Singer Brown freed - to face new court hearing

Whitney Houston’s husband, singer Bobby Brown, is to be released from jail in Atlanta to appear in a Virginia court.

DeKalb County Sheriff Thomas Brown said he was presented with an order requiring the R&B singer to appear in family court in an emergency hearing in Roanoke, Virginia, tomorrow.

After conferring with Judge Wayne Purdom, the sheriff consented to the release. They declined to say why Brown had been ordered to appear in Virginia.

Purdom sentenced Bobby Brown on February 27 to serve 60 days in the DeKalb County Jail after the singer violated his probation terms on a drunken driving charge.

The singer was sentenced for five violations including his refusal to take drug tests and pay his probation fees.

The 35-year-old Brown had also been charged with failing to provide proof that he underwent counselling and completed his house arrest.

A fifth violation relates to a December misdemeanour battery charge in which police said Brown hit Houston, leaving her with a bruised cheek and a cut inside her lip.

Brown is scheduled to appear in Fulton County court on May 5 on that charge.