The NBA‘s Draymond Green, forward for the Golden State Warriors, was recently arrested in East Lansing, Michigan for Assault. But the Ingham County judge, presiding in 54B District Court and overseeing Greenās case has agreed to move his arraignment so as to not interfere with his appearance at the next Olympic Games.
According to court records, Green is accused of assaulting Michigan State University football player Jermaine Edmondson. Green, who is a former MSU All American and a current member of the U.S. Men’s Olympic Team, allegedly slapped Edmondson after the two got into an argument outside an East Lansing bar at about 2:28 on Sunday morning. One of the officers present described the accompanying noise as a “loud slap sound.”
Blood alcohol registered slightly higher than legal limit
Green was arrested at the scene and transported to the East Lansing Police jail. His blood alcohol content (BAC) was checked and is said to have registered at .10, which is slightly higher than Michigan’s legal limit for drivers. Green was not driving during the alleged altercation. When police spoke to Edmondson right after the altercation, he claimed that Green punched him but admitted to police officers that he wasn’t hurt. However, the next day his version of events was a little different.
He told East Lansing Police officers that in addition to the scene outside of the bar, he and Green had also been involved in an altercation in a different local bar. He claimed that some men who had been with Green had choked both him and his girlfriend inside the bar. However neither he nor his girlfriend were able to identify who these men were.
“As far as today, I’m not feeling the best,” Edmondson wrote in a statement to police. “My neck and my jaw still (hurt) along with the headache that I’ve had since I was hit. I would like to take further action on this situation and I am willing to fully cooperate.
Green was charged with misdemeanorĀ Assault, also known as “simple assault.” Under Michigan law, assault is defined a any attempt to cause physical injury to another person or placing a person in imminent fear of being assaulted. For example, attempting to strike someone with a hand is a simple assault. An attempt to strike somebody with a dangerous weapon is a felony assault. Ā
During a trip to Aspen, Colorado for a conference, Green made his first public comments about the situation that had led to his charge. “When things happen, you meet them head on. My legal team is handling it. It will be resolved really quickly, As a public figure I can’t put myself in certain situations. It’s something that I’ll learn from and move on.”
The East Lansing district court judge has also agreed to change the scheduled date of Green’s pre-trial conference so that it doesn’t interfere with his Olympic training schedule. Initially, the pre-trial conference had been scheduled for August 4th, but will now be scheduled for July 21st.