Jay Mariotti arrested for felony domestic violence

[New York Red]

Originally Posted by WVRed

I think the title should be changed to "Jay Mariotti has a girlfriend". I don't know which of the two would be more newsworthy, the arrest or that he actually has someone of the feminine gender who can put up with him.

LOL ... I was thinking the same thing. Touche'.

[Chip R]

Originally Posted by WVRed

I think the title should be changed to "Jay Mariotti has a girlfriend". I don't know which of the two would be more newsworthy, the arrest or that he actually has someone of either gender who can put up with him.

Fixed.

[Caveat Emperor]

Originally Posted by Brutus the Pimp

There are a lot of over-zealous prosecutors out there that will initially charge someone with a felony in hopes of inducing a plea bargain for a lesser misdemeanor charge. That's extremely common.

That he was initially charged with a felony tells us very little. Very, very little.

It tells us that he probably did something that fits the criteria for felony DV. Usually it's pretty straight forward on whether or not a DV is a felony. The aggravating circumstances vary from state to state, but they're usually pretty cut and dry. Did he have a prior conviction? Did he cause serious physical harm (rule of thumb: if hospitalization of the victim was necessary, there's usually PC for serious harm)? Did he have a deadly weapon that he used? Was the victim pregnant at the time? Etc. The hardest part of proving a DV usually isn't the aggravating felony factors, it's the underlying conduct itself.

BTW -- WMR is right on this. Proseuctors don't charge cases, the police arrest and the case is taken by the prosecutor for presentation to the grand jury. The grand jurors decide whether or not charges are brought and what those charges should be. Ultimately, grand jurors can decide to do whatever they want. Plenty of cases that could be felonies (thefts over $500, shoplifting where the clerk gets punched that could be a robbery) get sent back for prosecution as misdemeanors.

Of course, DV is a charge that has a lot of political charge to it. It generally doesn't go over well in the public when the police or the prosecutors are perceived as "soft" on domestic violence cases in general.

[improbus]

I try not to get caught up in the whole "gotcha" mentality, because I end up feeling like I'm being a "Mariotti 2.0". However, I do hope this means that we have one less LCD (Lowest Common Denominator) Sports Writer.

BTW, Mariotti always reminded me of Max Mercy, Robert Duvall's character from The Natural.

[Brutus]

Originally Posted by Caveat Emperor

It tells us that he probably did something that fits the criteria for felony DV. Usually it's pretty straight forward on whether or not a DV is a felony. The aggravating circumstances vary from state to state, but they're usually pretty cut and dry. Did he have a prior conviction? Did he cause serious physical harm (rule of thumb: if hospitalization of the victim was necessary, there's usually PC for serious harm)? Did he have a deadly weapon that he used? Was the victim pregnant at the time? Etc. The hardest part of proving a DV usually isn't the aggravating felony factors, it's the underlying conduct itself.

BTW -- WMR is right on this. Proseuctors don't charge cases, the police arrest and the case is taken by the prosecutor for presentation to the grand jury. The grand jurors decide whether or not charges are brought and what those charges should be. Ultimately, grand jurors can decide to do whatever they want. Plenty of cases that could be felonies (thefts over $500, shoplifting where the clerk gets punched that could be a robbery) get sent back for prosecution as misdemeanors.

Of course, DV is a charge that has a lot of political charge to it. It generally doesn't go over well in the public when the police or the prosecutors are perceived as "soft" on domestic violence cases in general.

The prosecutor has every right in the world to ammend, add or subtract to the intitial charges before taking anything to a grand jury, though. Yes, grand juries can have the final say, but you're diminishing the discretion of a prosecutor to push for charges. Why do you think it's called "prosecutorial discretion?" The police may book someone on a charge, by the prosecutor has the final say of what charges to seek an indictment on.

[Caveat Emperor]

Originally Posted by Brutus the Pimp

The prosecutor has every right in the world to ammend, add or subtract to the intitial charges before taking anything to a grand jury, though. Yes, grand juries can have the final say, but you're diminishing the discretion of a prosecutor to push for charges. Why do you think it's called "prosecutorial discretion?" The police may book someone on a charge, by the prosecutor has the final say of what charges to seek an indictment on.

It's been my experience that the push is usually downward to prevent the grand jury from indicting to the fullest extent of the law on cases that aren't worth the resources of a common pleas court matter.

Most prosecutors or DAs in major metro areas handle thousands of cases per year. The overwhelming majority of them are just paperwork pushing matters. Police officers arrests, facts are presented to the grand jury, grand jury issues a bill. Due to rapid indictment laws, there usually isn't time for the prosecutors to become invested in cases beyond "are the elements here?" and "did the right officer get notified for grand jury?"

[Brutus]

Mariotti is being charged with seven misdemeanors after the DA's office concluded there is not enough evidence to pursue a felony.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=5569202

[GIDP]

He stole her purse. What a surprise.

[Sea Ray]

This is probably the best thing about this whole story:

ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz said, "We have no plans to use him [Mariotti] at this time."

[mlh1981]

What an embarrassment to my Alma Mater, Ohio University.

[RFS62]

Originally Posted by mlh1981

What an embarrassment to my Alma Mater, Ohio University.

No offense, but he was already that before the arrest, IMO.