12/07/05: Foxy Brown Deaf
Foxy Brown's assault trial was postponed untill December 23 Monday, after it was revealed in court that the rapper is almost completely deaf. The news came about after Judge Melissa Jackson questioned why Brown and her attorney, Joseph Tacopina, spent the morning exchanging notes. "She can't hear me," Tacopina said. "Anything I have to communicate with her now has to be written. It's dialogue, communication." While the 25-year-old spoke of her hearing problems back in September, the extent and severity of the loss was previously unknown. Brown, who subsequently had surgery for the ailment, also refused to disclose the potential cause of the loss. Tacopina said that his client will undergo a second surgery to try to regain some of her hearing before her next court appearance later this month, though the chances of a full recovery are unclear.
"Hopefully [the condition] is reversible," he said. "She has to undergo another surgery." Brown was in court Monday for what was to be the start of her criminal trial. The rapper, whose real name is Inga Marchand, was arrested in August 2004 for misdemeanor assault and harassment stemming from a dispute at a New York nail salon. Two workers at Manhattan's Bloomie Nails claim that the rapper assaulted them after they refused to let her leave their salon without paying her manicure bill. Prosecutors claim that the Def Jam artist attacked the workers, kicking one of them and punching another in the face with her cell phone. For her part, Brown denies the allegations, but does say she was overcharged for the nail work. "I'm innocent," she said in her September hearing. "I feel like I'm being railroaded."
Brown has pleaded not guilty to the charges and has twice turned down prosecution's offer for a plea bargain in which the rapper would have received probation in exchange for accepting lesser charges.
Tracopino said Monday that he did not want to expose Brown to being named in a civil lawsuit by pleading guilty to assault. However, the attorney says he hopes to reach a better deal with prosecutors before the next court date.
"We're concerned about the motives of others," Tracopino said. "She's been seen as a bull's-eye for a quick payday."
While both health and legal woes forced Brown to stop touring earlier this fall, she does have one project in the works. Her anticipated new album, Black Roses, hits stores in 2006.
Source: Celeb Blogspot
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