https://amp.usatoday.com/amp/453774002 A Texas grand jury indicted Philadelphia Eagles defensive lineman Michael Bennett on Friday for injuring a 66-year-old paraplegic security staffer at the 2017 Super Bowl in Houston. Bennett has been charged with injury to the elderly, a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Okay, now that is just simply bizarre. So this happened at the Falcons vs Patriots Super Bowl and apparently he pushed over a disabled woman in a wheelchair. How did nobody even mention this before? I wonder if the Eagles can negate that trade because they weren't given this information. Was the lady in the wheelchair hurt? This is terrible, if he actually did that.
he allegedly pushed over an elderly disabled woman in a wheelchair who was SECURITY and paid to stop people from going on the field. id love to see video of this one. bizzarro from all angles.
I'm no fan of Michael Bennett, but something really smells fishy here. The problem is the lapse of time between the incident and the indictment. WTF? The Houston police chief, Art Acevedo, torpedoed the case at his press conference when he said the Houston PD didn't investigate the case until September -- seven months later -- because more serious crimes took priority. WTF? So this case was worthy of indictment but not of timely investigation? If this goes to trial, the jury will hear that this case was so serious that the Houston PD put it on the back burner for seven months. Oh, that will go over really well, I'll bet that five minutes after Acevedo's press conference ended, the DA called him and told him to STFU. Here's what I want to know: 1. Who interviewed the victim and the eyewitnesses and when? If they weren't interviewed until seven months later, good luck with that. 2. Was there videotape of the incident? Accounts vary. Does that videotape still exist or was it destroyed during the seven-month hiatus? If it was destroyed in the interim, the Houston PD is going to look really good. Given security/terrorism concerns, I can't believe that there was even a square foot of that stadium that wasn't covered by video cameras. 3. Who made the decision that this was a non-priority case? You can bet the defense will put that person on the stand. If it's Acevedo, he will get clobbered. 4. When was the DA notified? NFL Security? The Seahawks? That will tell you how serious the authorities considered this case. 5. Did the Houston PD ever try to interview Bennett? If not, it will look like a vendetta against Bennett (for contempt of cop) and not a fair investigation. Juries don't like that. 6. Did the Houston officer whom Bennett told to fuck off write a timely report? How about the security personnel? If they did, that may be enough to salvage this case. 7. As a prosecutor, you would probably have to argue this case is about justice for the elderly, disabled victim, not a referendum on the professionalism or competence of Art Acevedo and his department.
I agree, I can't see how it's possible to not have security footage of the incident or more than one witness to the event. I also wonder why a lady in a wheel chair was working a job like that in the first place, putting her in danger. The other strange thing is that Acevedo mentioned the lady's race for no reason whatsoever. I was listening to The Fanatic (philly sports radio) yesterday. A legal expert called in and said that to be charged with injury to the elderly, they must prove that he pushed her on purpose with the intent of injuring her. Without video that sounds difficult to prove. It's definitely fishy, but I'll wait for more details to come out. Maybe a cell phone video will emerge. At this point it seems like they don't have any real evidence and only one witness. I assume Bennett will just plead down to a lesser charge.
That's a dangerous assumption when it comes to a professional athlete. As a prosecutor in such a case, you know a few things from the beginning: (1) the player (or his team) will hire the best, most aggressive local defense attorney available; (2) the player has a lot to lose through a conviction (e.g., how much money would Bennett lose from a suspension?); (3) the victim is likely to sue Bennett, and a guilty plea would virtually assure she'd recover big in the civil case; and (4) if the criminal charges aren't rock solid, you'll be in for a long fight. Bottom line: the prosecutor and police better have their case lined up before they file charges because they may not be able to bail out with a plea bargain.
The schtick that Bennett is some sort of funny guy has always been a joke. The guy has always been an a-hole.
But if being an a-hole were a crime, the jails would be really full, and a lot of us would be checking this board from a prison cell.
He's a professional athlete and has money, so I already know the likelihood of jail is slim to none, but whatever. It is what it is. That's our society. All I know is I'm glad he's never been, and hopefully never will be, a Jet.
why? why does anything he does off the field have anything to do with you as a fan wanting him to be a part of the team?
some people have a hard time rooting on their favorite team if there is a guy out there playing that they just truly think is a scumbag. I'm not completely one of those guys but I do understand the argument/feeling. I did not enjoy rooting for Brandon Marshall for example
Why is this always your reaction? The guy was drunk, pissed that his brother lost the SB, and took it out on some people that were given specific instructions about how to deal with people trying to access the field. And he hurt an old woman. Why is it always about the poor pro athlete who is discriminated against? The fucking guy is a millionaire. Maybe he should have bought better tickets. I don't want an asshole like that on the Jets either. E: I'm going to make this edit now since you haven't responded yet. If Robbie Anderson's charges stick, he must be released immediately. No waiting for defense strategy. He was wrong and should be dumped. Same thing.
You sound as though you were there. Why not apply the same "if the charges stick" approach to Bennett or does the innocent until proven guilty thing only applicable to Jets players?
That's a good point and I could definitely be wrong. The charges are very specific and i doubt they are wrong, but authorities aren't always right. Point taken.
There has still been no explanation as to why the Houston police waited seven months to begin investigating (per their chief). That's really strange. If a case is worth pursing, the police generally jump right on it. Why did they wait so long here? Perhaps more importantly, what motivated them to finally start investigating seven months after the fact? The answers to these questions should be very interesting, and if this case goes to trial, as Bennett's attorney insists it will, the authorities are going to have to answer these questions.