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'Dance Mom' Kelly Hyland Appears In Bronx Court To Face Assault Charge

NEW YORK(CBSNewYork) -- Life just got a little bit more real for one reality TV star.

As CBS 2's Elise Finch reported, one of the mothers from the Lifetime show "Dance Moms" appeared in Bronx criminal court on Monday.

Kelly Hyland was a world away from the set of "Dance Moms", the series that made her famous. The show follows a dance team as they rehearse, travel, and compete each week.

In November, things got physical when the team participated in a dance-ff at Lehman College. Hyland, a mother of two teen dancers, got into a fight with their instructor Abby Lee Miller.

Hyland now faces a criminal assault charge to which she has pleaded not guilty.

"She should be ashamed of herself," Marilynn Tanzer said.

However, just because the fight was caught on tape it may not be an open and shut case.

"In any movie or TV show, if one actor physically abuses another actor because it's part of the script, it's not considered battery or assault," attorney Rosemarie Arnold said, "Kelly said that producers deliberately incited her so that she would strike Abby and that the incident was part of the script."

Arnold said that Hyland could also make a case that she was acting in self-defense.

Either way most people think the case will be resolved quickly.

"She'll get a slap on the wrist because it's not that serious," Sarah Walton said.

No decisions were made on Monday, the case has been adjourned until May 5.

Hyland's accuser, Abby Lee Miller, did not appear in court on Monday. Hyland is also suing her children's former dance teacher for $5-million for defamation and breach of contract among other things.

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