Eagles running back LeSean McCoy has been sued for assaulting a woman on a party bus. Now that the lawsuit has become public knowledge, McCoy’s camp has responded.
And, like every defendant who ever has been accused of doing something he shouldn’t have done, McCoy’s camp says he didn’t do it.
“The allegations against LeSean McCoy are completely, unequivocally false,” an unnamed member of the McCoy camp told Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “There are no criminal charges pending and no probable cause was ever found. This is sadly an attempt to extract money and LeSean will vigorously defend any attempt to collect money through a personal injury claim.”
The absence of criminal charges, though relevant to public perception and the overall extent to which the situation could cause problems for McCoy, has no relevance to the civil suit. It’s a different legal standard, and the lawsuit will proceed until it’s dismissed, settled, or resolved by a judge or a jury.
If the charges are “completely, unequivocally false,” here’s hoping McCoy’s camp extracts money from the plaintiff for legal fees incurred in defending against a false allegation. Given the presence of multiple witnesses on the bus McCoy allegedly rented to take a group of people from Philadelphia to New York City and back again, there should be enough evidence to move the needle decisively in one direction or the other.