Hip-hop star Chris Brown will stand trial on Monday for an alleged assault outside a trendy hotel in Washington.

If convicted, Brown could face up to six months in jail and a $US1000 ($A1070) fine.

Brown, 24, appeared in court on Friday in the US capital in a crisp suit that made him look more like a genteel Wall Street banker than an actor, dancer and rap artist.

He stood with his hands by his side as Judge Patricia Wynn instructed him to return next week for the start of his trial.

In court supporting him was his mother Joyce Hawkins, friend and model Karrueche Tran and rapper Bow Wow, who the day before moderated a discussion with First Lady Michelle Obama at Washington’s Howard University.

Wynn put back the trial date after deciding she needed the Easter weekend to reach a verdict in a related case involving Brown’s bodyguard Chris Hollosy, 35, outside the downtown W Hotel on October 27 last year.

“I have to be confident about my verdict. I need to take my time,” the District of Columbia Superior Court judge said.

Prosecutors say Parker Adams, 20, from a Washington suburb, was punched in the nose by Brown and Hollosy when he tried to get a picture with Brown alongside two women.

Lawyers for the bodyguard questioned Adams’ side of the story, citing a pending $US3 million civil suit that he has filed against the two defendants.

Brown was sentenced to five years’ probation and community service, as well as domestic violence counselling, after he pleaded guilty to assaulting Rihanna in February 2009.