As more details emerge regarding the arrest of Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis, it’s becoming more clear that it will be difficult to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he committed the most serious of the charges currently pending against him: Aggravated assault.
Rich Cimini of ESPN.com summarizes the incident report, pointing out that there is currently no specific evidence that Revis punched either of the two victims. It will be difficult, to say the least, to prove that Revis assaulted anyone without evidence that, you know, he did.
That said, the conspiracy count could bring all of the alleged aggressors (Revis and at least one other person) within the bubble of responsibility. That said, the injuries to the two victims -- a bruised cheek for one and a fracture near the eye of the other -- don’t seem to be serious enough to prompt the authorities to move heaven and earth in an effort to secure justice.
There’s also a dispute regarding whether Revis became hostile before or after one of the victims started taking cell-phone video of the interaction with Revis. If it’s the former, the victims may have been simply trying to preserve the incident for future use. Blaine Jones, the lawyer representing Revis, contends that Revis became upset because he was being videotaped and otherwise harassed.
A witness, who apparently didn’t witness any punches thrown, claims that at one point Revis said to him, “Do you want to be next?” While that would count as persuasive circumstantial evidence, something more clear will be needed to eliminate reasonable doubt as to whether Revis threw punches.
All things considered (including the notion that the alleged “robbery” resulted simply from the notion that Revis took away the cell phone that was being used to create video), this doesn’t feel like the kind of incident that will result in the investment of significant prosecutorial and judicial resources. Incidents like the one that happened early Sunday morning in Pittsburgh happen throughout the country late in the evening/early in the morning on virtually every weekend of the calendar.
Unless prosecutors have some specific animus toward Revis or a proverbial smoking gun that makes it an open-and-shut case, it’s safe to say that the charges eventually will be reduced (like they were for Joey Porter) and that, ultimately, the situation will be resolved with Revis never facing jail or any other significant consequence.
That said, the NFL may approach the situation differently, given that the league decided after the Ray Rice debacle to no longer defer to the justice system. Given that two men were knocked out cold, a more-probable-than-not conclusion that Revis did it could result in a suspension.