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Stefon Diggs of the New England Patriots addresses the media.
New England Patriots star wide receiver Stefon Diggs made his first court appearance Friday on assault charges against him that stem from accusations filed with police in Dedham, Massachusetts, in December. While Diggs entered a plea of not guilty, allegations made by his defense lawyers introduced a surprising new twist to the case.
Diggs is charged with “felony strangulation or suffocation and misdemeanor assault and battery,” alleged by a woman who says that she served as a personal chef for Diggs while also living at his home in Dedham, about a 20-minute drive from Gillette Stadium where the Patriots play their home games.
The chef provided police with text messages between herself and Diggs, which she said show that a dispute over her salary led to what she alleges was a violent physical assault by the 11-year NFL veteran in which he “smacked her across the face” and “tried to choke her using the crook of his elbow around her neck,” according to the allegations.
But according to a report by the Boston television station WCVB after Friday’s hearing, defense lawyers for Diggs now say that the chef “altered and deleted some messages provided to investigators to support her ‘narrative.’”
Lawyer Says Diggs Will Not Plea Bargain
Diggs’ entire arraignment on Friday lasted five minutes, according to a report from the scene by veteran crime reporter Lauren Conlin.
The judge in the case released Diggs on his own personal recognizance — meaning he will be trusted to appear in court when required — and set his next court date for April 1 at 9 a.m. Diggs was also barred from any personal contact with the alleged victim in the case, his former chef.
One of Diggs’ attorneys in the case, Mitchell Schuster, told Conlin that Diggs has no intention of ending the case with an agreement to plead guilty to the charges, or any lesser ones.
“I don’t think there will be a deal because I don’t think he is liable or guilty in any way, shape, or form,” Schuster said, as quoted by Conlin. “Review of the facts in evidence makes me very confident that he’ll be exonerated.”
In addition to alleging in a court motion that the alleged victim altered or deleted text messages with Diggs, lawyers for the Patriots star said in the motion that the dispute between Diggs and the chef “was not about money, but that the victim lost the trust of her employer and feared losing her job,” according to the WCVB report.
Lawyer Claims Diggs’ Innocence
Speaking to reporters outside of the Dedham courthouse, as quoted by Conlin, Schuster stated his unequivocal belief in Diggs’ innocence.
“He’s completely innocent of these false allegations that have been alleged against him,” the lawyer said, adding that the evidence yet to be revealed in the case will “paint a very different picture” from the story of the alleged assault that has circulated widely in the media since reports of the charges first became public on Dec. 30.
Also in a motion before the judge, the Diggs lawyers asked the court to lift redaction of an address that the alleged victim gave to police, according to a Boston Globe report. The address “has been made subject to the protective order is neither a residential address nor the actual address of the alleged victim,” the motion stated, as quoted by the Globe.
The address the chef gave as her own is in fact “a business address located in a wholly different state,” the lawyers stated. “The alleged victim has no right to privacy of this business address.”
Jonathan Vankin JONATHAN VANKIN is an award-winning journalist and writer who now covers baseball and other sports for Heavy.com. He twice won New England Press Association awards for sports feature writing. He was a sports editor and writer at The Daily Yomiuri in Tokyo, Japan, covering Japan Pro Baseball, boxing, sumo and other sports. More about Jonathan Vankin
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