Judge revokes Chris Brown's probation, allows him to remain free

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Singer Chris Brown's probation was revoked on Thursday when a judge found he should not have left Los Angeles County to perform in San Jose without the court's permission, but the entertainer was allowed to remain free at least until March. The "Turn Up the Music" singer was ordered to return for a probation violation hearing on March 20, Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office, said in an email. Brown, 25, appeared in court with his girlfriend, model Karrueche Tran, after performing at a club last weekend in San Jose in Northern California where police said five people were shot and wounded. Under the terms of his probation, Brown was not allowed to leave Los Angeles County. Brown's attorney Mark Geragos said in court that his office had mistakenly informed the singer he could go to Northern California without the judge's permission. But Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James Brandlin said Brown was responsible for following the terms of his probation and Brandlin ordered that it be revoked, but allowed the R&B singer to remain free at least until the upcoming hearing. The singer's probation stems from his pleading guilty in 2009 to assaulting singer Rihanna, his girlfriend at the time, on the eve of the Grammy Awards. In 2013, Judge Brandlin revoked Brown's probation after he was accused of punching a man trying to get a picture of the singer in Washington, D.C., but he was not taken into custody in Los Angeles at that time because of good reports on his progress. In March 2014, Brown was kicked out of a court-ordered rehabilitation in California and as a result was placed in Los Angeles County jail until June. Brown last September pleaded guilty to a misdemeanour assault charge in connection with the scuffle in Washington and received a sentence of the two days he had already served in jail in that case. Judge Brandlin said that in general Brown has been making progress and working at his community service. The singer has 200 hours of community service to complete, Robison said. Brown, who first made his mark in the music world as a teenager, has been able to bounce back professionally and regain his popularity after he was widely condemned for his assault on the world-famous Rihanna. (Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis and Lucy Nicholson; Editing by Eric Walsh)