Snoop Dogg’s Felony Arraignment Delayed

SANTA ANA, Calif. (December 4, 2006) — A judge agreed Monday to postpone rapper Snoop Dogg’s arraignment on a felony possession of a deadly weapon charge until January.

The rapper, whose real name is Cordozar Calvin Broadus, was charged with the felony count after a security screener at John Wayne Airport noticed a collapsible baton in his luggage on Sept. 27. He remains free on $150,000 bail.

Broadus has said the 21-inch baton, which collapses to eight inches, was a prop for a video he was filming in New York.

Broadus showed up Monday with three bodyguards and his defense attorney, who sought the delay from Superior Court Judge Kazuharu Makino so he could get all the discovery in the case. Broadus also signed a waiver that will allow him to skip most “non-substantive” hearings, said the attorney, Don Etra.

Etra declined to say whether Broadus knew the baton was banned.

“It’s premature to discuss what he knew,” Etra said. “He had no intent to use it as a weapon and no intent to carry a weapon on his person.”

If convicted, Broadus could face up to three years in prison, said Susan Schroeder, a spokeswoman for the district attorney.

Broadus, 35, has had several run-ins with the law in recent months.

He was arrested on Oct. 26 at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank on suspicion of being a felon in possession of a gun and transportation of marijuana. He posted $35,000 bail and will appear in court on Dec. 12.

He was arrested outside NBC Studios in Burbank on Nov. 28 on suspicion of illegal possession of a firearm, possession of cocaine, possession of marijuana for sale and possession of a false compartment in a vehicle when Burbank police served a search warrant, stemming from the earlier arrest at Bob Hope Airport.

Broadus posted $60,000 bail in that case and has a court hearing on Jan. 11.

In May, he accepted responsibility for using “threatening words or behavior” in an April brawl at Heathrow Airport in London.

Broadus and five other men were arrested on charges of violent disorder and starting a brawl after some members of the rapper’s party were denied entry to British Airways’ first-class lounge.

Seven officers received minor injuries mainly cuts and bruises and one suffered a fracture to the hand. British Airways has banned Broadus from future travel on the airline.