Charlie Sheen charged with felony in alleged assault on wife in Aspen [Updated]

Actor Charlie Sheen was charged Monday with felony menacing, third-degree assault and criminal mischief stemming from a Christmas Day incident in which he allegedly held a knife to his wife's throat in their rented Aspen home.

Colorado 9th District Court Judge James B. Boyd allowed Sheen to return to Los Angeles with his wife, Brooke Mueller, and modified a protective order that had prohibited Sheen and Mueller from seeing each other.

Sheen is scheduled to return to court March 15. He and Mueller embraced after the hearing in Aspen and left the courthouse in separate vehicles.

The “Two and a Half Men” star was arrested Dec. 25 in Aspen after Mueller called police, saying she feared for her life. Sheen and Mueller had been arguing early that morning when she said she wanted a divorce, according to an affidavit.

Mueller, 32, told police that Sheen, 44, had pinned her to the bed, gripped her neck with one hand and held a knife to her throat with the other as he straddled her.

After Sheen was arrested, Boyd had ordered Sheen not to come into contact with his wife or possess or consume alcohol or other controlled substances. He was released that night from Pitkin County Jail on $8,500 bail.

Sheen requested and was allowed to visit Mueller in a Sherman Oaks hospital in late January after she suffered complications from oral surgery.

Sheen and Mueller married in May 2008, and Mueller gave birth to twin boys in March 2009.

Sheen previously pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of battery with serious bodily injury after a 1996 incident in which he was accused of knocking then-girlfriend Brittany Ashland to the ground.

The company that makes Hanes underwear, Hanesbrands, said in January that it had dropped Sheen from its advertising campaign because of the domestic violence-related charges against the actor.

Last Friday, burglars stole Sheen’s Mercedes-Benz after he left his garage door open with the keys in the car, which ended up crashed and abandoned in a ravine off Mulholland Drive.

Police have yet to find the burglars, who also stole items from other homes in Sheen’s gated community in Sherman Oaks.

-- Amina Khan

[Correction: An earlier version of this headline incorrectly said that Sheen had been charged with three felony counts. He was actually charged with one felony count and two misdemeanor counts.]

Photo: Charlie Sheen, right, arrives at the Pitkin County Courthouse in Aspen, Colo. Credit: David Zalubowski / Associated Press

Comments

[pcm]

He cracks me up!

[Shonna]

If they've reconciled then why is the government even still involved in this? What point is there to spending taxpayer dollars charging him with a felony over a family fight?

[Michelle Pierson]

Charlie sheen is a talented man.....he's human and things happen. Sometimes the disadvantage is the fact that others may use publicity to over exagerate or create situations with ill intent. Only persons involved know a situation and then it's from their perspective and so on. The media just gets more attention with a shocking story.

[Leebo]

Sorry, Charlie

[Ruby Jackson]

these two deserve each other. Poor kids.

[jack English]

OH, CHARLIE........A REEL TALENT.......(CAN PLAY SINATRA?)....JACK

[CBW]

Charlie Sheen has become a caricature of himself!

He looks exactly like the comic strip character "Doonesbury" !!

Go to jail, Charlie.

[Terrence]

I don't see how this could be anything but a DA seeking media attention: Not only is the wife not cooperating, she was plastered when the alleged incident happened and has a history of drug abuse. Given this (and regardless of what happened) I'm not seeing how they can win this or why he was even charged.

[Mark]

What kind of idiot leaves their garage door open with the keys in the car, and a Benz, no less!

[carolyn]

This is a Dr. Phil moment.

[Dirk]

Sadly, he'll no doubt be slapped on the wrist. No more than probation.

[Resident commentator]

Funny that just about any stories that appear about Charlie Sheen in the Times always attract a lion's share of those with Schadenfreude(delighting in the misfortunes of others like Charlie),

[John]

@Shonna - there is a little known tweak to the portion of constitutional law where "everyone is considered innocent until proven guilty."

For the record, I'm against violence in any form, and I'm not a lawyer.

The Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (check wikipedia for more) basically puts the police and prosecution in a position superior to the "women" who may or may not have been the victim. The reasoning is, that the woman, having suffered some sort of abuse, or having been continually abused verbally, or mentally, is not of sound mind to make decisions for herself, as she might be manipulated by trauma and/or emotion.

What that means for the man, is that he is automatically considered guilty, until proven innocent, and nothing the woman does or says, can stop the legal process from taking it's course. She does not need to participate past an initial police report ( or possibly not participate, by seeking medical care without disclosure of the cause of injury to medical personnel, who then report to authorities) for the prosecutor to fulfill their obligation under VAWA.

While the intent is awesome, some men are put in compromising positions, by women that may be under a stress (such as verbal abuse, mental abuse and/or violence) and then act out by making claims that may be partially, or entirely false. In some cases the men might actually be the victims of the woman's abuse, but the same standard is not held, per the intent of the law.

Again, I don't advocate abuse or violence, but I feel this legislation may have gone too far to unequally protect, while suspending some basic tenets of the law.

[sara]

charlie is doin gr8 on his show

[mari jo]

I think Charlie Sheen is one of the most gifted actors around and it is too bad that drugs and alcohol have been involved in his life........ He seems to be a truly kind and caring person. His talent is outstanding and I LOVE Two and a Half Men it makes my week!!!