An actor on the hit TV show “Scandal” was arrested Wenesday on a felony complaint charging him with one count of felony battery with serious bodily injury, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced.
Columbus Keith Short was booked by the Claremont Police Department and released on a $50,000 bail.
Short allegedly punched a male guest at a West Los Angeles restaurant on March 15, knocking the victim out. The felony complaint for arrest warrant was filed Tuesday by Deputy District Attorney Lester Kuriyama with the Airport Branch.
Arraignment information in the will be announced later. If convicted, Short faces up to four years in state prison.
The Los Angeles Police Department investigated the case.
TV’s Judge Joe Brown was jailed on a contempt of court charge issued by a Tennessee juvenile judge Monday, according to a court spokesman.
Brown, 66, was sentenced to five days in jail after he became “pretty raucous” and “challenged the authority” of Magistrate Harold Horne, another judge told CNN. He was later released on his own recognizance, CNN Memphis affiliate WMC-TV reported, citing the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office.
Brown, a former Shelby County criminal judge, was in court to represent a client in a child-support case. He apparently became upset when he was told the case was not on the afternoon docket, Chief Magistrate Dan Michael said.
Horne, who “is a real laid-back guy,” gave Brown several chances to calm down before finding him in contempt, Michael said.
Horne held Brown was in contempt five times “before they were able to get him out of the courtroom,” Michael said.
The court staff and judges “were all kind of floored” by Brown’s behavior, Michael said.
Brown was booked into the Shelby County jail in Memphis Monday afternoon, sheriff’s spokesman Chip Washington said.
Brown presided over a syndicated reality TV show based on court case arbitration for 15 years until it was canceled last year.
He announced his candidacy for the Shelby County district attorney post last month.
CNN News Wire contributed to this report.
