On Sunday morning, TMZ reported that former NFL defensive end and ESPN and Fox employee Marcellus Wiley was arrested on July 4 for alleged domestic battery.
Per the Public Information Office of the Orange County (Florida) Corrections Department, Wiley was released from custody at 8:43 p.m. ET on Sunday, after posting a cash bond of $1,000.
PFT has obtained the Arrest Affidavit, which reveals that deputies responded to the World Marriott in Orlando on July 4 at 4:47 p.m. ET.
The alleged victim is Wiley’s wife. She asked deputies to “remove her husband from their shared hotel room due to her being afraid of him.” She said that Wiley “told [her] he was going to kill her and [she] was afraid of his behavior.”
Asked to elaborate, she said “on the previous morning Marcellus had put his hands on her,” by using “one finger to sternly and intentionally poke her in the cheek,” and that their seven-year-old daughter witnessed the incident. (Their daughter told deputies she did not see Marcellus touch her mother but did hear them arguing.)
The deputy who prepared the affidavit noticed no “visible injuries” and Wiley’s wife did not request medical attention.
Wiley’s wife said that Wiley “had an unreported history of violence toward her and she was planning to divorce him when they returned home to California.”
When interviewed by deputies, Wiley denied any physical altercation with his wife. He said he believes she made the report “due to her intention to divorce him.”
The deputies concluded that Wiley “did intentionally touch [his wife] against her will,” and that probable cause exists to charge [Wiley] with battery (domestic violence).”
The law regarding criminal battery is very broad. Florida law, like the law of many states, provides that "[t]he offense of battery occurs when a person . . . [a]ctually and intentionally touches or strikes another person against the will of the other.”
Wiley spent 10 years in the NFL, playing for the Bills, Chargers, Cowboys, and Jaguars. He worked for ESPN through 2018, and he then worked at Fox Sports until 2022.
