Josh Jacobs has apparently learned that football season is not the only place where things can get complicated.
The Green Bay Packers running back pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor charges. And on the very same day, Judge Marc Hammer signed an order temporarily sealing evidence in the case.
Apparently, one legal development was not enough for one day.
Jacobs entered the no-contest plea to the misdemeanor charges, meaning he did not admit guilt but also did not fight the charges in court. That is an important distinction.
Then came the sealed evidence.
According to reports, Judge Hammer ordered that evidence connected to the case be temporarily kept from public view. So, for now, anyone hoping to dig through the case files may have to wait.
Nothing says “stay tuned” quite like a judge putting documents behind a legal curtain.
Jacobs took a plea deal Thursday for battery and criminal damage to property. The judge sentenced him to a $1,000 fine on the battery charge. Jacobs entered a deferred judgement for the criminal damage to property charge. The court will dismiss that charge after a year if he does the following:
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Do no further criminal acts
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Avoid contacting the victim
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Submit to CJS for supervision for the next 12 months
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Complete a course for battery
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Pay restitution to the victim
The move comes as Jacobs deals with the misdemeanor case while preparing for another NFL season. Normally, the headlines surrounding the Packers star are about rushing yards, touchdowns and fantasy football.
This time, the conversation is happening inside a courtroom.
In an order signed and dated the same day, one of Jacobs’ defense attorneys, Clarence Duhac III, filed a motion to seal the discovery material in the case and the judge signed off on it.
Discovery material, according to the order, may include “…police reports, supplemental reports, dispatch and communications records, recordings, photographs, video recordings, witness statements, investigative notes, forensic materials, medical or treatment-related information, digital evidence, and other documents or media…”
“The Court finds that public disclosure of the Discovery Material would threaten or substantially impair Defendant’s and [the victim’s] privacy, dignity, personal security, emotional wellbeing, or ability to participate safely in the criminal-justice process,” the order reads. “This protection is not to impede any legitimate law-enforcement function, criminal prosecution judicial proceeding, or disclosure otherwise required by law, but to prevent unnecessary public dissemination of information that identifies [the victim], reveals intimate or sensitive details of [the victim] or the Defendant, or creates a material risk of harm.”
“This Order is granted temporarily, pending a further Motion to be filed by [the victim] and/or Defendant,” it goes on to say. It does not state a timeframe on how long the temporary seal lasts.
The public may eventually learn more about what the evidence contains. For now, however, the details remain restricted.
Jacobs is accused of throwing his girlfriend to the ground and damaging her phone on May 23 in an incident at his home.
The complaint says Jacobs then took the woman’s cellphone and refused to give it back. The two struggled over the phone before leaving the home in separate vehicles.
The woman later followed Jacobs because he still had her phone, and the two eventually returned to the house, according to the criminal complaint.
Until the evidence is unsealed or more details become public, everyone else will simply have to wait for the next chapter.
