Prosecutor: James Brown has pleaded guilty to domestic violence

<p>Entertainer James Brown told prosecutors in a letter received Monday that he would forgo a jury trial and not contest a charge of criminal domestic violence because he wanted to keep his family matters private.</p><p>Brown, 71, was arrested in January and accused of pushing his wife, Tommie Rae Hynie, and threatening to kill her during an argument at their home on Beech Island, near Augusta, Ga.</p><p>He initially said he would fight the charges but instead forfeited his $1,087 bond and "basically, he says, 'I give up,'" Aiken County assistant solicitor Anthony Odom said Monday.</p><p>Brown's attorney Jim Huff of North Augusta said the action is the same as being convicted but "Mr. Brown does not admit to being guilty of this crime."</p><p>Huff said Brown didn't want his wife to have to testify at trial.</p><p>"A public trial would subject Tommie Rae Hynie to cross examination and challenge her veracity which would have the potential of harming Mr. Brown and Ms. Hynie's relationship," the letter to prosecutors said. "My client desires to avoid this."</p><p>Brown's legal troubles led Augusta city officials last month to delay the unveiling of a statue honoring him. A spokesman for Augusta Mayor Bob Young said no decision had been made about the statue.</p><p>The city has changed the name of its annual James Brown Music Festival back to its original name of Garden City Music Festival.</p><p>Frank Copsidas of Intrigue Music, Brown's management firm, said the singer will be on a one-month European tour later this month and Hynie planned to accompany him. Copsidas said the decision was made to "keep their family matters private."</p><p>The legal status of Brown's marriage to his former backup singer has been in question since his arrest. He filed for annulment following his arrest, claiming she was still married to another man.</p><p>Last month, a Family Court judge dissolved her 1997 marriage to a Pakistani man on the grounds that it was never consummated.</p><p>Huff said the Browns' first marriage was void because Hynie, 35, was still married to someone else, but they are continuing with the annulment process. "My understanding is there is interest" in getting remarried, Huff said.</p><p>Odom said the plea won't affect a pardon Brown received in May 2003 but he will have a new conviction on his record.</p><p>South Carolina's Probation, Parole and Pardon Services board unanimously granted Brown a pardon for seven convictions over a 10-year period. Some of the convictions involved weapons and drugs. The pardon came despite opposition from the prosecutor's office, four police officers and the board's own investigator, records showed.</p><p>After Brown was charged in January, critics said it proved he should not have been pardoned and some called for changes in the state's pardon system.</p>