Cocaine found in singer Chris Brown's hotel room not his, he wants to sue rape accuser for defamation: Lawyer

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The entrance to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, where US musician Chris Brown was staying, in Paris on Jan 22, 2019. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

PARIS (AFP) - French police probing rape claims against American R&B star Chris Brown found cocaine and cannabis in his Paris hotel suite, his lawyer said on Wednesday (Jan 23), while denying that the cocaine belonged to the singer.

Brown's French lawyer, Mr Raphael Chiche, confirmed that the 29-year-old was found in possession of cannabis during his arrest at the luxury Mandarin Oriental hotel on Monday night over claims that he assaulted a woman a week earlier.

But the Grammy Award-winning singer had a note from his American doctor covering his use of the drug for medicinal purposes, Mr Chiche said.

The cocaine found "was not his" and "belonged to those who had come to party in his suite on the night of January 20-21", the lawyer added.

Brown, his bodyguard and a friend were arrested after a 25-year-old woman accused them of raping her in the Mandarin Oriental, where he was staying while attending shows during men's fashion week in the French capital.

After being held for 24 hours, the three were released without charge on Tuesday night.

Mr Chiche said his client wanted to bring a defamation lawsuit.

"He says he had no sexual relations of any sort with the complainant," Mr Chiche said.

The singer, who denies the allegations, posted a picture on his Instagram account after his release that read "This B!tch Lyin'".

"I WANNA MAKE IT PERFECTLY CLEAR...... THIS IS FALSE AND A WHOLE LOT OF CAP! (sic)," he posted next to the picture.

The post has since been removed from Instagram.

STILL UNDER INVESTIGATION

The prosecutor's office said the three men were still under investigation on suspicion of aggravated rape and a drug offence.

The alleged victim told police she met Brown at a nightclub near the Champs-Elysees avenue with a group of other women on the night of Jan 15.

She then agreed to go back to the singer's hotel, on the glitzy boutique-lined Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore.

Mr Chiche said that his client was now free to return to the United States but would continue to cooperate with investigators and "will come back if he has to".

Brown has been in the news more for his legal troubles than his hit releases in recent years.

In 2009, he was convicted of beating fellow singer Rihanna, his girlfriend at the time, who was forced to miss the Grammy Awards because of her injuries.

Brown was sentenced to five years' probation and six months of community service for the assault.

In 2014, he pleaded guilty to assaulting a fan in Washington and two years later he was arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon following a stand-off with Los Angeles police officers.

He is best known for his hits in the mid-2000s such as Kiss Kiss and Run It.

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