Can Rihanna and Chris Brown Still Legally Hang Out?

The two-way restraining order in this case is a bit of a myth, and here's why

If Rihanna and Chris Brown really spent time together at one of Donald Trump's hotels over the weekend, doesn't that violate Brown's plea deal? And since it's supposed to be a mutual restraining order, can Rihanna face jail time for this?
—AlohaB, Paia, Maui

If these two really were "Kiss Kiss"-ing, that doesn't make Rihanna a Good Girl Gone Bad. (Oh, come on. You read entertainment news. You know you love a good music pun.)

Several reports insist that both members of the former (or possibly current) couple were spotted at the Trump International Hotel over the weekend—despite a restraining order barring Chris Brown from approaching Rihanna.

But don't believe everything you've read about the Brown case. Much of the media coverage has been quite misleading, particularly when it comes to that "mutual" restraining order...

Here's what we know as fact.

Brown has pleaded guilty to assault in connection to a face-smashing Rihanna took in a rented Lamborghini back in February. As part of the deal, the judge issued a stay-away order against Brown; he cannot approach Rihanna within 50 yards, unless they both appear at an industry event, in which case the distance shrinks to air-kissing distance.

After Brown left the courtroom on the day of his plea deal, Rihanna entered said courtroom and was told by the judge that the restraining order is "really two ways," which has led to all kinds of speculation in the press.

But according to attorneys I've interviewed, judges rarely issue legally binding two-way restraining orders—and then, usually only in family law cases, not criminal ones. So the statement to Rihanna was likely more advice than command. (In fact, legal blogger and law professor Colin Miller says Rihanna's attorney, Donald Etra, confirmed to him that the court has no jurisdiction over Rihanna and that she is taking the judge's statement as a guideline only.)

So where does that leave each of them? Well, if Rihanna did decide to complain, Brown could get arrested, dragged to contempt court, and then jailed or fined, attorney Dan Clifford of the law firm Weber Gallagher tells me.

But only if—and let me repeat, if—Rihanna calls the cops and makes a case that she felt threatened. That's what restraining orders are all about: making a victim feel safe.

"Someone would need to file a complaint that the restraining order was broken," former prosecutor and current Air America radio host Michael "Lionel" Lebron says. "Someone needs to call the police, and who's going to call the police if the meeting was mutual?"

In fact, the meeting may not have happened at all. E! News has learned that, yes, the two stayed at the same hotel but never crossed paths.

"This was a coincidence," Rihanna's rep told us. Echoing that statement, Brown's rep said, "It was "purely a coincidence...they were not together."

In other words, Brown dodges jail. Again.

—Additional reporting by Lindsay Miller