Tennessee judge drops charges against Jones
Associated Press
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<!-- end story header --><!-- begin left column --> <!-- begin page tools --> Updated: January 31, 2008, 1:03 PM ET <!-- end page tools --><!-- begin story body --> <!-- template inline -->MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- A Tennessee judge dismissed misdemeanor charges against suspended NFL player Pacman Jones on Thursday, agreeing with a prosecutor that the Titans cornerback has been punished enough with his legal trouble over the past year.
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AP Photo/Mark Humphrey
Pacman Jones was spared charges in Tennessee when a district attorney and judge decided he has been punished enough.
Jones knows his behavior outside a Murfreesboro nightclub on the night of his August 2006 arrest was inappropriate, District Attorney General William Whitesell said at a hearing to reconsider a previous plea deal on the charges.
The cornerback was charged with public intoxication and disorderly conduct after police said he got into an argument with a woman, refused to leave the suburban Nashville club and shouted profanities at officers. He could have faced a $100 fine for both charges.
"It's cost him a lot more money than what the court would fine him," Whitesell said of Jones' yearlong suspension from the NFL, following a series of arrests. "Mr. Jones hopefully has learned something and been punished enough."
General Sessions Judge David Loughry ordered Jones on Thursday to apologize to the court. He has already written a letter of apology to the arresting officer.
Jones said he has learned a lot about how to deal with other people and how to conduct himself since the arrest. "It won't happen again," he said.
The judge approved a deal in January 2007 that would have dismissed the charges if Jones stayed out of trouble for six months. But Las Vegas police named Jones as the person who incited a fight inside a strip club on Feb. 19, 2007, that led to a triple shooting that left one man paralyzed.
Tennessee prosecutors argued in July that Jones being charged in Nevada was enough to show that the cornerback did not follow his plea agreement here for "good and lawful" behavior.
Jones pleaded no contest Dec. 6 in Las Vegas to conspiracy to commit disorderly conduct in a plea deal reducing two felony charges.
The Las Vegas case resulted in the sixth arrest for Jones since the Titans drafted him with the sixth pick overall in 2005. The NFL suspended Jones last April because of his off-field conduct and will review his status after the Pro Bowl.
Jones still has a felony charge of obstruction pending in Georgia from a February 2006 encounter with a police officer.
Attorney Worrick Robinson said Jones is working through the legal troubles that led to his suspension with hopes of returning to the NFL.
"That's been our goal since back in the summer," Robinson said. "We knew there were several hoops that we had to jump through -- large hoops. All we could do was handle one matter at a time."
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
Associated Press
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<!-- end story header --><!-- begin left column --> <!-- begin page tools --> Updated: January 31, 2008, 1:03 PM ET <!-- end page tools --><!-- begin story body --> <!-- template inline -->MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- A Tennessee judge dismissed misdemeanor charges against suspended NFL player Pacman Jones on Thursday, agreeing with a prosecutor that the Titans cornerback has been punished enough with his legal trouble over the past year.
[+] Enlarge
AP Photo/Mark HumphreyPacman Jones was spared charges in Tennessee when a district attorney and judge decided he has been punished enough.
Jones knows his behavior outside a Murfreesboro nightclub on the night of his August 2006 arrest was inappropriate, District Attorney General William Whitesell said at a hearing to reconsider a previous plea deal on the charges.
The cornerback was charged with public intoxication and disorderly conduct after police said he got into an argument with a woman, refused to leave the suburban Nashville club and shouted profanities at officers. He could have faced a $100 fine for both charges.
"It's cost him a lot more money than what the court would fine him," Whitesell said of Jones' yearlong suspension from the NFL, following a series of arrests. "Mr. Jones hopefully has learned something and been punished enough."
General Sessions Judge David Loughry ordered Jones on Thursday to apologize to the court. He has already written a letter of apology to the arresting officer.
Jones said he has learned a lot about how to deal with other people and how to conduct himself since the arrest. "It won't happen again," he said.
The judge approved a deal in January 2007 that would have dismissed the charges if Jones stayed out of trouble for six months. But Las Vegas police named Jones as the person who incited a fight inside a strip club on Feb. 19, 2007, that led to a triple shooting that left one man paralyzed.
Tennessee prosecutors argued in July that Jones being charged in Nevada was enough to show that the cornerback did not follow his plea agreement here for "good and lawful" behavior.
Jones pleaded no contest Dec. 6 in Las Vegas to conspiracy to commit disorderly conduct in a plea deal reducing two felony charges.
The Las Vegas case resulted in the sixth arrest for Jones since the Titans drafted him with the sixth pick overall in 2005. The NFL suspended Jones last April because of his off-field conduct and will review his status after the Pro Bowl.
Jones still has a felony charge of obstruction pending in Georgia from a February 2006 encounter with a police officer.
Attorney Worrick Robinson said Jones is working through the legal troubles that led to his suspension with hopes of returning to the NFL.
"That's been our goal since back in the summer," Robinson said. "We knew there were several hoops that we had to jump through -- large hoops. All we could do was handle one matter at a time."
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
