Johnny Manziel Domestic Assault Case Will Go To Grand Jury

In an alleged domestic assault case in which the alleged perpetrator is the now-infamous Johnny Manziel, a Dallas court has decided that the case will go to the grand jury. The alleged incident stemmed from an argument that Manziel had with his then-girlfriend, Colleen Crowley, in Dallas on January 30. The grand jury will determine whether the Cleveland Browns quarterback will be indicted for a class A misdemeanor assault, it was announced publicly on Thursday afternoon, according to USA Today. Dallas police announced the decision in a statement today.

“The investigation of the domestic violence assault involving Jonathan Manziel, which occurred on January 30, 2016, has been completed. Today, a Class A misdemeanor Assault/Domestic Violence case has been referred to the Dallas County District Attorney’s office for presentation to the grand jury. The Dallas Police Department will not release any details of the investigation while it is pending grand jury presentation.”

Manziel disputes that he struck Crowley that night or any night, but his ex-girlfriend tells a rather frightening tale of a not only a violent Manziel, but one that threatened to kill her and himself both, she alleges.

“He hit me with his open hand on my left ear for jumping out of the car. I realized immediately that I could not hear out of that ear, and I still cannot today.”

She said that once she was inside the car, she attempted to hit him several times to get him off of her, and even begged a valet to not let him take her. Manziel responded by slamming her head into the car window, she claims.

“He was driving to my apartment, and he said, ‘Shut up or I’ll kill us both!’ Then I started begging him not to kill me and he immediately responded, ‘I would never kill you. You don’t deserve that. I would only kill myself.'”

Unfortunately, this is not the only incident that allegedly involves domestic violence or poor choices. In October, Manziel was pulled over on the interstate after having an altercation with Crowley while driving. He admitted he had been drinking that day, but was not disciplined legally, nor by the NFL, for that incident.

“His future on our team will be addressed here pretty soon. But let me say this: I think it’s really important that obviously there were some people involved in the situation that happened and I feel very bad about those things as they do happen. But I want to make sure we all understand that that behavior will not be tolerated as we move forward, and that’s all I want to say about it. Our organization is going to take a stand, and we’re going to move on from those kind of situations as we move forward.”

Once presented to the grand jury, a misdemeanor assault conviction carries a maximum punishment of one year in jail and a $4,000 fine, according to ESPN. Normally misdemeanors do not go to grand jury, but it could be that the Dallas Police Department feels the case is too high-profile to prosecute independently.

Crowley’s attorney said they had the medical reports that showed her ear drum was perforated by the blow to her head. The alleged incident had occurred after a night of drinking and partying that was common in the couple’s volatile relationship, and afterwards Crowley was awarded an order of protection by police.

[Image by Andrew Weber/Getty]