In the United States of America no matter the crime you are supposed to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.
The reality in the United States of America especially if you are a black man is that you are presumed guilty until proven innocent. The problem with the latter is that people make assumptions off accusations and assumed guilt that can cost you your livelihood. The Vikings didn’t even wait to hear Gladney signed of the story before they cut him.
Now, it is coming out that the woman who accused Gladney of assaulting her might have just been looking for a money grab.
Former TCU standout Jeff Gladney, who was a 2020 first-round draft pick of the Minnesota Vikings, was found not guilty of assault on Thursday. A Dallas County Court exonerated Gladney of the charge, according to a report by NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport. Gladney was cut in August by the Vikings hours after he was indicted by a Dallas grand jury on a third-degree felony charge of family violence assault, according to court records.
At the time of his indictment, Gladney’s agent Brian Overstreet said Gladney was innocent. “It’s a good thing that innocent until proven guilty still exists in this country,” Overstreet said in a release at the time. “Unfortunately, the Vikings don’t view it the same way.” Overstreet said the complaining witness requested that the case not be prosecuted. “We look forward to his day in court so that he can clear his name,” he said at the time. Gladney was arrested on April 5, three days after the alleged assault. The woman filed a civil lawsuit against Gladney in July, seeking at least $1 million in damages for allegedly beating her for more than two hours.
Looks like this was all about the cash.
We will see if Gladney who lost a whole year of salary and his reputation gets another shot in NFL. The reason the woman said that Gladney assaulted her was because he caught her cheating.
Gladney’s lawyers says he was being blackmailed in a statement that was first reported by Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network.
“First and foremost, this has had a real impact on Jeff Gladney as a person. These situations have very real consequences for the young men involved. This has been a challenging time for Jeff mentally, spiritually and athletically. So, we applaud Jeff for having the courage to stand and fight for his freedom versus these false allegations. We further hope this will encourage other athletes in the future who have been falsely accused, blackmailed or persuaded to provide hush money to make these type of situations go away, to now take a stand and defend themselves as well. As I stated previously at the beginning of this case, we have always believed in Jeff Gladney’s innocence. We sincerely thank and appreciate the jurors of Dallas County for their open minds, service and taking their time to see justice instead of a professional athlete. Unfortunately, Jeff has lost a year of his career. We sincerely hope that the NFL will take a page from the criminal justice system going forward and truly believe these guys are innocent until proven guilty. Today, Jeff is in a good place and we look forward to engaging with NFL teams about furthering his career at the appropriate time. Out of respect for the process, we will have no further comments at this time.”
Flip the page for the original arrest.