Battery Count Filed Against Actor Sean Penn

Actor Sean Penn was charged with battery Friday in the alleged punching of a musician during an argument at a nightclub near downtown Los Angeles.

David James Wolinski, 37, of Sherman Oaks told police that Penn attacked him about 12:30 a.m. last April 12, after he said goodby to the actor and his wife, pop star Madonna, as they were leaving Helena’s, located at Lafayette Park Place and Temple Street.

Wolinski, a songwriter and former synthesizer player with the pop group Rufus, said Penn, 25, accused him of trying to kiss Madonna and then hit him on the left side of the face. The actor then struck him with a chair, kicked him and would have thrown a piece of furniture at him if other patrons had not intervened, Wolinski told police.

Police said Wolinski received bruises on his face, legs and lower body.

Last October, Penn was fined $100 and given a 90-day suspended sentence after he pleaded no contest to charges that he attacked two British journalists who tried to photograph Madonna outside a Nashville, Tenn., hotel.