I have to say, I’m sympathetic to Revis here. And to many other celebrities who find themselves in such situations. Understood that many athletes are self-entitled jerks, coddled by society etc. But there are also occasions where they’re simply minding their own business and get harassed by fans or by people who dislike their public image, and this seems to be one such instance.
Not that this justifies celebrities just beating up anyone who harasses them, and I suppose that’s one price you pay for being a celebrity. But it changes the overall picture of things. And to the extent that there’s leeway in prosecuting or sentencing, then I would think that should count for a lot.
Unfortunately, ISTM that prosecutors and judges are sensitive to the notion that they’re going easy on Rich Powerful people, and are less likely to use that in such circumstances.
I sympathize with Revis as well. No, he shouldn’t have beat up the guy, but it is irritating to have someone record you against your will, and as a celebrity when things like this happen for the 1,000th time it is probably the straw the broke the camel’s back.
It’s in situations like this that I think the law should have a “Both plaintiff and defendant are liable” clause; if the plaintiff provoked the assault, he or she should be charged with something as well.
2:30 AM fight becomes a robbery charge, conspiracy, and first degree aggravated assault?
I hate to defend anyone that uses force, but it’s not like he walked up to two guys and started throwing punches. From every account, they could have walked away. They got in a fight and got knocked the fuck out. And that’s the victims’ perspective.
It won’t stop Goodell from laying down the hammer, but this seems a bit overzealous on the charges. Things like this are why the Malheur gang walked free.
Terroristic threats? Seriously? For a street brawl? That’s totally ridiculous. Anything with the word terror in it these days is going to prejudice juries and probably ups the potential sentence considerably. Is it normal practice now to charge with ‘terroristic threats’ for a simple fight or is this unusual?
I really feel for Darrell. I don’t know about you guys but I got involved in a lot of bar and street fights in my younger days, sometimes getting the worst of it, sometimes the better. If I were young now I’d probably end up with life imprisonment. (Since that time, in the course of a long life, I have been a model citizen.) This sucks.
However, charges are not being dropped because anyone came to their senses, but because a friend of Revis took responsibility for the actions. (I wouldn’t be surprised if he took the fall here.)
But let’s see if that guy gets charged now. ISTM that some prosecutors like to make a name for themselves by taking down a big celebrity, and it will a lot less tempting once it’s just some unknown guy.
The charges were dropped mainly because the two suspects themselves admitted to being assholes and they both admitted they did not know who actually struck them and knocked them out. Other witnesses claimed the same thing, the situation was escalated by the two men and the witnesses also could not recall who threw the punches.
The friend might get charged, but that’s why celebrities roll with crews that has someone ready to knock an asshole out and take the charges for it… or at least I would if I were a celebrity.