Washington Redskins Albert Haynesworth not to accept plea deal for assault and sexual abuse charges
Washington Redskins defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth’s lawyer said that he will not accept a plea deal for charges of misdemeanour assault and misdemeanour sexual abuse.
Prosecutors filed paperwork in Superior Court saying that if Haynesworth pleads guilty to the assault charge, they would drop the sexual abuse charge against him.
Both charges have a same maximum penalty of six months behind bars and a $1,000 fine but A. Scott Bolden, Haynesworth’s attorney, said that the offer was “no deal at all, nor is it one we would entertain.”
“My client is prepared to, and will vigorously fight these charges,” Bolden wrote in an email to the media.
Prosecutors usually offer a plea deal in misdemeanour proceedings and also make details of the case known to the jury. The government case has a full description of what happened in Washington, D.C.’s The W Hotel in the early hours of February 13, 2011.
Haynesworth had been attending a birthday party on the night in question and was going to pay his bill of over $800 when the waitress came over with her hands full of dishes. Haynesworth insisted that he pay right away and, before the waitress could drop
the dishes off, tapped her on the shoulder and arm with his credit card, according to court documents.
The waitress then “looked up and down at herself, as if wondering where (Haynesworth) expected her to put (the card),” after which Haynesworth placed his card in the centre of her bra and began to fondle her breast, according to the court papers. The documents
also alleged that Haynesworth said something along the lines of “Can I do that?”
A witness of the incident said it appeared as though the waitress allowed Haynesworth to place the card in her bra but also said that the waitress’ tone turned stern and she then asked him to remove his hands. The card was then declined and another waitress
returned the card to the defensive tackle.
The waitress then told the other hotel employees about what happened and a security guard at the hotel approached Haynesworth and asked if he had any contact with the waitress in question.
Haynesworth immediately responded, “I didn’t touch her” and added that he does not “even like black girls.”
The documents also said that when the police tried to interview Haynesworth, he unexpectedly said, “I know what this is about, she is just upset I have a white girlfriend. I couldn't tell you the last time I dated a black girl. She was trying to get with
me.”
This is not the first incident that has caused trouble for Haynesworth. He has already been sued by a bank, a stripper in New York, a man that was left partially paralyzed after Haynesworth was speeding in his Ferrari and hit his vehicle and complaints from
his ex-wife that he is not supporting their children.
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