The story on the recent sit-down between Raiders defensive assistant Randy Hanson and Michael Silver of Yahoo! Sports contained an interesting contention regarding the version of the events that three other assistant coaches who witnessed the interaction between Hanson and head coach Tom Cable provided to authorities.
Citing unnamed sources, Silver reported that the three men -- defensive coordinator John Marshall, defensive backs coach Lionel Washington, and assistant defensive backs coach Willie Brown -- corroborated Hanson’s claim of an intentional assault by Cable.
But while we’re reluctant to disagree with Silver, in large part because he’s always been nice to us, we’re told by a source with knowledge of the investigation that the three assistants did not corroborate Hanson’s story, and that as a result charges are not expected to be filed against Cable.
As the source explained, lock-step corroboration of Hanson’s story by three witnesses having no natural incentive to corroborate Hanson’s version would have and should have triggered a much quicker decision on whether to charge Cable with assault. Indeed, no deliberation would have been required.
Meanwhile, we’re told that Cable, his lawyer, and/or the Raiders will be launching an aggressive attempt to tell Cable’s story once the criminal case is concluded. There’s even talk of Cable possibly taking legal action against Hanson -- a bold move given the ability of Hanson to then file a counterclaim against Cable for the assault that Hanson claims Cable committed.
All that said, we continue to be troubled by the reality that Hanson suffered a broken jaw. Apparently, however, Cable’s version will be that the injury occurred accidentally, and that there were no threats of murder or other violence.
So stay tuned on this one. It’s already pretty interesting, but it apparently could become even more interesting if/when prosecutors announce that no charges will be filed.