom, a judge reduced the felony assault charge the singer was facing for allegedly punching a man in the face during a fight that broke out early Sunday morning and ordered Brown released from custody.
He is now scheduled to return to court to answer to a charge of simple misdemeanor assault on Nov. 25 and he must stay away from the alleged victim, 20-year-old Parker Isaac Adams, in the meantime.
According to authorities, the altercation took place just before 4:30 a.m., local time, near the W Hotel. The alleged victim needed medical attention for his injuries, the extent of which led to the initial felony charge. Another man, 35-year-old Christopher Hollosy, had also been charged with assault.
"I'm not down with that gay s--t," Brown was heard saying before allegedly hitting Adams after the younger man tried to squeeze into a photo with the singer and two other people, according to the police report obtained by E! News. Brown also said, "I feel like boxing," per the report.
Brown has denied hitting Adams, according to a witness statement obtained by TMZ.
The F.A.M.E. artist, who has one year of probation left stemming from his 2009 assault on Rihanna, spent the night in jail and remained in custody leading up to his arraignment.
Brown's mother, Joyce Hawkins, was in the courtroom to support her son, as was rapper Trey Songz. A number of fans wielding "Free Chris!" signs showed up outside as well.
"Mr. Brown committed no crime," his attorney, Danny Onorato, told E! News after the hearing. "We understand that his security staff acted to protect Mr. Brown and his property as is authorized by District of Columbia law. We are confident that Mr. Brown will be exonerated of any wrongdoing."The 24-year-old's probation was temporarily revoked following his involvement in an alleged hit-and-run accident. The charge was ultimately dropped but a judge gave him 1,000 hours of community service to perform when he reinstated his probation.
Also earlier this year, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office called into question whether Brown had legitimately completed the 180 days of community labor he was sentenced to as part of his 2009 plea deal.
Brown was supposed to host a costume party on Halloween at L.A. Live, but there's no word yet on whether that's still on his schedule.
