( CNN ) -- Chris Brown must return to California the same way he got to Washington , D.C. -- in chains on the grueling `` Con Air '' inmate transport system . A Los Angeles judge refused a request to free the singer from custody on Wednesday so he could make his own way back from Washington . Brown , 24 , was taken to Washington by U.S. marshals this month for trial on an assault charge , but that has been put on hold until the appeal of his bodyguard 's conviction is completed . Brown has been on probation since 2009 when he pleaded guilty to a felony assault charge in the beating of his then-girlfriend Rihanna Fenty . He and bodyguard Christopher Hollosy were arrested on assault charges in Washington for allegedly beating a man who tried to take a photo of Brown last December . The arrest led to a revocation of Brown 's probation , but he was allowed to enter a rehab program instead of going to jail . He was ordered to jail last month when he was kicked out of the rehab program for rules violations . Planes , chains and automobiles : Chris Brown 's miserable trip to trial . Brown is now `` stuck between a rock and a hard spot , '' attorney Robert Kalunian told Judge Victor Greenberg during a brief hearing in Los Angeles on Wednesday . He has been locked up for 39 days and still has not had a probation revocation hearing , Kalunian said . Assistant District Attorney Mary Murray said she `` strenuously '' opposed releasing Brown now , arguing the only change since Brown was jailed in March is that his case has `` gotten worse . '' The Washington judge who found his bodyguard guilty in the assault case also concluded that Brown was `` the initial aggressor '' in the incident , Murray said . A hearing was set for May 1 in Los Angeles to set a date for another hearing that could determine if Brown 's Washington case warranted a probation revocation . It could be several months before his trial in Washington is held . `` I think it 's a little over the top to have him in custody on this misdemeanor when everybody saw the bodyguard 's trial and which was nothing more than a bloody nose , '' Brown lawyer Mark Geragos told reporters in Washington earlier Wednesday . `` And you have got the bodyguard who was convicted and who readily admitted he was the one who did the punching.Â So all of this is much ado about nothing . '' Chris Brown 's freedom at stake with 2 cases . The delay in Brown 's Washington trial came after prosecutors refused to grant immunity to Hollosy so he could testify without jeopardizing his own case . On Monday , Hollosy was found guilty of assaulting a man on a Washington sidewalk before Brown 's trial was to begin in the case . The prosecutors cited Hollosy 's refusal to talk to them about his testimony as a major reason for the decision not to grant immunity . Their motion also said they suspected he might lie in his testimony to help Brown . `` The cynic in me would say apparently it is not a search for the truth because if they wanted the truth they would give Hollosy immunity and allow him to testify , '' Geragos said Wednesday outside court . CNN 's Paul Courson and Sunny Hostin contributed to this report .
NEW : Chris Brown 's condition has ` ` and worse , '' a prosecutor says . NEW : The defendant is ` ` stuck between a rock and a hard spot , '' his lawyer says . ` ` It 's a little over the top to have him in custody on this misdemeanor , '' he says . The assault trial is postponed until appeal from Brown County is heard .