Russell Brand Arrested for Battery After Paparazzi Incident
Celebrities getting into altercations with the paparazzi is nothing new. Neither are altercations at the airport. So the only new thing with this type of encounter is which celebrity loses his temper with the all too aggressive paparazzi. Enter Russell Brand at the Los Angeles International Airport.
According to The Los Angeles Times, comedian Russell Brand was arrested for battery after a paparazzi incident at the airport this past Friday. The 35 year-old Brand was set to board a flight with his fiancée, Katy Perry, when Brand shoved one of the photographers that was following the celebrity couple. Katy Perry obviously took to twitter to comment about the incident, "If you cross the line and try and put a lens up my dress, my fiancé will do his job and protect me."
Battery is a charge that carries a fine and potential jail time, depending on the nature of the incident. The interesting part of this encounter has less to do with the charge and more to do with how Russell Brand was arrested. The paparazzi made the initial arrest, known as a citizen's arrest, to detain Brand before police arrived. A citizen's arrest, which is most common in cases of shoplifting (when a store owner detains a shoplifter until proper authorities arrive) allows an ordinary citizen to detain another until police arrive.
In the U.S., citizen's arrests are permissible in every state except North Carolina, although the permissible circumstances for the informal arrest vary considerably between states. Citizen's arrest can be controversial in some cases, as there are potential false imprisonment implications for the individual attempting to detain the other party to the encounter. In this case, TMZ cameras were, of course, filming the entire encounter. Brand paid a $20,000 bail, and could face up to six months in jail for a misdemeanor battery conviction.
Related Resources:
- Russell Brand Arrested - by a Paparazzo (People)
- Nicky Hilton Makes Citizen's Arrest of Man Outside IHOP; Can She Do That? (FindLaw's Common Law)
- Actor Sean Penn Charged with Battery and Vandalism (FindLaw's Celebrity Justice)
- Process: The California Criminal Court (provided by Law Offices of Shelley D. Dwyer)