Domestic Violence Charge Against NFL's Greg Hardy Dismissed
Earlier this week, Mecklenburg County District Attorney Andrew Murray moved
to dismiss
Domestic Violence charges against Greg Hardy, Carolina Panthers defensive end and soon-to-be
free agent. The Domestic Violence charge stemmed from a 2014 incident
where a woman accused Hardy of throwing her into a bathtub, choking her,
throwing her onto a futon, and threatening to kill her. She testified
to these allegations in Hardy's July, 2014 non-jury trial, where Judge
Rebecca Thorne Tin found him "guilty" and sentenced him to 18
months Probation and 60 days Jail held in abeyance. That sentence was
on hold pending the outcome of Hardy's "jury appeal."
In his testimony at his July, 2014 non-jury trial, Hardy categorically
denied the allegations, stating that his accuser became upset and caused
her own injuries when he declined to have sex with her. Judge Tin chose
to believe Hardy's accuser and found him guilty. In North Carolina,
the criminal procedure laws allow for an "appeal by jury," essentially
another trial. Trial by jury was set to start this Monday, February 9,
but when Prosecutors were unable to Subpoena the accuser to testify in
Court, they were forced to ask Superior Court Judge Robert T. Summer to
dismiss the Domestic Violence charges.
Click here for the ESPN article and video on the dismissal of Greg Hardy's
Domestic Violence charges.
As a Michigan Domestic Violence defense attorney who concentrates on defending
those accused of
Michigan Domestic Violence (also called Domestic Assault) charges, every day I respond to the question: "Will a Domestic Violence case be dismissed if the alleged victim doesn't show-up?" At trial, the accused has a Constitutional right under the 6th Amendment
to see, hear, and question their accuser on the witness stand. This is
referred to as the 6th Amendment right of confrontation. Generally speaking,
if the Prosecutor cannot get the accuser to Court for trial, the charges
must be dismissed because to proceed without them would violate the accused's
right of confrontation.
In the Greg Hardy
Domestic Violence case, the Prosecutor reported that they had vigorously attempted to serve
his accuser with a Subpoena, but were unable to locate her, even after
surveilling her for some time. In Michigan, a Subpoena must be placed
directly in someone's hands or mailed Certified, return receipt requested,
delivery restricted to the accuser, with a signature proving they received
it. Failing to comply with a Subpoena is grounds for criminal contempt
of Court. The US Supreme Court has held that under the Confrontation Clause
of the 6th Amendment, if the accuser is unavailable for trial because
they cannot be Subpoenaed, the only way the trial can continue is if the
Prosecution is introducing statements by the accuser made to others about
the alleged incident that meet certain requirements, and the accused has
had a prior opportunity to cross-examine them.
Click here for the NFLs article on the Greg Hardy Domestic Violence charge dismissal.
Because Greg Hardy had an opportunity to cross-examine his accuser at the
prior non-jury trial in July, 2014, the Prosecution could have argued
that Hardy already cross-examined her before, and that the Confrontation
Clause would have allowed the trial to continue based on her former testimony.
The fact that the Prosecution moved to dismiss the Domestic Violence charges
against Hardy was likely not made for legal reasons, but for practical
ones: juries are unlikely to convict if the accuser isn't even willing
to show-up in Court. Had Hardy's case gone forward, this situation
would have forced Prosecutors to come up with an explanation for why a
woman who was allegedly so brutally attacked wouldn't have the incentive
to see to it that Hardy was convicted and punished.
If the jury didn't buy the Prosecutor's explanation for the accuser's
absence and found Hardy not guilty, that would be it - end of story.
Although news sources have neither confirmed nor denied it, it is a fair
assumption that the Domestic Violence charge was dismissed "without
prejudice," which means the Prosecution can re-file the charges if
they later find a way to gain Hardy's accuser's cooperation. For
tactical reasons, the Prosecution made the right choice under the circumstances,
but that doesn't necessarily mean that Hardy won't be back in
Court again sometime in the future. And considering the tenacity of the
Prosecution's quest to Subpoena the accuser, it's reasonable to
assume they're not just going to let it go. In the meantime, Panthers
organization has released the following statement about the Greg Hardy
Domestic Violence matter:
"We are aware of the decision by the district attorney's office to dismiss
charges against Greg Hardy. Greg remains on the Commissioner's Exempt
List and the NFL has advised us to allow it to complete its review under
the Personal Conduct Policy. There is no change in his status at this time."
Michigan criminal defense attorney Brian J. Prain is a top-ranked defense lawyer who concentrates his entire practice on
defending those falsely accused of Michigan crimes involving an element
of Assault, including Domestic Violence. Brian J. Prain of Prain Law, PLLC
can be reached at
(248) 731-4543.
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