Delayed by a day due to a water main break, the trial of Patriots safety Jabrill Peppers began on Thursday. Although most criminal defendants choose not to waive the right to remain silent, Peppers has taken the stand in his own defense.
Via the Associated Press, Peppers denied choking or shoving the alleged victim.
He had little choice but to tell his version of the events. Without his side, the jury would have heard only the alleged victim’s testimony from earlier in the case.
“He grabbed me by the neck and slammed me against the wall,” she said, per the Associated Press. “My feet weren’t touching the wall and he was holding me up against the wall.”
During cross examination, Peppers’s lawyer questioned her about, among other things, a $9.5 million civil lawsuit she has filed against Peppers. The lawyer accused her of “looking for money.”
Per the Associated Press, the evidence against Peppers includes videos from the incident “in which Peppers can be seen asking the naked woman to repeatedly leave his house.” She testified that Peppers “was taunting her, as she tried to get her belongings and depart after the alleged assault.”
The NFL initially placed Peppers on the Commissioner Exempt list after the charges were filed in October. The league removed him from paid leave the next month.
Peppers’s career with the Patriots is likely hinging on the verdict. Said owner Robert Kraft in October, “If what was reported is true, he’s gone.”
