Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs has filed a lawsuit to prevent the release of video tied to an alleged assault involving his ex-girlfriend.
Josh Jacobs was arrested on May 26 and booked into Brown County Jail on five charges: strangulation and suffocation (a felony), battery/domestic abuse, criminal damage to property/domestic abuse, disorderly conduct/domestic abuse, and intimidation of a victim. The prosecution claimed that he and his girlfriend got into a violent altercation at his Wisconsin home on May 23 after Jacobs was accused of “talking to other girls.”
Josh Jacobs took a plea deal in September
In September, the Packers running back entered a no-contest plea to one misdemeanor count of battery and one misdemeanor count of criminal damage to property. As part of his deal with the prosecution, Jacobs agreed to pay restitution, undergo treatment, and avoid the alleged victim.
About a week after Josh Jacobs reached a plea deal, the victim asked a Wisconsin judge to permanently seal evidence in the running back’s case. In particular, security footage that a criminal complaint says shows Jacobs fighting with the woman “in the garage,” and Jacobs taking the woman’s “phone while she was on the floor of the garage” before returning and damaging it.
The NFL has reportedly been trying to obtain the video, which could affect whether Josh Jacobs faces additional punishment. Since August 30, the NFL has kept Jacobs on its Commissioner Exempt List, which keeps him from playing or practicing with the Packers while the league looks into his situation.
The victim asked the court not to release security footage
The woman, identified only as “ANM,” said in a court document that if the public were allowed to watch the alleged video of the violent incident that occurred at Josh Jacobs’ home, her “privacy, dignity, and safety” may be compromised. The victim’s attorneys cited Marsy’s Law in the motion and said sealing the evidence “avoids unnecessary public attention, protects ANM’s contact information and prevents anticipated economic, physical and psychological effects.”
The judge denied the victim’s request to permanently seal evidence, including the surveillance footage. Instead, he turned the administration of evidence access over to the Hobart/Lawrence Police Department, according to ESPN.
Josh Jacobs is suing to keep the security footage from being released
On Wednesday, Josh Jacobs filed a lawsuit against the Hobart-Lawrence Police Department seeking to have evidence in his battery case permanently sealed.
NFL.com reports that Clarence Duchac, Jacobs’s lawyer, said in his complaint that Jacobs “joins and supports (the victim’s) position that the identifying, private and sensitive records associated with the underlying incident should not be publicly released.”
The lawsuit goes on to state that public release of records identifying the victim or disclosing sensitive information about her “would force unwanted exposure upon her and risk revictimizing her through renewed public scrutiny.”
According to the complaint, releasing the footage would expose information about the interior of the garage where the assault took place. That could then endanger Jacobs, as public athletes have recently been the target of robberies and other property crimes.
“The public availability of (Jacobs’) schedule or travel information increases the risk that persons could identify periods when (Jacobs) is away from home and use released information concerning the residence, garage, access points, security arrangements, or property to target the property,” the lawsuit claims. “Widespread public dissemination of those details would materially increase (Jacobs’) vulnerability to theft, burglary, robbery, trespass, or other targeted criminal conduct.”
The New York Post reports that the Hobart-Lawrence Police Department stated in a letter to requestors this week that it is “temporarily withholding all responsive records” while it waits for rulings on Josh Jacobs’ lawsuit.