Bobby Brown pleads not guilty

Los Angeles – Whitney Houston’s ex-husband Bobby Brown pleaded not guilty on Monday to a charge of drunk driving and driving on a suspended license in Los Angeles last month.

Brown, 43, a singer with the 1980s boy band New Direction, did not appear in court for Monday’s hearing and his plea was entered by his lawyer. A pre-trial hearing was set for May 16.

The singer was arrested on March 26, about six weeks , when police pulled him over for talking on his cellphone while driving. He then failed a sobriety test, police said.

Brown has a string of arrests over the years for battery, drunk driving and parole violations. He was married to Houston for almost 15 years, and their relationship was marked by what the I Will Always Love You singer later described as heavy cocaine use and bizarre behaviour.

on February 11 in an accident triggered by cocaine use and heart disease, a Los Angeles coroner’s report said.