Seacrest Stalker Pleads Not Guilty

Chidi Benjamin Uzomah Jr. appeared in court the other day to plead not guilty in the case of stalking Ryan Seacrest. He has been charged with one count of stalking and two misdemeanor counts of violating a court order - which said for him to stay away from Seacrest.

A judge granted the permanent restraining order barring Uzomah to come within 100 yards of Seacrest

Balloon dad continues to speak out, maintains innocence

Richard Heene accused Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden of lying and manipulating evidence.

Specifically, he says his wife Mayumi Heene, who he says speaks poor English, never intended to call the incident a hoax to investigators.

“She was asked a question - a yes-or-no format - and the officer asked her, ‘Was this a hoax?’ She said, ‘Yes.’ Well, when we got home, she was bulking up in tears and she has the English-Japanese dictionary in front of her and she said, ‘I thought hoax meant exhibition.’ She gave me a hug, it was an awkward thing for her and she feels really guilty for stating the wrong set of words she wanted to use,” Heene said.

Alderden told NBC’s The Today Show Mayumi Heene’s comments were detailed.

“She took a polygraph, she failed it, she was confronted with the fact that she failed it and she immediately cooperated and gave up all of the facts,” Alderden said.

In November, Heene pleaded guilty to attempting to influence a public servant, which is a Class 3 felony. Last month, a judge sentenced Heene to 90 days in jail, 30 of which would be straight jail time. That sentence begins Monday.

During that sentencing hearing, Heene apologized to the rescue crews and community members who searched for his 6-year-old son Falcon for the Oct. 15 incident. The Heene family had told authorities their son was in a helium balloon. The sheriff’s office said later that it was all a hoax to get media attention.

Friday, Heene said his apology in court was not an admission.

“I’m not going to apologize for a hoax,” he said. “But I’m honest to God sorry that people got involved.”

9 News

Chris Brown Begins Community Service

On Wednesday, Chris Brown began the first of 180 days of community labor to which he was sentenced for assaulting former girlfriend Rihanna. In Richmond, Virginia, the 20-year-old R&B singer hacked at weeds, hauled broken metal fencing and even waved at the cameras observing his work, according to footage shot by a local CBS News affiliate.

Dressed in black jeans, a white tank top, a red baseball hat, heavy-duty work gloves and an orange-and-yellow traffic-safety vest, Brown toiled under the Virginia sun as police looked on. Brown slashed at weeds and tree branches, pausing to pick dirt from his metal tool and acknowledge reporters gathered to observe his day. At one point, he carried a section of metal fencing and tossed it away. Extra security has been required to supervise the celebrity, but Gene Lepley, a spokesman for the Richmond Police, said that the costs are being tabulated, and Brown will be responsible for the entire bill.

Posted on Brown’s new Web site, MechanicalDummy.com, is a photo of his labor with the following statement: “Stop and think back to the last time you accepted responsibility for something. Undertaking responsibility for each one of your actions is a difficult task, but by admitting your mistakes, you are taking your life to a higher level of accountability.”

That photo is followed by a picture of a “No Violence Break the Cycle” T-shirt. Brown also posted the photo of himself working to his Twitter account. “Check out my outfit,” he wrote.

Following his February incident with Rihanna, Brown was sentenced to the community labor, five years of probation and one year of domestic-violence counseling. He was also ordered to stay away from Rihanna for five years.