Draymond Green reaches plea deal on assault charge
EAST LANSING - NBA star Draymond Green has reached a plea agreement that will allow him to avoid jail time and reduce the charges he faced for allegedly slapping a Michigan State University football player to a noise violation, officials announced Friday.
The former MSU All-American will pay a $500 fine and $60 restitution fee. He had faced a charge of misdemeanor assault or misdemeanor assault and battery. A noise violation is a civil infraction.
Assistant city prosecutor David Meyers said the deal involves neither a guilty nor a no contest plea, since the infraction is not a criminal charge.
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The only reason Green didn't fight the charge and demand a jury trial is because of his work schedule, said James Heos, Green's attorney.
Green is a current member of the U.S. Men's Olympic Basketball team and plays for the Golden State Warriors. If not for the plea deal, he would have had to appear in person twice at East Lansing's District Court 54B, during jury selection and for the trial itself, Heos said.
Green was arrested July 10 in East Lansing after police saw him slap MSU football player Jermaine Edmondson, who has since been released from MSU's team to play elsewhere for his final season. MSU officials have said the release was not related to the incident involving Green.
Green is forbidden from contact with Edmondson for one year as part of the plea deal. If he contacts Edmonson within that time frame or is convicted of a new criminal charge within one year, Meyers said, the original charge would be reinstated.
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"The plea agreement reached with Mr. Green is in accordance with our normal plea bargain procedures and guidelines for a case with similar circumstances, evidence and witness statements," Meyers said. "We simply treated Mr. Green no differently than any other defendant that we prosecute."
Heos said a lawyer representing Edmondson has been in contact with East Lansing officials about the incident, but he doesn't know if Edmondson plans to file a civil lawsuit.
If he does, "it will be defended vigorously," Heos said. "We have a lot of witnesses. If they want to tee that up, good luck."
Contact Christopher Haxel at 517-377-1261 or chaxel@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @ChrisHaxel.