I tend to believe that the version Peterson's badass lawyer put out is much closer to the truth; that it's a lie that Peterson shoved the guy (maybe swatted a hand off of himself or something), that Peterson was the victim and was himself basically assaulted. I assume he had been drinking and played his part, but didn't do anything outrageous.
Peterson's attorney, Rusty Hardin, called the charge and the allegation that Peterson shoved the officer "a total fabrication."
"He, in fact, was struck at least twice in the face for absolutely no legitimate reason, and when all the evidence is impartially reviewed, it will clearly show Adrian was the victim, not the aggressor," Hardin said.
"It is absolutely clear to me that the charges should not have been filed, and the Bayou Club owes Adrian an apology for having put out a totally false version of what happened. Adrian Peterson does not act the way he has been described in the initial reports, and he did not act that way Saturday morning. He was only in that club for 30 to 40 minutes, was never objectionable to other patrons, and never physically resisted any police officer. Adrian is extremely upset about these false allegations. These charges are totally at odds with the way he has conducted himself throughout his career, and he asks that his fans and the public at large reserve judgment until they hear all the facts. Adrian looks forward to his day in court."
I like the Churchill quote Adrian posted later in the day of the incident; "A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on."
Adrian reportedly suffered a black eye from the struggle that ensued after the off-duty cop was "very disrespectful" and used "vulgar language."
His dad was sentenced to 10 years in prison when Adrian was 13. "He knows that his actions affect him and his kids also," said Nelson Peterson. He added: "Adrian is kind of frustrated because he's the kind of guy who's tried to do the right things in society and he cares about being a high-character guy. He has a 9-year-old daughter, so he doesn't want her hearing in the news about how he's being perceived."
I'm kinda surprised the owner even weighed in at all, much less talk s**t about Adrian.
Regardless, the owner and the bouncers can feel all good that they could enforce their rules and version of law, but Adrian followed their hand by playing his own hand and hired a powerful attorney and launched his own counter-attack that will win.
Charges will be dropped and apologies will be made to AP. If not, they'll pay significant money that he'll probably donate.
[ Edited by mug0mug on Jul 10, 2012 at 5:03 AM ]
