James Brown Released From Jail

Soul Singer, 70, Booked On Domestic Violence Charges

(AP)  James Brown was released from jail on a domestic violence charge Thursday and denied accusations he pushed his wife to the floor and threatened her with a chair.

The 70-year-old Godfather of Soul had been arrested the previous day at the couple's Beech Island home, and a widely circulated booking mug shot showed him wearing a bathrobe with his hair in a mess.

"The main thing is I would never hurt my wife and beat up on her like that," Brown said after leaving the jail dressed in a red-and-black pinstriped suit and a black cowboy hat. "I love her very much."

According to a sheriff's report, Brown pushed 33-year-old Tomi Rae Brown to the floor during an argument in a bedroom and threatened her while holding a chair over her. She had scratches and bruises to her right arm and hip and was taken to an Augusta, Ga., hospital, Aiken County deputies said.

During a 911 call Wednesday, the couple can be heard arguing before Brown tells the dispatcher she needs an ambulance.

"My husband just, me and him got in a fight, and he decided he wanted to pick up some things and throw them around. And I got in the way and he threw me down to the ground," she said. "He held an iron chair over me."

Tomi Rae Brown wasn't present at a Thursday hearing. She asked that Brown refrain from contact with her as a favor rather than having the court order it, Ann Bullock of Victims' Services said in court.

If convicted, Brown faces a maximum penalty of a $500 fine and 30 days in jail.

Brown's lawyer, Jim Huff, said his client denies the charges and asked to have the case heard by a jury.

Huff said the charges won't affect the state pardon the singer received in May. The pardon was for a 1988 drug and assault conviction, for which he spent 2½ years in jail, and a second drug-related offense in 1998. Brown was also arrested in 1988 after beating up his third wife, Adrienne.

Brown was among some 300,000 South Carolinians who lost power this week after ice covered power lines and broke tree limbs.

Huff said he hopes the "humor will die down" from Brown's mug shot.

"We would have liked for him to have had a chance ... to change into street clothes," Huff said. "Mr. Brown had been at home without power for three days. No baths. So yes, he looked less than what he usually does."