A trial date was set Friday for former Cleveland Browns safety Jabrill Peppers, who in October was arrested on charges including assault, strangulation and drug possession.
Peppers, a current team captain for the New England Patriots, will stand trial on Jan. 22, 2025, in Quincy District Court in Massachusetts.
Peppers, 29, is charged with assault and battery, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, strangulation and possession of a Class B substance believed to be cocaine. He was placed on the NFL’s commissioner exempt list on Oct. 9, four days after he was arrested Oct. 5 by police in Braintree, Massachusetts. He was arraigned Oct. 7 in Quincy District Court, where he pleaded not guilty on all counts, posted $2,500 bail and was ordered to not have any contact with the alleged victim.
Police said they responded to a report of an altercation between two people at a residential address early on the morning of Oct. 5, ESPN reports. The alleged victim said the 220-pound Peppers choked and strangled her six times, smashed her head against a wall and threw her down a flight of stairs. She was treated at the scene by emergency medical services.
Peppers’ defense attorney, Marc Brofsky, said in court that the plaintiff made a $10.5 million demand of Peppers, which he denied, before they filed a civil suit in Norfolk Superior Court seeking that same amount.
“It technically may not be extortion but is highly probative and tells you what this case is all about,” Brofsky said.
Brofsky disputed the alleged victim’s claims by describing four videos Peppers recorded of the victim on his phone that he said show no evidence of assault injuries reported to police. He said those videos have also been shown to prosecutors.
“The videos show no injuries consistent with the allegations,” Brofsky said, NBC Boston reports. “The only thing you see is a bruise or scrape on her knee. You see no injuries to her head or to her face… If this really happened, there would be very serious bodily injuries and she would have been in the hospital.
However, Judge Mark Coven said he expects the charges to stand and the case to go to trial.
“I’m sure there’s another side to this,” Coven said. “That’s why we have trials and we let jurors decide.”
Peppers, an eight-year NFL veteran, is in his third season with the Patriots. He previously played three seasons with the New York Giants and his first two NFL seasons with the Cleveland Browns, which drafted the former University of Michigan standout in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft. Peppers was traded by the Browns to the Giants in the blockbuster trade for star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. in March 2019.
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