The Ray Rice Elevator Video

It doesn't. He was found guilty in a bench trial before a district court judge. He appealed. The moment he appealed to superior court in order to get his constitutionally mandated trial by jury his status flipped back to not guilty. Had he chosen not to appeal to superior court, his conviction in district court would have stood. He is, in the eyes of the law, not guilty at present moment.

There's not really more to it than what I wrote before. A trial in district court is not generally indicative of how things will go once a case moves to superior court. It's much easier to win a conviction when you only have to convince a single judge in a court where there is no court reporter. Often the rules of evidence are seen as a loose guide and not a strict set of boundaries and procedures.

The Hardy case is one with little physical evidence and few witnesses to the key moments. It's largely a "he said, she said" case in which the trier-of-fact must ultimately judge the credibility of the accuser and defendant. Convincing a single person that one witnesses's version of events is correct in this kind of case is far easier than convincing 12.

I'm not sure of the relevance, but testimony is sworn in district court bench trials. It's not a court of record, so testimony is not recorded.

I assume the Panthers had people there observing the trial. A rush to judgement in this particular case is not wise. Again, it is unlike the Ray Rice case with its compelling video evidence.

 

Yeah, he called Sam Carchidi a "retard" among other things:

http://www.faniq.com/blog/Brett-Myers-Blows-Game-Then-Blows-Up-At-Philly-Reporter-Sam-Carchidi-Calling-Him-A-Retard-And-Much-More-Blog-3940

And let's not forget Josh Lueke of the Tampa Bay Rays, who was charged with rape while in the minor leagues, but eventually pleaded down to to "false imprisonment with violence" and served 42 days:

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/03/19/sorry-i-dont-have-to-appreciate-the-way-josh-lueke-has-persevered/

 

Yes, Sam Carchidi of the Philly Inquirer. To be fair, Carchidi egged him on a little bit after Myers called him a "retard" who "doesn't know fucking shit about baseball."

Still, maybe some obvious anger issues?

 

The Rays had to give up on Elijah Dukes in 2007, but not until a few weeks after this appeared in the St. Pete Times:

http://www.sptimes.com/2007/05/23/Tampabay/Ballplayer_s_wife__He.shtml

TAMPA - In late April, Tampa Bay Devil Rays outfielder Elijah Dukes barged into his wife's middle school classroom at lunchtime.

He was so irate that she ran to get the principal and a deputy, who banned Dukes from the property, records show.

His wife, who said she fears for her life, sought a restraining order and told the court it was the latest in a string of outbursts by the 22-year-old rookie player.

Dukes' wife, NiShea Gilbert, 26, a teacher at Beth Shields Middle School in Ruskin, told the court in another filing Thursday that her husband threatened to kill her and sent a photo of a handgun to her cell phone.

She played the St. Petersburg Times a voice mail message she said was from Dukes:

"You dead, dawg," says an angry voice. "I ain't even bulls-------. Your kids, too."

Dukes is in his first season with the Devil Rays, and his eight home runs - the most by any American League rookie - speak to his professional promise.


When they did pull the plug, it was after learning he had gotten a 17-year-old girl pregnant.

 

The really bestest, bestest part of this -- now ESPN can hire him as an analyst!

 

Dukes is the Lawrence Phillips of baseball. Guy has legitimate psychological issues.

 

I mentioned Christy Mack earlier, but in case people don't know who she is, she's the ex-girlfriend of "War Machine," the MMA fighter who beat her within an inch of her life a few months ago because she had the audacity to hang out with someone else after she broke up with him.

She suffered 18 broken bones and a lacerated liver, among other injuries. Most of the reaction to it was, "Well, she was a porn star. What did she expect?" or "She brought it on herself because women like her are attracted to certain types of guys. They can't help it."

 

Some people on Twitter were hinting that ESPN was going to use Ray Lewis to get a one-on-one with Rice.

That would be a trainwreck of epic proportions. I hope it happens.

 

The Rays and Dukes and Delmon Young at same time. Talk about a crazy group.

 

He took a very large gamble putting the Super Bowl game in the Meadowlands. It turned out fine, but if that snowstorm came eight hours earlier, that would have been a clusterfiasco of monumental proportions.

He does not appear to be a smart man. I sincerely doubt Goodell applied the risk management factors in awarding that Super Bowl in the Northeast.

 

There are so many incidences of DV that we just don't give a shit about, it's depressing.

Mike Tyson is a great example. Convicted (and admitted!) rapist, beat the shit out of Robin Givens, habitual liar, etc., and has been rehabilitated into America's goofy uncle. Maybe Rice can end up in The Hangover Part 7, or as a regular guest on Jimmy Kimmel someday.

 

I still don't understand what the NFL had to gain by giving Rice such a light punishment. Were they just hoping they could continue to turn a blind eye to domestic violence?