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Charlie Sheen Charged With Assault On Wife Brooke Mueller; But Couple Hugs, Leaves Court Together

(AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)
(AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
ASPEN, Colo. (CBS/AP) Actor Charlie Sheen was formally charged with assault today stemming from his arrest Christmas Day after a heated argument with his wife Brooke Mueller. The 44-year-old actor was also charged in an Aspen, Colo. court with felony menacing and misdemeanor criminal mischief.

Photo: Actor Charlie Sheen.

Still, the couple hugged after the proceeding and left the court together, after the judge modified a protective order in the case.

PICTURES: Bad Boy Charlie Sheen

The star of TV's "Two and a Half Men" was arrested in Aspen Dec. 25 after Mueller called police and told them he pulled a knife on her during an argument and threatened to have her killed.

Photo: Charlie Sheen and Brooke Mueller.
PICTURES: Bad Boy Charlie Sheen

Details of the case against the actor were not read in Aspen's Pitkin County District Court Monday, but the judge did lift a "no contact" portion of a stay away order that kept the two apart. The restraining order imposed in December had barred Sheen from talking to or having contact with his wife.

Lawyers for Sheen and Mueller asked to have the order lifted, and prosecutors did not object.

Sheen and Mueller, the actor's third wife, married in 2008 and have twin sons.

Mueller previously told police the couple had argued furiously and that Sheen pulled out a knife and held it to her throat when she threatened to divorce him and take their children.

The officer said Mueller reported her husband also told her that he could hire ex-police "who know how to get the job done and they won't leave any trace."

In an audio recording of a 911 call, a woman who identifies herself as Brooke tells the dispatcher that Charlie Sheen threatened her with a knife and added, "I thought I was gonna die for one hour."

She said at least five times during the four-minute call that she wanted to file a report. "It's happened before," she said, according to the affidavit.

But Yale Galanter, Mueller's attorney, has said she hired him "because she is a witness against her husband and she wants him to continue being her husband."

He called it "a very interesting legal conundrum.... Events occurred. She gave a sworn statement to a law enforcement officer. She wants to work on her marriage and she wants to honor her legal obligations."

No plea was entered Monday. Charlie Sheen is due back in court in March.

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PICTURES: Bad Boy Charlie Sheen

MORE ON CRIMESIDER
December 29, 2009 - Charlie Sheen and His Abusive Past: The Case of Ex-Girlfriend Brittany Ashland
December 29, 2009 - Charlie Sheen Threatened to Kill Me on Christmas Day, Wife Brooke Mueller Told Police
December 29, 2009 - Charlie Sheen 911 Call Transcript: "I'm Scared For My Life," Says Wife Brooke Mueller
December 28, 2009 - Charlie Sheen Spends Christmas Day Behind Bars for Alleged Domestic Abuse

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