Detroit Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera pleads no contest as attorney Michael Kessler gives statement
Last season, Miguel Cabrera produced a sensational performance to win his first batting championship. He also finished fifth in the MVP voting and helped the Detroit Tigers win their first Division title in almost 24 years.
However, off the field, he faced charges for driving under the influence and resisting an on-duty officer. According to his attorney, Michael Kessler, Cabrera did not want the case to interfere with the upcoming season.
The Tigers, in turn, issued a statement: “Miguel Cabrera has kept the organization informed on this personal matter, and we fully support his decision.”
“It was important to Miguel, and to me, that we not have this proceeding affect his teammates’ chances of playing in the World Series, so we proceeded slowly with our trial preparations,” Kessler said in his statement.
“Mr. Cabrera felt an obligation to his teammates not to let this interfere with how the team did,” said Kessler. “And it could have interfered if he had to miss part of spring training or part of the regular season.”
Kessler further explained Miguel Cabrera’s position on the issue stating that his client has great faith in the fairness of the American judiciary. His name and reputation are also very important so necessary steps have been taken to clear him of all charges.
Cabrera did not want the proceedings to affect his team-mates’ during the upcoming MLB regular season, so along with Michael Kessler he decided to proceed slowly with trial preparations. Cabrera and his attorney had requested the prosecutor and the judge
to hold the trial on November 30 but the prosecutor postponed the trial until Monday.
On January 6, the prosecutor provided Cabrera with hundreds of pages of investigative material. Kessler and Cabrera were unaware of the nature of the material and asked why it was withheld until now.
Cabrera has decided to plead no contest to drunken driving and therefore he will not be sentenced to jail, which is after all the best decision he could have made. The player will be looking to concentrate solely on his game play in the 2012 season to get
his life back on track.
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