Sullinger Arrested in Domestic Incident

[timobusa]

I'm not defending Sully at all but, what did you think his girlfriend do that ticked off Jared?

He always seemed like a nice guy with a good head on his shoulders.

You may not be "defending" Sully but you sure seem like you're blaming his girlfriend...  let's just wait to hear the facts before engaging in any idle speculation.

That's why I said in the same post. "We don't know the full details yet."

Domestic violence is always a 2 way street.

I have a hard time believing that a person with a good solid upbringing would just wake up one day and assault someone, for no reason, let alone his girlfriend. So we're missing a lot of the story here.

It's best to wait for the full story.

[clover]

I'm not defending Sully at all but, what did you think his girlfriend do that ticked off Jared?

He always seemed like a nice guy with a good head on his shoulders.

You may not be "defending" Sully but you sure seem like you're blaming his girlfriend...  let's just wait to hear the facts before engaging in any idle speculation.

Agreed--a serious case of blaming the (alleged) victim.

[Chris]

WALTHAM, Mass. (MyFoxBoston.com) – Boston Celtics forward Jared Sullinger was arrested following a domestic situation over the weekend with his girlfriend.

Police said Sullinger arrived at the police station 6 a.m. Tuesday to turn himself in.

Sullinger is charged with assault and battery, malicious destruction of property and witness intimidation.

According to police, the incident happened early Saturday evening.

Sullinger is due in Waltham District Court Tuesday.

http://www.myfoxboston.com/story/23323181/celtics-sullinger-arrested-following-domestic-situation-with-girlfriend

I'm curious to see the details, and whether there are any injuries.  At least in my jurisdiction, DV is the most over-charged crime there is; it's the one crime I see where the cops don't get it right a lot of the time.

Injuries shouldn't be required for this to be a real crime. My WAG about destruction of  property is going to be a cell phone, but A&B and witness intimidation are both significant.

Wait and see without rush to judgment is absolutely fair, but casting preemptive doubt on the police isn't really fair either.

Who "cast preemptive doubt"?

In most crimes, you know a defendant is probably guilty the vast majority of the time.  The one area where that's not necessarily the case, in my experience, is domestic violence.  I think a lot of times people are arrested and charged in those cases based upon "he said, she said" allegations.

That's why I asked to see the details.  And yes, physical injuries are a piece of evidence that needs to be examined before rushing to judgment.  (I had a client who was arrested for felony domestic violence, along with six other charges, for allegedly hitting his ex-girlfriend in the knee with a sledgehammer.  This, despite no physical injuries.  When the words "domestic violence" are uttered, a lot of normally sane LEOs and prosecutors go temporarily insane.)

Sully very well may be guilty here.  Until I see more, though, I'd say it's a coin flip situation, whereas in other cases I'd be assuming that there was most likely guilty just because he was arrested.)

With all due respect, Roy, if you're a criminal defense attorney who defends domestic violence cases, you might have a hard time seeing the dynamic objectively.

All too often DV ends up in situations like the Jared Remy case--which also occurred in Waltham, MA.

With all due respect, being a criminal defense attorney has given me insight into domestic violence cases that a lot of other people might not have.

I defend all kinds of cases, from OUIs to extremely serious felonies.  Out of that broad range of cases, domestic violence cases are the only ones where charges are brought with flimsy evidence with regularity.

The police and prosecutors oftentimes take a "better safe than sorry" approach with DV cases, and cases like the Remy case only heighten that.  We sort of end up with a "one size fits all" approach, assuming that all alleged perpetrators of domestic violence are guilty.  That being the case, and having seen some of the really weak cases brought to trial for PR reasons, I generally take these allegations with a grain of salt until I actually see some evidence.

Yeah, Roy, I am with you.  I think it is very early to make assumptions about this.  Particularly given the fact that this happened in the same town as the Remy incident, where there are already questions whether the police could have prevented it with pre-emptive action, the police are going to be VERY motivated to act quickly on domestic violence cases, especially with public figures.  They don't want to risk being too lax, and then having something much worse happen.

I think the evidence will come out soon, and then we can all make a public judgement, but the fact that he was arrested, does not, necessarily mean that much.

[Eric M VAN]

There's that pesky presumption of innocence thing that seems to go by the boards when DV or Statutory rape or pedophilia etc is charged.

All of these crimes are despicable if one is guilty, but merely being charged is so [dang]ing it stays with people long after a case may be found baseless.

It's the old "When did you stop beating your wife" scenario.

I'll sideline any opines more than that till this reaches some conclusion.

[j804]

State is seeking $5,000 cash bail for Celtic Jared Sullinger.

Celtic Jared Sullinger stone faced as he listens to state say he he assaulted someone. Victim not clear. State seeking a stay away order.

Court taking a brief recess as Celtic Jared #Sullinger sits in the dock in handcuffs.

Per globe writer

[Rondo2287]

Hearing Sullinger thought Assaulting somebody was the best way to show support for Ohio State Football and Urban Meyer.

[clover]

Jay King ‏@ByJayKing 2m

Seems like they're asking for $5,000 bail, potential anger management control, and for Sullinger not to be allowed near the victim.

Seems pretty tame, so presumably a weak case and/or no willingness on the part of his girlfriend to testify or press charges?

Roy?

[D.o.s.]

Interesting that there's been very little "thug" "punk" etc. going on in this thread, compared to similar threads about other players.

[sed522002]

Interesting that there's been very little "thug" "punk" etc. going on in this thread, compared to similar threads about other players.

I said something close to that earlier. It's because of the good guy image that we've seen (by the way I do think he's a "good" kid).

When it was T Will's situation he was all type of punks. It just shows how natural it is for us to empathize with someone whom we read nothing but good things about.

[Moranis]

Jay King ‏@ByJayKing 2m

Seems like they're asking for $5,000 bail, potential anger management control, and for Sullinger not to be allowed near the victim.

Seems pretty tame, so presumably a weak case and/or no willingness on the part of his girlfriend to testify or press charges?

Roy?

Could be that or just as likely the assault and battery portion was very minor.  Maybe he grabbed her arm or something or she was injured when he was breaking something else (like a piece of a broken object hit her causing a scratch).

[sed522002]

Jay King ‏@ByJayKing 10s

Victim has claimed a history of abuse. Over the course of the past year, she alleges he became more angry. Hadn't hit her before, but pushed

[manl_lui]

State is seeking $5,000 cash bail for Celtic Jared Sullinger.

Celtic Jared Sullinger stone faced as he listens to state say he he assaulted someone. Victim not clear. State seeking a stay away order.

Court taking a brief recess as Celtic Jared #Sullinger sits in the dock in handcuffs.

Per globe writer

the handcuffs part scares me...hopefully this issue is resolved soon

[Atzar]

Interesting that there's been very little "thug" "punk" etc. going on in this thread, compared to similar threads about other players.

Definitely.  But the difference between Sullinger and a Terrence Williams is a) he has no history of domestic violence that I know of; b) he's pretty important to our team this year.

Little bit of selective bias going on if I had to guess.  And that's fine honestly, because it should be common sense to get all the facts before drawing a conclusion anyway.  That goes for everybody, not just fans of the team.

[clover]

State is seeking $5,000 cash bail for Celtic Jared Sullinger.

Celtic Jared Sullinger stone faced as he listens to state say he he assaulted someone. Victim not clear. State seeking a stay away order.

Court taking a brief recess as Celtic Jared #Sullinger sits in the dock in handcuffs.

Per globe writer

Whether correct or not, this site seems to believe they know the victim is his long-time girlfriend:

http://news.lalate.com/2013/09/03/deann-smith-photos-revealed-of-jared-sullinger-girlfriend-amid-arrest/

[clover]

Jay King ‏@ByJayKing 2m

Seems like they're asking for $5,000 bail, potential anger management control, and for Sullinger not to be allowed near the victim.

Seems pretty tame, so presumably a weak case and/or no willingness on the part of his girlfriend to testify or press charges?

Roy?

Could be that or just as likely the assault and battery portion was very minor.  Maybe he grabbed her arm or something or she was injured when he was breaking something else (like a piece of a broken object hit her causing a scratch).

Thanks, seems reasonable.