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Aspen Police mugshot image of Charlie Sheen after he was arrested on domestic assault charges on Christmas Day - Source: Reuters -
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Actor Charlie Sheen was charged on Tuesday with assaulting and
threatening his wife Brooke Mueller in a heated Christmas Day
argument.
But the couple left the court in the Colorado ski resort of Aspen
hugging each other, hoping the charges will be dropped, and
apparently planning to reconcile.
Sheen, 44, was arrested in the ski resort of Aspen, Colorado on
December 25 after Mueller called police and told them he pulled a
knife on her during an argument and threatened to have her killed.
Sheen spent the day behind bars before being released on
bail.
Sheen and Mueller, the actor's third wife, married in 2008 and have
infant twin sons.
The star of the CBS hit comedy Two and a Half Men, was charged with
felony menacing, misdemeanor assault and criminal mischief. The
menacing charge entails the alleged use of a deadly weapon in a
threatening manner.
Sheen could face up to three years behind bars if convicted. He did
not enter a plea and another hearing was set for March 15.
Judge James Boyd lifted a "no contact" portion of a restraining
order that had barred Sheen from speaking to Mueller or having
contact with her. Lawyers for both sides wanted the order
lifted.
Mueller, 32, told police in December that Sheen held a knife to her
throat and threatened to have her killed when she said she would
divorce him and take their children.
At the time, Sheen denied brandishing the knife but admitted
crumpling his wife's eyeglasses and said both of them had slapped
each other's arms, according to court records.
Mueller embraced Sheen as the end of Monday's brief hearing and the
pair left together.
"They hugged in the courtroom, they hugged downstairs and they are
hugging in the car," Mueller's lawyer, Yale Galanter, told
reporters after the hearing.
"It is Brooke's position that she would like the charges dismissed
and this case to be over," he added.
Sheen's film credits include Platoon and Wall Street but he is
best-known for his starring role as a womanising bachelor on the
CBS comedy Two and a Half Men - which has remained one of the most
popular shows on US television despite the case.
His Christmas Day arrest is not the first time he has been accused
of violence. He pleaded no contest to a 1997 battery charge on his
then girlfriend, and his second wife, Denise Richards, obtained a
restraining order against him in 2006.
