From the Associated Press
Rapper Jim Jones has made a return to a venue he'd rather avoid: a New York City courthouse.
"I'm trying to stay out of this place!" the hip-hop artist said with a smile as he left court after his arraignment Tuesday on charges of driving with a suspended license. In 2009, he pleaded guilty in the same courthouse to a misdemeanor assault charge for a punching a friend of R&B star Ne-Yo in a Louis Vuitton store.
Jones, who had one of the top-selling rap songs of 2007 with "We Fly High," was pulled over while driving a Bentley around noon March 30. Police found his license had been suspended over an unpaid ticket, according to a court document.
He told police he was en route to a video shoot and had a license, prosecutors said Tuesday. His lawyer, Marianne E. Bertuna, said the rapper believed his license was in good standing.
He's free without bail and due back in court in June. The top charge against him is a misdemeanor; he didn't enter a plea.
