Trial was supposed to begin Monday, but the judge delayed it because of complications involving Brown's bodyguard, Christopher Hollosy. The trial will proceed on Wednesday.
In a separate trial over the same incident, the same judge, Patricia Wynn, found Hollosy guilty of assault Monday.
Both Brown and Hollosy were arrested in October after a man accused them of punching him outside a Washington hotel. Hollosy told police that he punched the man after he tried to get on Brown's tour bus. But the man says Brown and later Hollosy punched him after he tried to get in a photo Brown was taking with two women.
Brown's attorney, Mark Geragos, wants Hollosy to testify at Brown's trial. Hollosy would be expected to say that he, not Brown, punched 20-year-old Parker Adams outside the W Hotel.
Hollosy's attorney says he plans to appeal his conviction. Unless prosecutors grant Hollosy immunity, testifying in Brown's case could affect his appeal.
The judge gave lawyers two days to try to work the issue out.
Hollosy is scheduled to be sentenced on June 25.
At the time of the alleged assault in Washington, D.C., Brown was on probation in California for a 2009 attack on singer Rihanna, his then-girlfriend. Soon after his arrest in Washington he entered rehab for anger management treatment, but Brown was turned over to U.S. Marshals at the Los Angeles County Jail last Wednesday after failing to stay in the court-mandated program.
If convicted in the Washington, D.C. case, Brown could face additional penalties, including time behind bars, under the terms of a court order in the Rihanna case.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
