Griffin Jailed on Probation Violation

[boutons]

Griffin Jailed on Probation Violation

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: July 7, 2005

Filed at 7:56 p.m. ET

HOUSTON (AP) -- Free-agent forward Eddie Griffin was in jail Thursday for violating his probation, a court official said.

Griffin, on probation after pleading guilty in a 2003 assault case, was listed as a witness in a disturbance at a club in Houston on Wednesday, state district court coordinator Virginia Cerda said. It was a violation of his probation because he was ''consorting with disreputable people'' at a compromising time of day, Cerda said.

Griffin chose a 15-day sentence for the violation rather than going to a hearing that could have resulted in a harsher punishment. He was jailed Wednesday and will get out July 20, a spokeswoman at the Harris County Jail said Thursday.

The seventh pick in the 2001 draft, Griffin played last year with the Minnesota Timberwolves. He was released by the Rockets in 2003 and later signed with the New Jersey Nets.

[ducks]

damm he actuall went to jail
a pro athlete wow

[sickdsm]

He had the opportunity to choose 15 days in jail or have a hearing to decide if he violated his probabtion.

He has to stay out of "immoral places of questionable something or other." Sounds like a pastor wrote his probabtion, maybe thats what they all say.

He was found at the parking lot of a strip club. He probably realized they knew they were going to find out he was inside the club anyway so just chose the 15 days.

[Ozzy]

Here is a bit longer article covering the topic from Star Tribune:



Wolves: Griffin put in jail for probation violation
Steve Aschburner, Star Tribune
July 8, 2005 WOLF0708



Timberwolves free agent Eddie Griffin was in the wrong place at the wrong time -- an unsavory intersection for anyone, but especially for a fellow on criminal probation.

Griffin, 23, a valuable reserve forward last season and a target to be re-signed this summer, began serving 15 days in the Harris County (Texas) Jail on Wednesday after a judge determined that the player violated his probation by being in a nightclub parking lot.

"A bad break and a bad judge" is how Derek Hollingsworth, one of Griffin's attorneys, described his client's predicament Thursday. Griffin's name appeared on an arrest report as a witness to a recent incident outside the Roxy, a Houston dance club. That case was assigned to State District Judge Mike Anderson, who noticed Griffin's name.

Anderson was the judge who, in March 2004, sentenced Griffin to 18 months probation after he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of deadly conduct. That charge stemmed from an October 2003 incident in which Griffin was accused of punching and shooting at a woman at his southwest Houston mansion.

Anderson had ordered Griffin, among the terms of his probation, to seek treatment for alcohol abuse, pay a $2,000 fine and avoid places of "disreputable character."

A probation officer told Griffin to appear to discuss his probation, and Anderson gave Griffin a choice: 15 days in jail or a hearing on his probation. At such a hearing, Anderson could impose up to the original maximum sentence for Griffin's misdemeanor case: one year behind bars.

"We felt the judge already had made his mind up," Hollingsworth said. "It was a choice between 15 days and a year, so it was no choice at all."

Anderson did not return a phone message from the Star Tribune seeking comment. Court coordinator Virginia Almanza-Cerda told the Associated Press that Griffin violated his probation by "consorting with disreputable people" at a compromising time of day.

Hollingsworth said that Griffin has otherwise complied with all terms of his probation. "I was flabbergasted by what happened," the lawyer said. "Eddie has been doing such a wonderful job on probation. It's unfortunate, because he's up for a new contract. I hope it doesn't affect his career. It's just sad."

Wolves General Manager Jim Stack, in a statement Thursday, said: "We're satisfied that this was simply an unfortunate incident. Eddie's only involvement was that he was an eyewitness to an altercation. He was not involved in the altercation."

As Hollingsworth described it, Griffin and two friends were leaving the scene when an off-duty police officer, working security at the nightclub, intervened. Two other males pursued Griffin's group and disregarded the officer's instructions. The officer used pepper spray on those two, noted that one man threatened him and made the arrest.

"Eddie was listed as someone who was present," said Hollingsworth, who did not confirm if Griffin had been in the nightclub. "The judge gets mad because Eddie was in a parking lot of a bar."

And if another judge had caught the latest case, rather than Anderson? "It never would have happened. It's like being star-crossed," the lawyer said.

Etc.

• The Rocky Mountain News partially quoted Robert Gist, Latrell Sprewell's on-again, off-again agent, as saying the "writing is on the wall" that Sprewell will return to the Wolves for the 2005-06 season. But the reporter, Chris Tomasson, said Thursday afternoon that he was having computer problems and that the word "not" got dropped from his story as he transmitted it to the newsroom.

As in: Sprewell will not return, which is consistent with most signals given off so far this spring by management.

• The assault trial in which Wolves guard Sam Cassell and his former Milwaukee teammates Gary Payton and Jason Caffey are accused of beating up a man outside a Toronto strip club continued Thursday in the Ontario Court of Justice, and could last longer than originally planned.

Court dates have been scheduled in August and September, too, with Cassell, Payton and Caffey charged with attacking a boyfriend (now husband) of a dancer, in April 2003. The players face up to 18 months in jail if convicted.

• Agent Noah Croom told reporters that the Wolves were among several teams that have expressed interest in Philadelphia guard Willie Green, a restricted free agent.

Steve Aschburner

[duncan_21]

But this guy is never in trouble. I think griffin was set up. He's the perfect role model for humanity.