An Atlanta judge ordered troubled R&B singer Bobby Brown to stand trial on charges that he battered wife Whitney Houston during a domestic dispute in December.

Brown must turn himself over to authorities in July for fingerprinting, and he will be released on $2,000 bail. The charge of simple battery carries a maximum of one year in prison and a fine, though as a first-time offender, Brown could get the charge tossed in exchange for undergoing counseling.

Brown has run afoul of the law on several occasions -- he's spent jail time in 2003 and 2004 for probation violations and failure to pay child support. He was arrested days after Houston made a call to police on December 7th, claiming he struck the left side of her face. Officers on the scene said that Houston suffered a cut lip. Brown recently appeared on NBC's Dateline and admitted to years of substance abuse, though he said the incident between him and Houston was overblown. "I'm not saying it was made up," he said. "It was just like, we play like that. We play slap box. And I guess one, she just took it a little serious."

Brown and Houston have been married since 1992 and have one child together.

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