Domestic Violence Charge Against Broncos Receiver Dropped
Denver Broncos receiver Brandon Marshall says he is still frustrated that a dispute with his girlfriend had developed into a public spectacle. However, to Marshall’s relief, the charges of false imprisonment from a domestic dispute were dropped May 24, according to an article published in the Rocky Mountain News. Marshall was quoted as saying the arrest was ridiculous and that the officer had no legitimate reason to arrest him.
The incident occurred on March 26 outside of Marshall’s house when his girlfriend, Rasheedah Watley, after an argument with Marshall, got into a cab with what Marshall says was his Blackberry phone. Marshall’s attorney says the player then tried to stop the cab from driving away and at one point pounded on the hood of the taxi, but never physically threatened Watley in any way. Prosecutors said the charges were dismissed because Marshall completed anger management classes.
But Marshall’s attorney says the domestic violence charges were dismissed because they were not legitimate in the first place. Marshall said he was just trying to get his cell phone back from his girlfriend. He said the incident taught him the importance of controlling his emotions in high-stress situations and admitted he was partially responsible for the situation escalating to that level. But, he added, there was no physical attack or threat.
“It was one of those things where it was a disagreement,” he said. “But everybody wanted to blow it up without knowing the actual truth.”
Marshall is right. Very often, officers who respond to domestic dispute calls tend to make arrests without completely hearing both sides of the story or without looking at the physical evidence of what happened at the scene of the incident. There seems to be no basis for the domestic violence charge because there is no physical evidence of violence. On the other hand, Marshall must be commended for going ahead and taking the anger management course anyway to defuse the whole situation.