Alfonzo Dennard Trial

[MTM558]

As most everyone is aware, 5 days prior to the 2012 NFL Draft, Alfonzo Dennard was involved in a confrontation outside of a bar in Lincoln, Nebraska, that ended with allegations of Dennard assaulting an Officer. The trial takes place today, and if convicted, Dennard could face fines and up to 5 years in prison.

I may be studying Law and procedure, but I'm just starting out and am by no means an expert. But I am curious to gather inquiries about how this could affect the Patriots going forward.

What are the odds that Dennard is convicted? The incident occurred over a year ago, after all. If he is convicted, how does that affect the Patriots going forward? In my opinion, if Dennard is sent off to prison for 5 years, he will be released and resigning Talib may become a priority. McCourty may also be forced back to the Cornerback position.

There are many more far-reaching implications than those, obviously. But nonetheless, any thoughts?

Dennard's jury trial underway in Nebraska

 

[Sciz]

I don't see any way he's not available for next season. It sounds like there's a pretty weak case in the first place, and we've seen NFL players (Ray Lewis) get away with much worse.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Not much point speculating as we will likely know by the end of the day or tomorrow. Good luck to him, doubt he's being judged by a jury of his peers in that neck of the woods... I'm concerned because I'd have expected them to reach some sort of settlement long before this. Someone must have a hair across.

 

[TruthSeeker]

Good luck Fonzie ! I don't condone what you did, and hope the results of the trial are favorable towards Dennard, hopefully no jail time. There are two sides to every story, so hopefully his is good enough to not have jail time.

 

[Froob]

hope he hired talibs lawyer. been accused of like 4 dif crimes and never been convicted of anything :singing:

 

[patfanken]

BTW - it should be noted that the officer that he's being charge with assaulting was off duty and not in uniform. It is highly unlikely that Dennard was even aware he was a police officer.

As far a I'm aware Dennard has no prior problems with the police, so it would be shocking if this ends up as anything more than a slap on the wrist at worst. I think they went to trial because Dennard's case is SO good that his lawyers wanted a complete dismissal. But then again that's just my speculation.

 

[chasa]

In other news, Carey Williams Stabbed commissioner Gordon this morning, and Gotham awarded him the key to the city.

 

[PatriotDynasty_12]

If the officer wasn't in uniform then I don't see why they feel it necessary to say "assaulting an officer". They wouldn't say "off-duty doctor" lol.

 

[PATSNUTme]

I was hoping that this would have been pleaded out by now to a misdemeanor with a small fine and community service.

According to my pre-draft reading, Dennard never had any type of problems prior to this and was considered to be a model student athlete and team leader.

You never want to take your chances on a jury no matter how good you think your case is.

 

[resdubwhite]

If the officer wasn't in uniform then I don't see why they feel it necessary to say "assaulting an officer". They wouldn't say "off-duty doctor" lol.

If that were the case there'd be a few off duty officers getting into lots of off duty visits.

good luck Fonzie.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

he plays in the NFL...he can get out of this easily. Look at ray lewis...a murder investigation and now he's a saint

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

I was hoping that this would have been pleaded out by now to a misdemeanor with a small fine and community service.

According to my pre-draft reading, Dennard never had any type of problems prior to this and was considered to be a model student athlete and team leader.

You never want to take your chances on a jury no matter how good you think your case is.

He may feel that an acquittal will put him in a better career penalty position with the NFL.

Let me state for the record that I am AGAINST the death penalty for my man Dennard

 

[Deus Irae]

I was hoping that this would have been pleaded out by now to a misdemeanor with a small fine and community service.

According to my pre-draft reading, Dennard never had any type of problems prior to this and was considered to be a model student athlete and team leader.

You never want to take your chances on a jury no matter how good you think your case is.

As I recall (I may be misremembering), the officer didn't want the felony pled down and that's been the sticking point.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

As I recall (I may be misremembering), the officer didn't want the felony pled down and that's been the sticking point.

We need to check for any money wired to the officer from Woody Johnson

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

I would think that this hinges on his record being squeaky clean up to now.

If it is, and the off-duty officer didn't really suffer any serious /lasting injury, and if the officer had not identified himself as an officer beforehand,

it would IMO be way way over the top for this case to result in any jail time. If prosecution won't budge an inch, I'd think they'd lose this one outright. Settle for an apology, community service, and move on.

 

[supafly]

As I recall (I may be misremembering), the officer didn't want the felony pled down and that's been the sticking point.

The officer must have quite a lot of influence over the district attorney then, because this is a case that is wasting time and money for the court resources.

Especially when you consider that 4/5 cases are finalized with a plea bargain of some sort. This one should be easy as pie to work out, a young kid...no prior history etc, alcohol involved...jeez.

If the district attorney is really going to put that much credibility and power into the officer's hands without doing his job and making the best decision for the county in which he represents, then shame on him...

I couldn't think of any other possible explanation besides what you said though, unless Dennard and his representation are just that confident that they are willing to roll the dice like this. I'm very surprised that this even saw the light of a trial date myself.

 

[Deus Irae]

The officer must have quite a lot of influence over the district attorney then, because this is a case that is wasting time and money for the court resources...

ADAs generally try not to antagonize the police, since they work with them on a daily basis. If the cop wants something pushed, it's generally going to get pushed. I don't know for sure if that's the case here, but it makes sense given the known circumstances and my (possibly incorrect) memory.

 

[supafly]

As most everyone is aware, 5 days prior to the 2012 NFL Draft, Alfonzo Dennard was involved in a confrontation outside of a bar in Lincoln, Nebraska, that ended with allegations of Dennard assaulting an Officer. The trial takes place today, and if convicted, Dennard could face fines and up to 5 years in prison.

I may be studying Law and procedure, but I'm just starting out and am by no means an expert. But I am curious to gather inquiries about how this could affect the Patriots going forward.

What are the odds that Dennard is convicted? The incident occurred over a year ago, after all. If he is convicted, how does that affect the Patriots going forward? In my opinion, if Dennard is sent off to prison for 5 years, he will be released and resigning Talib may become a priority. McCourty may also be forced back to the Cornerback position.

There are many more far-reaching implications than those, obviously. But nonetheless, any thoughts?

Dennard's jury trial underway in Nebraska

There aren't many scenarios where Dennard wouldn't be available next season in my opinion.

Think about it...what's the worst that can realistically happen? Even if he received a year in jail AND a suspended remaining sentence he'd be out in about 5 months and have to report to his probation officer. Obviously he'd likely have some fines and community service too.

I don't think we need to worry that much about him being gone for the next year. He has no prior record and is a young kid who graduated from college and is now somewhat of a role model. The sentencing guidelines would only call for the maximum of "5 years in prison" for those who have a lengthy record and probably have been in this exact position before. His sentencing score alone wouldn't amount to much, although I'm not sure what implications a jury vs a judge could have, and I don't even know if it is a jury or a judge. I'd rather it be a judge.

 

[supafly]

ADAs generally try not to antagonize the police, since they work with them on a daily basis. If the cop wants something pushed, it's generally going to get pushed. I don't know for sure if that's the case here, but it makes sense given the known circumstances and my (possibly incorrect) memory.

This may be nothing more than a difference of opinions, Deus.

I think that you certainly make a fair point that the ADAs take into account what the arresting officer wants to do, but I think that it's still the district attorney's (or assistant DA more accurately, as you said) final say on what they want to do, and ultimately what they want to do is plea the deal out to a guilty charge. They get the best of both worlds with a guaranteed conviction and a cleared case to boot, especially in monetary terms where cases like this can bring heftier fines from higher profile individuals.

I may be underestimating the specific charge of "assaulting an officer" though, as it's possible that the prosecutors have much less tolerance for those specific kinds of charges, which would make a lot of sense--as you said.

I'm almost more inclined to think that it could be Dennard's representation who is pushing for an acquittal, but then again I could be way off since I expected a plea bargain the entire time. I have a hard time believing that they wouldn't plea to "something," that both sides would be satisfied with, unless that something was a shorter jail sentence of a year or less, which no one obviously wants to do.

 

[Deus Irae]

This may be nothing more than a difference of opinions, Deus.

I think that you certainly make a fair point that the ADAs take into account what the arresting officer wants to do, but I think that it's still the district attorney's (or assistant DA more accurately, as you said) final say on what they want to do, and ultimately what they want to do is plea the deal out to a guilty charge. They get the best of both worlds with a guaranteed conviction and a cleared case to boot, especially in monetary terms where cases like this can bring heftier fines from higher profile individuals.

I may be underestimating the specific charge of "assaulting an officer" though, as it's possible that the prosecutors have much less tolerance for those specific kinds of charges, which would make a lot of sense--as you said.

I'm almost more inclined to think that it could be Dennard's representation who is pushing for an acquittal, but then again I could be way off since I expected a plea bargain the entire time. I have a hard time believing that they wouldn't plea to "something," that both sides would be satisfied with, unless that something was a shorter jail sentence of a year or less, which no one obviously wants to do.

I can only go based upon the information made available. As someone who's worked in a State Attorney's office and spent time talking with ADAs from other SAOs, I can tell you what I witnessed there, and heard about, as far as the dynamics between the ADAs and the police. As someone who's on the outside of this case, but reading the news, I can tell you what I've read from the defense's side:

"The biggest issue obviously is that one of the charges is a felony. That is something we are very concerned about and something we want to deal with at trial. That's the reason for having a trial because we have them," Dougherty said.

Dennard's Court Case Pushed to February

In the end, it's just speculation, but it's somewhat informed speculation. You're welcome to ignore it at your pleasure, and I'll certainly not be offended. I initially was just offering something from memory that I admitted might have been incorrect, after all.