Bobby Brown Charged With Battery...

[From Associated Press]

ATLANTA — Singer Bobby Brown was charged with battery Wednesday, three days after he allegedly hit his wife, singer and actress Whitney Houston.

Fulton County police spokesman Kurtis Young said Brown, 34, turned himself in. He is scheduled to appear at a preliminary hearing Jan. 7.

The couple and their attorneys met with police Wednesday afternoon in Fulton County Magistrate Court, where Brown was issued a copy of the citation, said Terry Mulkey, deputy chief of the county police. They left together afterwards.

Brown's lawyer, Maurice Bennett, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Brown and Houston are attempting to work out the problem "as husband and wife."

Houston, 40, declined comment, except through her attorney, Mark Trigg.

"She is trying to resolve the matter privately," Trigg said.

Simple battery is a misdemeanor in Georgia, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. Normally on a first offense in domestic violence cases, the charge is dismissed if the defendant undergoes counseling.

On Sunday, Fulton police responded to a call by Houston to the couple's home at the Country Club of the South near Alpharetta. Houston told police Brown had struck her on the left side of her face with an open right hand.

Police said Houston had a bruised cheek and a cut inside her upper lip.

Tuesday night, police returned to the couple's home and spoke to Houston.

Brown served seven days in DeKalb County Jail in August for violating his probation for a 1996 drunken driving conviction.

NEWSFILE: 11 DECEMBER 2003