The plea agreement in the case against “Two and a Half Men” star Charlie Sheen, charged with assaulting wife Brooke Mueller, was apparently derailed because of Sheen’s nicotine jones.
Sheen’s next court date is now set for July 12.
And depending on how his deal is eventually structured, it could impact the start date for his CBS sitcom, scheduled to begin shooting its new season in mid-August.
Sheen was expected to plead guilty in an Aspen court Monday and receive a 30-day jail sentence on a misdemeanor assault charge for allegedly holding a knife to Mueller’s throat during an argument last Christmas Day.
Part of Sheen’s agreement under the “Useful Public Service Program” would have allowed him to leave jail for up to 12 hours each day to work at Theatre Aspen, a local community theater.
But the theater prohibits smoking, and Sheen is a heavy smoker — which apparently made the deal “unacceptable” to Sheen and his legal team, according to The Aspen Times.
“The whole thing hinged on his ability to smoke,” a source told the newspaper.
Sheen’s lawyer, Yale Galanter, said the kibosh on smoking played only a “small part” in the breakdown of talks, saying Sheen had been approved to get nicotine patches while in custody, according to the Associated Press.
“It’s not worth it to set him up for failure,” Galanter said.
Calls made by The Post to Galanter and to the Aspen District Attorney’s office went unreturned yesterday.
Sheen recently inked a new deal to remain on “Two and a Half Men,” reportedly upping his per-episode salary to $1.25 million, making him TV’s highest-paid series star.