Brown Out, Paternity Suit Looms

DeKalb County Sheriff Thomas Brown agreed to release Bobby Brown from jail Monday after it was learned that the singer's presence is required in a paternity suit in Massachusetts.

Sheriff Brown said he was presented with an order requiring the singer to appear in family court in an emergency hearing Wednesday in Massachusetts. After conferring with Judge Wayne Purdom, the sheriff consented to the release.

Brown was released at 4:30 p.m. Monday.

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

The sheriff's office originally said Brown was being released so he could make a court appearance in Virginia, but said later that Brown was released to appear in the Norfolk County Probate and Family Court in Massachusetts on a case "related to child support payments."

Harriet Sullivan, office manager at the Massachusetts court, said that a "Robert Brown" was on the docket for 8:30 a.m. Wednesday for a contempt hearing in a paternity suit.

She said the lawyers' names in the case weren't immediately available.

The singer was sentenced in Georgia for five violations including his refusal to take drug tests and pay his probation fees. Brown also had been charged for failing to provide proof that he underwent counseling and completed his house arrest.

The fifth violation relates to a December misdemeanor battery charge in which police said Brown hit his wife, Grammy-winning singer Whitney Houston, leaving her with a bruised cheek and a cut inside her lip. Brown is scheduled to appear May 5 in a Fulton County court on that charge.

Brown was scheduled to be released on March 25 based on his trusty status and "good time" served.