The Ray Rice Elevator Video

Fox News' Ainsley Earhardt -- is that the most Fox Newsy sounding name ever? -- says she is on Goodell's side. “He has been very lovely to my family, very nice, very friendly to many of us here at Fox know him, and I take his word over Ray Rice’s word any day,”

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/foxs-ainsley-earhardt-defends-nfls-roger-goodell-hes-been-very-lovely-to-my-family/

 

Don't know if this was mentioned in this thread but the funniest reveal in all this is when Judge Jones asked to see the NFL's notes, Adolpho Birch had only written two words during Rice's entire testimony to Goodell: "Bottle service."

 

I heard the NFL didn't take good notes, but wow. That's far worse than what I thought "didn't take good notes" meant.

 

That is the best. When Birch went on the espn dog and pony shows this summer to support the two game suspensions, I was wondering, "who is this idiot?".

Now I know.

 

But did he bake cookies for everyone? Because I wouldn't take his word if he didn't do that.

 

Damn! I'm sorry I slept through the last three pages! Good stuff!

 

No public mention of Peter King is accurate unless modifed by his title, NFL Fluff Boy.

 

Turns out there’s even more surveillance video Ray Rice doesn’t want you to see.

ABC News today exclusively obtained a copy of the security-camera video that shows the ugly aftermath of the assault earlier this year when Ray Rice punched his now-wife in an Atlantic City casino and knocked her unconscious.

The nearly 45 minutes of never-before-seen footage shows a clearly distraught Janay Palmer, Rice’s then-fiancee and now wife, unwilling to talk to him after the NFL star had punched her inside an elevator on Feb. 15 at the now-closed Revel casino.

Palmer is seen physically pushing Rice away from her when he approached her immediately after the incident. Palmer was then protected by hotel security guards as Rice attempted to move closer.

The video then shows Palmer going through something of an emotional evolution in the middle of the night. Almost immediately after the assault, she appears angry. Soon after, Palmer begins to cry. And by the time she and Rice are both escorted into an elevator -- handcuffed -- she appears to kiss and nuzzle the one-time NFL star.


http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/exclusive-newly-released-ray-rice-video-shows-couple/story?id=27726947

 

Charges against Greg Hardy dismissed.

Prosecutors dismiss abuse charges against Panther Greg Hardy | CharlotteObserver.com

 

That's the thing with these cases. Most of them are dismissed.

The convictions usually come through plea bargain if the guy pleads down to a misdemeanor.

The Rice case is a pretty rare one, at least at this point, because all of it is on video.

It puts the league in a difficult situation. Does the league investigate every one of these on their own and act like judge and jury?

At least 9 times out of 10, it's going to be a "he said, she said" situation and the bulk of the time the woman involved will either be paid to go away or decide pursuing the conviction isn't worth the headache.

 

I disagree that most of them get dismissed, although certainly a large number do.

Hardy was never charged with a felony - because the facts didn't give rise to one - and so any bargaining would have been over the level of misdemeanor. Unlike the Ray Rice case, Hardy's is one where a pre-trial diversion would have been appropriate if he did what he was accused of. I'd be surprised if one wasn't offered. But he has always maintained his innocence and some of the facts in his case support his position, which is why I cautioned people from comparing the two and from rushing to judgment here.

It's far less frequent that it's a straight "he said, she said" than you're asserting. There is often additional evidence that supports one side or the other - bruising on the victim, bruising on the abuser's hands, photographs of the room, a history of violence from one side of the relationship, etc. And in a good number of cases there are additional witnesses.

The Rice and Hardy cases were on opposite ends of the DV spectrum. The League handled both poorly and neither needed a lot of investigation to figure that out.

 

Hardy got caught up in a perfect storm. In effect he was paid 13 mil to sit out the year and be a good soldier.