Chris Brown's Lawyer Wants Police Records Regarding Photo Leak

An attorney for embattled pop star Chris Brown filed a motion Wednesday in a Los Angeles court, seeking information on the 25 police personnel involved in his client's criminal case, and those who are investigating the February leak of photos showing a bruised and beaten Rihanna.

Brown has been charged with felony assault and making criminal threats in connection with the attack on then-girlfriend Rihanna over Grammy weekend. According to the Associated Press, Mark Geragos also wants access to those officers' investigative records, as well as all records connected to the domestic incident, and said he hopes the documents can help him discredit some of the prosecution's police witnesses during a preliminary hearing set for early June. Geragos' motion, which also requests misconduct complaints against the involved officers, will be heard May 28th.

"The purpose of the leak was necessarily for profit and to vilify Mr. Brown and poison the potential jury pool," Geragos wrote in his motion, adding that the leak has significantly tarnished his client's reputation.

Various reports, including this one from the Los Angeles Times, suggest the leak may serve as a focal point in Brown's defense, and that his lawyer wants the records in order to mount a successful dismissal.

Geragos has intimated in the past that leaks are often used as the "basis for a motion to dismiss the case in regard to outrageous governmental misconduct," TMZ notes. Soon after the photo — which shows scratches and swelling about Rihanna's face — leaked and was published on TMZ, the Los Angeles Police Department launched an urgent internal inquiry into the leaking of what's essentially evidence in a criminal case.

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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