Ex-Pats coordinator/Lions HC was indicted in 1996???

[Dcat]

wow.  I have no doubt that Patriots knew all along and didn't care (see: Aaron Hernandez).  Poor Lions' fans.  They don't deserve this mess.

link and article copied below  https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/05/09/report-matt-patricia-indicted-but-not-tried-for-sexual-assault-in-1996/

Report: Matt Patricia indicted but not tried for sexual assault in 1996

Posted by Mike Florio on May 9, 2018, 11:51 PM EDT

Getty Images

The hiring of Lions coach Matt Patricia carries with it a surprising new caveat that, depending on the manner in which the dominoes fall, could threaten to end his tenure before it even really begins.

According to Robert Snell of the Detroit News, Patricia was indicted for sexual assault in 1996.

Both Patricia, then 21, and Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute teammate and fraternity brother Greg Dietrich, then 22, were charged by a grand jury with one count of aggravated sexual assault. They allegedly burst into the hotel room of a 21-year-old woman while on spring break at South Padre Island, Texas and “took turns violently sexual assaulting her.”

The case eventually was dismissed in January 1997, because the alleged victim did “not feel she can face the pressures or stress of a trial.”

One of the lawyers who represented Patricia at the time claims that the assault didn’t occur.

“In my opinion, it was a fabrication,” Jeff Wilson told Snell. “I’m telling you it was a ‘he said, she said.’ I don’t know what type of problems the girl was having; I don’t know why she made that allegation. We vehemently denied that he was doing anything wrong or did anything wrong.”

On one hand, that’s what a lawyer is supposed to say. On the other hand, false accusations do indeed happen.

But while the case was the subject of news reports and public records in the early days of the Internet, it appears that the Lions didn’t know about the allegations when hiring Patricia. According to Snell, team president Rod Wood initially said, “I don’t know anything about this.” Wood later provided a statement of support for Patricia and the manner in which he was hired.

“I am very comfortable with the process of interviewing and employing Matt,” Wood told Snell. “I will tell you with 1,000-percent certainty that everything I’ve learned confirmed what I already knew about the man and would have no way changed our decision to make him our head coach.”

That may be the case, but what if this allegation had emerged during the period of time between the firing of Jim Caldwell and the hiring of Patricia? Could the Lions (who seemed in hindsight to be destined to hire Patricia from the moment Bob Quinn became G.M.) have followed through with the hiring of Patricia if this story had emerged before he was announced as the head coach?

This isn’t a matter of legal guilt or innocence; it’s a matter of league and team P.R. in the era of the #MeToo movement. Ultimately, whether the Lions will be able to keep Patricia may depend in large part on the local and national reaction to the news. The story could quickly away, or it could snowball into a controversy that forces the Lions to make a change — even if, as a matter of basic contract law, the Lions most likely would be forced to pay Patricia every dollar of his four-year deal if they decide to fire him.

The Lions could decide to try to shut off Patricia’s right to a buyout, if they decide that they have no choice but to make a change. It’s possible, for example, that paperwork completed or other information submitted by Patricia when he got the job contemplated full disclosure of the indictment. If he failed to do so, that could be grounds for a so-called termination for cause.

Before it ever gets to that point, the Lions would have to conclude that it’s not practical to proceed with Patricia as the coach. And the league office, which has become ultra-sensitive to the public-relations consequences of allegations of violence against women, surely will take a position on what the Lions should do. That position definitely will be shaped by the extent to which it’s believed that the situation creates a P.R. problem for the league office.

  

[The Crusher]

In a related story the NFL rumor mill is hearing whispers that Rothlisburger may be heading to Detroit after the Steelers drafted the younger and far less rapey Mason Rudolph just weeks ago. 

[T0mShane]

But did he kneel while doing it? That’s the real question. 

[Dcat]

2 minutes ago, T0mShane said:

But did he kneel while doing it? That’s the real question. 

No doubt he kneeled and chanted multiple Hail Mary's when the case was dismissed after the Grand Jury indicted him. 

I'd love to know how much Patricia and the other defendant paid the alleged victim to refuse to proceed with the case, thus forcing the case to be dismissed.  

[jetspenguin]

3 minutes ago, Dcat said:

No doubt he kneeled and chanted multiple Hail Mary's when the case was dismissed after the Grand Jury indicted him. 

I'd love to know how much Patricia and the other defendant paid the alleged victim to refuse to proceed with the case, thus forcing the case to be dismissed.  

apparently not enough...since it has come back to bite him in the arse.

[Thai Jet]

A

7 minutes ago, jetspenguin said:

apparently not enough...since it has come back to bite him in the arse.

"There was no settlement agreement and no money exchanged hands and there was no confidentiality agreement " with the woman filing the complaint per the Lions/ Patricia joint press release. Sounds like a non story. 

[Dcat]

15 minutes ago, Thai Jet said:

A

"There was no settlement agreement and no money exchanged hands and there was no confidentiality agreement " with the woman filing the complaint per the Lions/ Patricia joint press release. Sounds like a non story. 

yeah, if you want to believe that.  There is a slight chance that the above is true, but highly unlikely IMO.  But the point wasn't whether Patricia was guilty or innocent.  It was that the Lions had no knowledge of this when they hired him.  How much due diligence did they undergo?  Did the Pats know about this?  As the article says below, the issue is not one of innocence or guilt.

This isn’t a matter of legal guilt or innocence; it’s a matter of league and team P.R. in the era of the #MeToo movement. Ultimately, whether the Lions will be able to keep Patricia may depend in large part on the local and national reaction to the news. The story could quickly away, or it could snowball into a controversy that forces the Lions to make a change — even if, as a matter of basic contract law, the Lions most likely would be forced to pay Patricia every dollar of his four-year deal if they decide to fire him.

[Augustiniak]

but it's ok that the patriots employed him all those years.  

[BrickTamland]

He is innocent as far as I’m concerned.

GJ indictment means jack—takes hearsay evidence and solely determines whether there is “probable cause”

Bunch of prosecutors in here?

[jpoppy717]

3 minutes ago, Augustiniak said:

but it's ok that the patriots employed him all those years.  

Belichick was able to keep it under wraps as long as he was with the Pats.  He left, this comes out.

Makes you wonder what he has on McDaniels that would have come out if he had left.?

[Joe W. Namath]

Havent we all done something on Spring Break that we should be arrested for?

[T0mShane]

Hiring Pats assistants has worked out really well this offseason. Kudos to all involved.

[NoBowles]

You know the old saying, you can take the man out of the Patriots, but you can't take the Patriots out of the man....

[flgreen]

The key word here is allegations.  Strange thing about the USA, your innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Nothing to see here.

[jetspenguin]

1 hour ago, Thai Jet said:

A

"There was no settlement agreement and no money exchanged hands and there was no confidentiality agreement " with the woman filing the complaint per the Lions/ Patricia joint press release. Sounds like a non story. 

that doesnt mean its a non story....she didnt get paid, maybe she got threatend? Either way if it's coming back up and there is the threat of prosecution even now its a story and a bad way to start off a new regime

[peebag]

5 minutes ago, flgreen said:

The key word here is allegations.  Strange thing about the USA, your innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Nothing to see here.

But it's ex Patriots so they are guilty.

[ZachEY]

Probably just another woman looking to take down a man with some notoriety and power...  I mean, just think, in 1996 he was <searches wikipedia> a Graduate Assistant at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

[T0mShane]

4 minutes ago, TeddEY said:

Probably just another woman looking to take down a man with some notoriety and power...  I mean, just think, in 1996 he was <searches wikipedia> a Graduate Assistant at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Those money-grubbing RPI hos

[Dcat]

45 minutes ago, jetspenguin said:

that doesnt mean its a non story....she didnt get paid, maybe she got threatend? Either way if it's coming back up and there is the threat of prosecution even now its a story and a bad way to start off a new regime

she probably got paid, but we'll never know.  Denial of that can't be proven.

[Dcat]

7 minutes ago, TeddEY said:

Probably just another woman looking to take down a man with some notoriety and power...  I mean, just think, in 1996 he was <searches wikipedia> a Graduate Assistant at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

LOL.   He had no notieriety or power at the time.  He was a 21 year old college student.  The alleged incident happened 22 years ago on a college campus.

[jetspenguin]

lol its almost shocking to see people here defending or making excuses for ex-pats booty bandits.......fug em all

[flgreen]

6 minutes ago, TeddEY said:

Probably just another woman looking to take down a man with some notoriety and power...  I mean, just think, in 1996 he was <searches wikipedia> a Graduate Assistant at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

No, more then likely like what happened with Winston.  Banged her, didn't kiss her good night, she got offended, and decided to ruin his life.

[ZachEY]

16 minutes ago, jetspenguin said:

that doesnt mean its a non story....she didnt get paid, maybe she got threatend? Either way if it's coming back up and there is the threat of prosecution even now its a story and a bad way to start off a new regime

Or maybe, it's exactly what she said, that she didn't want to be put through a trial.  Does anyone actually personally know a woman who's gone through with a sexual assault/rape trial?  It's a brutal experience of constant re-victimization and victim blaming.  Walking away from that experience doesn't mean it didn't happen, I assure you.

[baamf]

32 minutes ago, Joe W. Namath said:

Havent we all done something on Spring Break that we should be arrested for?

I agree, and we don't know for sure what happened, but this line from the indictment is troubling to say the least...

A woman alleged Patricia and a teammate, Greg Dietrich, took turns violently sexually assaulting her after barging into her hotel room.

 

[ZachEY]

2 minutes ago, Dcat said:

LOL.   He had no notieriety or power at the time.  He was a 21 year old college student.  The alleged incident happened 22 years ago on a college campus.

Yes, my post was serious about the notoriety and power and not at all sarcastic.  Similar to this one.

[ZachEY]

3 minutes ago, flgreen said:

No, more then likely like what happened with Winston.  Banged her, didn't kiss her good night, she got offended, and decided to ruin his life.

Yes, this is very likely, and not something you just completely made up.

[Matt39]

Troy, NY. What a fine town.

[Sperm Edwards]

I hate that the change in recent years to just call all rape by the generic and weaker-sounding "sexual assault" term, instead of specifying what type of sexual assault it was. The catch-all term they exclusively use now includes rape, but it also includes unwanted touching/fondling (i.e. all rape is sexual assault, but not all sexual assault is rape). Of course all are gross and horrid, but few would argue the former is typically worse or even close to being as bad.

IMO it kind of somewhat whitewashes when rape occurs, by specifying it by legal degrees and such, when the average person doesn't know the legal distinctions among them (1st degree, 2nd degree, etc.), and since those things can differ by state anyway. Everyone knows damn well what rape is, though, without the need to think about what 2nd or 3rd degree sexual assault means.

He was accused of tag-team rape in a hotel room, not squeezing her ass in a bar. 

[Kleckineau]

Whether he commited the crime or not he was never tried or found guilty of any crimes.

If the Lions or NFL decide to fire him they will most likely be sued.

[T0mShane]

7 minutes ago, Kleckineau said:

Whether he commited the crime or not he was never tried or found guilty of any crimes.

If the Lions or NFL decide to fire him they will most likely be sued.

It’d probably be worth it for them to take the lawsuit, especially if—as these things tend to do—the story starts to get bigger and more seedy. The NFL, with Goodell handling the fallout, entering into a MeToo crisis would be catastrophic. 

[UntouchableCrew]

How does this sort of thing not come up during a background check?

[Dcat]

5 minutes ago, UntouchableCrew said:

How does this sort of thing not come up during a background check?

most background checks look for convictions, not allegations.  There was no conviction and the charges were dismissed.  Nothing to report.

[Dcat]

40 minutes ago, peebag said:

But it's ex Patriots so they are guilty.

absolutely

[T0mShane]

15 minutes ago, UntouchableCrew said:

How does this sort of thing not come up during a background check?

If Detroit wants to fire him, this is the angle they’ll take—that he didn’t reveal this information during the hiring process. It’s how they can possibly avoid legal liability, IMO. 

[BallinPB]

These types of allegations pisses me off.  I don't care if he is an ex patriot or not.  No man deserves to have this crap from 1996 brought up now in 2018 especially since the case was thrown out.  If he did it then he deserves to be punished but I'm under the impression that like I said before this was already taken care of decades ago.  

This sounds like a woman who got drunk and let two guys tag team her and woke up in the morning and regretted her decision.  I don't know a decent man that would "violently" take turns raping a woman in a hotel room and Matt Patricia at the very least seems like a decent man.