How Will NFL Handle Hardy After Domestic Abuse Dismissal?
There has been a dismissal of domestic abuse charges against Greg Hardy after the accuser was a no-show in court on Monday.
The court date was for the Carolina Panthers defensive end’s appeal of his 2014 conviction. The case was to begin Monday morning at the Mecklenburg County Courthouse in Charlotte, North Carolina, but Nicole Holder, the victim of the domestic abuse, never appeared in court.
So where exactly was Holder and how could they dismiss a criminal case so easily?
According to ESPN, the district attorney’s office couldn’t even find Holder to issue her a subpoena to appear in court. Also, it came to the district attorney’s attention that “Holder and Hardy have reached a civil settlement and that she has ‘intentionally made herself unavailable to the State.'”
The whole situation has many asking if you can pay your way to a dismissal of domestic abuse charges, or any charges for that matter.
Greg Hardy’s apparent payoff to alleged domestic victim will test NFL’s new policy. Can you buy your way out of it? http://t.co/E4vKSJVGbd
— Jane McManus (@janesports) February 10, 2015
When asked to assist, Holder’s attorney for the civil case refused to help the district attorney’s office locate her.
The Charlotte District Attorney, Andrew Murray, made a statement standing outside of the courthouse after the dismissal of the charges.
Murray stated, “To prosecute domestic violence cases, we encourage domestic violence victims to not only report domestic violence but to participate in every level of the prosecution…We need that participation in order to gain justice for not only victims of domestic violence, but for this community.”
Hardy was first convicted “at a bench trial” on July 15 of “misdemeanor charges of communicating threats and assaulting a female,” according to Fox Sports. The decision was immediately appealed with Hardy looking for a trial by jury in the domestic abuse charges, and an original court date was set for November before being issued a continuance until Monday.
Hardy played only one game last season before being benched and placed on the inactive roster. While there may have been a dismissal of the domestic abuse charges in a court of law, the NFL still has a say in what will happen to Hardy.
After the Ray Rice abuse scandal and the criticism of how the NFL handles such issues, they will not be quick to handle this case, even though the domestic abuse charges were dismissed.
In a statement made on Monday, the NFL said, “His status remains unchanged until we fully review the matter.” A
nd what’s more is “the Panthers are not expected to pursue Hardy once he becomes an unrestricted free agent March 10.”
Brennan: Greg Hardy’s case a test for new NFL approach http://t.co/Ddlq0w9twq
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) February 10, 2015
It appears that even though there has been a dismissal in the domestic abuse case against Greg Hardy this is a test to see how the NFL will handle yet another domestic abuse situation in the league.
[Photo Courtesy of ESPN]
