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Chris Brown Taken Into Custody By US Marshals For Assault Case In Washington D.C.

LOS ANGELES (CBS/AP) — Chris Brown has been taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Service and will be transported to Washington, D.C., for an upcoming misdemeanor assault trial, an official announced Thursday.

Brown, 24, was turned over to marshals Wednesday at a Los Angeles jail, marshals' spokeswoman Laura Vega said.

KCAL9's Adrianna Weingold reported the R&B singer will be taken to D.C. sometime in the next few days.

Brown and his bodyguard are accused of punching a 20-year-old man outside a Washington hotel last October.

The star remains under court supervision in Los Angeles for a felony assault case filed after his 2009 attack on then-girlfriend Rihanna.

He has been held without bail in the city since mid-March, when he was discharged from a court-ordered abuse and anger management facility for violating the rules.

He could not be moved to Washington until federal prosecutors — who handle all serious criminal cases in the nation's capital — obtained a court order there.

The order authorized the transfer of Brown by federal marshals for the trial set to begin later this month.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James R. Brandlin ruled Thursday that having Brown go on trial in Washington was the most efficient way to handle his legal troubles.

"It is the most expeditious and convenient method for all parties," Brandlin wrote in his ruling.

Defense attorney Mark Geragos had been trying to block Brown's transfer in the custody of marshals, arguing it would deprive him of a chance to properly prepare for the trial.

Brandlin rejected that argument and canceled a hearing scheduled for Thursday on the motion by Geragos, who wrote in an email that the Marshals Service took Brown into custody just hours after the lawyer filed the motion.

Geragos has sought the dismissal of the misdemeanor assault case, and a hearing on that request is scheduled for Monday in Washington.

If convicted in the Washington case, Brown could face additional penalties, including time behind bars, under the terms of a court order in the Rihanna case.

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