Charlie Sheen Possible Plea Deal Delayed for a Month
Charlie Sheen had been expected to accept plea deal today
June 7, 2010— -- A hearing on a possible plea deal for Charlie Sheen in his domestic abuse case in Colorado has been delayed until next month, according to the Associated Press. Lawyers met Monday at the courthouse, with prosecutors saying they needed more time to work out the agreement.
Sheen, had been expected to plead guilty to misdemeanor assault today in exchange for prosecutors dropping more serious charges. Sheen, 44, had been charged with second-degree assault, menacing and criminal mischief in a case involving a domestic dispute with wife Brooke Mueller on Christmas Day in Aspen, Colo.
The sentence had been expected for Sheen to teach by day and report to prison at night.
An attorney for Sheen's wife, Yale Galanter, told The Associated Press today that Sheen's plea deal would have called for him to serve a 30-day jail sentence and three months probation. During his jail term, Sheen would be released during the day to work at Theatre Aspen, a local theater company.
Pitkin County Chief Deputy District Attorney Arnold Mordkin didn't elaborate on the plea deal delay.
According to Theatre Aspen's Paige Price, given his gig on CBS' "Two and a Half Men," Sheen is likely to teach a class that focuses on TV acting.
"Charlie would most likely do a separate class that people would be invited to," she said. "It would be open to anyone with acting experience. I'd imagine we'd want him to do a workshop on acting for the camera."
Though she anticipates Sheen's class will attract a lot of potential students, Price asserted it won't be a free-for-all. The class, which will likely run two to three hours long, will cater to those serious about acting, not Sheen's celebrity.
"I want it to be a meaningful class," she said. "I have no interest in it being a sideshow."
According to California defense attorney Dana Cole, Sheen's expected 30 days in jail is standard for his offense, considering he hasn't been convicted of assault before. But he probably couldn't expect a day release from prison to teach acting if he were not a celebrity.
"If he did pull a knife on her [as Mueller claimed in her 911 call] 30 days would not be an unusual sentence," Cole said. "But one can't think of a situation where an inmate is allowed to teach theater groups by day."
Last week, Sheen, the highest-paid actor on TV, reached an agreement with the Colorado prosecutor. He originally pleaded not guilty to all the charges at an arraignment hearing in March and had been set to go to trial next month.
Since his arrest last year, Sheen has worked to reconcile with Mueller, rebuild their family -- they have one-year-old twin sons Bob and Max -- and repair his public image.
Last month, Sheen signed on for two more years of his successful sitcom, putting an end to a long salary dispute and rumors that he wanted out to focus more on film.
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