Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs has filed a civil lawsuit seeking a permanent injunction to prevent the public release of records and surveillance video from a May 23 altercation with a woman at his Hobart home.
According to Brown County Circuit Court records, Jacobs filed the suit Wednesday against the Hobart/Lawrence Police Department — one day after the department said it had approved the release of certain records with appropriate redactions, only for parties involved to appeal. The filing seeks a “permanent injunction, protective order and order restricting access to records under Wis. Stat. 19.356,” which has placed a hold on the release of previously unavailable records and evidence.
The initial criminal report referenced surveillance video from cameras inside Jacobs’ garage that captured part of the incident. Jacobs argues in the lawsuit that releasing the footage would reveal private details of the garage’s interior, including its configuration, entrances, exits, doors, windows, storage areas and security arrangements that “could be used to evaluate how the garage or residence might be entered.” He cites the rise in robberies of athletes’ homes as a reason to withhold the video.
The suit also states that Jacobs “joins and supports” the position of the woman involved (referred to in court documents as ANM), who has requested protection of her “privacy, dignity, personal security, emotional well-being, and ability to participate safely in the criminal justice process.” Jacobs contends that redacting only names or faces would be insufficient because advanced AI tools could still identify her based on “her body shape and other indicia of her identity.” The woman has filed a separate lawsuit seeking to block release of the evidence, primarily the garage video.
Jacobs pleaded no contest on Sept. 10 to misdemeanor charges of battery and criminal damage to property. A judge convicted him of battery, imposed a $1,000 fine plus costs, and accepted a deferred judgment agreement on the property-damage charge. Under the agreement, the property charge is set to be dismissed after 12 months if Jacobs meets conditions that include no further criminal acts, no contact with the woman, supervision, counseling and restitution. Jacobs told the court, “I fully understand the seriousness of the situation and I take full responsibility.”
Brown County District Attorney David Lasee previously said the case did not meet the legal criteria for domestic violence charges because Jacobs and the woman were never married, did not live together and had no children in common. Police initially arrested Jacobs on May 26 on five charges that included felony strangulation/suffocation, but the DA’s office declined to pursue those at the time. Charges were later filed in late August after investigators reviewed the garage video, which prosecutors said corroborated portions of the woman’s account that Jacobs grabbed her and threw her to the ground, resulting in a head injury, and damaged her phone.
Jacobs has remained on the NFL commissioner’s exempt list since late August, barring him from practicing or playing while the league reviews the matter under its personal conduct policy. Time spent on the exempt list can count toward any eventual suspension. The NFL has sought access to the video as part of its investigation.
The police department had indicated earlier this week that it planned to release redacted records but delayed doing so pending court action. Jacobs’ attorneys Clarence Duchac, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld have said the filing is intended to assist the woman’s efforts to protect her privacy.
The case continues in Brown County Circuit Court.
Flip the pages for photos of Jacobs’ ex-girlfriend Ash Kash.
