NFL Network/ESPN’s Ian Rapoport reported on Sunday morning that the NFL is attempting to obtain the alleged video from the incident that led to Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs being charged with battery and criminal damage to property. Here is what Rapoport said, specifically:
The NFL wants to interview Josh Jacobs. That will happen. They’re also trying all sorts of legal maneuvers to try to get the video of the incident that has since been barred by the court. So we’ll see if the NFL is
able to do that before suspending him.
This video was first mentioned when Jacobs was officially charged by the Brown County District Attorney. According to the police report, the video was obtained via surveillance footage from inside the garage at Jacobs’ residence. The county claimed that the video “corroborates the relevant portions of [anonymous victim]’s statement.” According to the police report, it shows both Jacobs and the alleged victim leaving and returning to the residence and “the altercation.”
Per the county, the victim attempted to leave the residence through the garage, as she believed her calls to the police were not going through due to poor service, and was followed by Jacobs. At that point, Jacobs “grabbed her and threw her to the ground and she struck her head, suffering an injury.”
The video apparently confirms that after the victim was on the floor for around 40 seconds, Jacobs returned to the garage to damage the victim’s phone — the second phone in the incident, after Jacobs apparently took the first phone from the anonymous woman and left his residence with the phone in his vehicle.
Jacobs pled no contest to the charges of battery and criminal damage to property on Thursday.
In court, District Attorney David Lasse stated that “videos weren’t readily accessible on the device and had to be recovered.” No further details were given about why a digital forensics unit had to recover the video from the surveillance system.
When the judge stated that he was going to treat pleas of no contest as pleas of guilty, Jacobs confirmed he understood and did not change his plea. When Jacobs was asked by the judge if he believed that the state could prove the elements of battery and the elements of criminal damage to property beyond a reasonable doubt had the case gone to a jury trial and would be “guilty as charged of those offenses,” Jacobs also stated, “Yes.”
The charge of criminal damage to property was deferred, meaning that it will come off Jacobs’ record if he can stay out of the court system for 12 months, avoid contact with the victim, comply with supervision from the Brown County Criminal Justice Services, attend counseling that includes a batterer’s prevention program and pay restitution to the victim. If Jacobs can accomplish that, the criminal damage to property charge will be dismissed, but the battery charge will remain on his record regardless. Should Jacobs break any condition of his deferred charge, he could serve up to nine months in jail — as the judge stated that he will sentence Jacobs to the maximum time allowed if it’s found that Jacobs has a “material breach” of their agreement after a trial.
Later on that day, Judge Marc Hammer temporarily sealed the evidence in the case, including video recordings, at the request of Jacobs’ attorneys.
