Attorney: Negotiations continue in Draymond Green assault case

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly characterized when the criminal case against Green may be resolved.

EAST LANSING - An attorney for Draymond Green said Thursday he is continuing to negotiate a plea agreement.

James Heos, Green's attorney, said after a pre-trial conference Thursday in 54B District Court, that while the matter could be resolved at any time, if no resolution is reached and the court schedules a trial, he will ask that the trial be set after the Olympic Games but before the NBA season begins.

Green, the NBA star, former MSU All-American and a member of the U.S. Men's Olympic Basketball Team, is accused of slapping former MSU football player Jermaine Edmondson early July 10 in East Lansing. He faces a misdemeanor charge of assault or assault and battery.

Green appeared via the FaceTime video application at the closed-door hearing Thursday.

"We're still accumulating witness' statements and we're trying to get to the bottom of this," Heos said.

East Lansing City Attorney Thomas Yeadon said he was open to a plea deal.

"From our perspective we're trying to handle this matter as if it were any other individual. We try to resolve most of our cases without going to trial so I don't imagine this case will be any different."

A pre-trial conference was originally set for Aug. 4. However Heos requested that the conference be moved up to Thursday, noting that Green  will be leaving the country to take part in the Olympics and that it would be difficult for Green to communicate with the court and his lawyer while he is out of the country. It was not immediately clear when another hearing might be scheduled.

"Publicity surrounding the arrest may affect his performance in the games," Heos wrote in court documents.

It was not immediately clear when the next hearing would be.

Draymond Green makes first comments after arrest in East Lansing

Green's schedule for the Olympic basketball team includes training sessions and exhibition games from July 18 through Aug. 1. The Olympics begin in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Aug. 5, with basketball competition set for Aug. 6-21.

Edmondson, a fifth-year senior who played defensive back for the Spartans, has asked for and received a release to play for a different school in his last season, the athletic program announced last week.

Contact Christopher Haxel at 517-377-1261 or chaxel@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @ChrisHaxel.