Singer Bobby Brown posts bond on misdemeanor battery charge

Monday, July 12th 2004, 6:07 am

By: News On 6

ATLANTA (AP) _ R&B singer Bobby Brown turned himself in to jail officials Sunday night _ a few hours before a court-imposed deadline _ and was released after posting a $2,000 bond on charges he hit his wife, singer Whitney Houston.

``He arrived at the jail, was photographed and fingerprinted and posted his bond,'' said Lt. Clarence Huber of the Fulton County Sheriff's Department.

In May, a judge had ordered there was enough evidence for Brown to stand trial on misdemeanor battery charges for allegedly hitting Houston in the face at their home near Alpharetta, a suburb north of Atlanta.

The judge had given Brown until midnight Sunday to turn himself in, and the singer showed up with less than four hours to spare.

Simple battery is 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.

Brown left R&B group New Edition in the late 1980s for a solo career. His hits include ``My Prerogative'' and ``Every Little Step,'' but he has become more famous for his numerous brushes with the law and his turbulent marriage with Houston.

In February, Brown spent a month in jail for multiple probation violations before being released a month early for a March child-support hearing in Massachusetts. There, he spent another night in jail before paying a former lover more than $60,000 in back child-support payments.