Earlier this year, Pats receiver Julian Edelman was arrested for indecent assault. He allegedly groped a woman below the waist.
The defendant, who fittingly has been playing defense of late, faced a January 10 court date, but now the charges have been dropped.
“After a thorough investigation of this case by the Boston Police Department’s Sexual Assault Unit . . . the Commonwealth has concluded that it would not be able to meet its burden at trial of proving each of the elements of indecent assault and battery beyond a reasonable doubt,” a Suffolk County prosecutor wrote in a document filed in court today, via Ian Rapoport of the Boston Herald. “Specifically, a review of both witness statements and video surveillance has revealed that the Commonwealth would be unable to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant intentionally engaged in a harmful or offensive touching of the complainant that would be regarded by society as immodest, immoral, and improper.”
A statement posted on the Suffolk County District Attorney’s website further explains the decision not to pursue prosecution.
“The probe in this case included an examination of video surveillance footage from the scene of the incident, a review of the 911 calls that brought Boston Police to that incident, multiple interviews with the complainant in which she was represented by counsel, a study of statements by various parties at the scene of the incident, and analysis of the relevant statute and case law,” the District Attorney’s website states. “Edelman had been charged with indecent assault and battery for allegedly groping a woman during the 1:30 a.m. incident at Storyville on Exeter Street. The evidence suggests that he approached a woman on the dance floor and took her hand briefly. Review of the videotape indicates that the physical contact between the two was fleeting, prosecutors say, and did not meet the elements of any crime.”
And there’s the most important piece of evidence. An alleged victim can say whatever he or she wants, but the eye in the sky never lies. If the video shows that Edelman merely took the woman’s hand “briefly” in a “fleeting” moment, even Joe Amendola wouldn’t be able to find a way to screw this one up.