'Django Unchained' actress, boyfriend charged with lewd conduct

LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- "Django Unchained" actress Daniele Watts and her boyfriend have been charged with one count each of lewd conduct, a spokesman said Tuesday.

If found guilty, both Watts and her boyfriend, Brian James Lucas, could face a maximum of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine, according to Frank Mateljan, spokesman for the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office.

The charges stem from an incident last month outside CBS Studio Center in Studio City, Calif. Officers with the Los Angeles Police Department received calls that the couple was having sex in a parked car.



The black actress and her white boyfriend accused police of racism for questioning them in what they said was only a public display of affection.

Watts has denied that the couple were having sex and defended her behavior, writing in an L.A. Times op-ed piece that she and Lucas had been stopped four times by law enforcement since late spring.

Watts, a native of Atlanta, made her feature film debut in 2012 as Coco in the Oscar-nominated "Django Unchained."