Russell Brand gets community service in New Orleans case

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Actor and comedian Russell Brand must perform 20 hours of community service and pay a $500 court fee to resolve a misdemeanor charge over a confrontation with a photographer in New Orleans, where he was filming a movie in March.

Brand wasn’t in a New Orleans courtroom Thursday when his attorney, Robert Glass, entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf to a charge of simple criminal damage to property. The charge carries a maximum sentence of six months in jail.

Brand turned himself in to police three days after his encounter with a man trying to take his picture with a phone. Police said Brand grabbed the phone and threw it at a building, breaking a window.

“He’s a good guy,” Glass said. “He was harassed.”

A deal with the district attorney’s office calls for the case to be dismissed if the actor completes the service requirement by Aug. 31, Glass said.