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Frank Dyevoich, a former defense attorney, takes a closer look at the charges that Rashee Rice faces and how it will affect his availability for the 2024 Fantasy Football season.
Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice is in some hot water after he was caught on camera street racing a rented Lamborghini and a Corvette registered in his name, causing a multi-car collision, and leaving the scene of the accident.
Rice and several individuals that he was with can be seen exiting the vehicles and simply walking away down the Texas highway.
Dashcam footage of the Rashee Rice car crash on Central Expressway in Dallas pic.twitter.com/nyFpTj3cKZ
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— Dallas Texas TV (@DallasTexasTV) March 31, 2024
This is going to cause some legal issues for Rice, but to what extent? I will try to sort that out.
The Charges
Since the accident, Rashee Rice has come out and said that he was the driver of the Lamborghini, and after the conclusion of their investigation, the Dallas Police Department issued a warrant for Rice's arrest. The warrant stated that Rice was driving approximately 119 mph at the time of the accident, and the Dallas PD has charged Rice with eight (8) different counts:
- Six counts of Texas Transportation Code Sec. 550.021(c)(2) - Collision involving personal injury or death - non-serious bodily injury;
- one count of Texas Transportation Code Sec. 550.021(c)(1) - Collision involving personal injury or death - serious bodily injury; and
- one count of Texas Penal Code Sec. 22.02(a)(2) - uses or exhibits a deadly weapon during the commission of an assault (the "weapon" is the vehicle).
It is important to note that the Texas Collision Involving Personal Injury or Death law is the equivalent of other states' Leaving the Scene of an Accident. It is also referred to as the Texas Failure to Render Aid law. Sec. 550.021(c)(2) is a class A misdemeanor but with harsher penalties. On these six counts, Rice is facing up to five years in jail with fines of up to $5,000 for each count.
Sec. 550.021(c)(1) is upgraded to a third-degree felony and carries punishments ranging from two years up to 10 years in jail and fines up to $10,000. Lastly, Sec. 22.02(a)(2) is a second-degree felony, the worst of Rice's charges, and carries penalties ranging from two years to 20 years in jail and fines up to $10,000. The driver of the Corvette, SMU cornerback Teddy Knox, faces the same charges and has already been suspended from the university's football program.
SMU @SMUFB announced that corner Teddy Knox, the other driver involved in #Chiefs Rashee Rice driving incident charged with eight felonies, has been suspended from the football team. Knox a Mississippi State transfer graduated from The Woodlands HS where he was an all-district… pic.twitter.com/r0j2IMmuLI
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) April 11, 2024
After a day or two lying dormant, Rice turned himself into the Dallas PD.
#Chiefs WR Rashee Rice has turned himself in to police in Dallas.
His mugshot, via @FOX4: pic.twitter.com/3yV0n8vn0W
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) April 12, 2024
What to Expect
Despite the intimidating charges Rice is facing, I doubt that he faces any jail time. As an initial matter, I am assuming the Dallas Police Department charged Rice with aggravated assault because they know his attorney is going to agree to a plea deal and they wanted to make sure that Rice could not walk away free and clear. Aggravated assault is not a common charge in motor vehicle accidents, and the Dallas PD is clearly trying to send a message to the public that Rice is not being given leniency.
It is also probably why he was not charged with reckless driving or street racing because those charges would just be additional ammunition for his defense attorney to work with regarding a plea deal. The Dallas PD clearly does not want Rice to have much wiggle room. That being said, my experience as a defense attorney leaves me with very little concern about Rice's penalties and his availability for the 2024 NFL season.
NOTE: Before I get into how I think things will play out, it is important to understand that nothing in a court of law is guaranteed. Rice could walk away having only pled to a misdemeanor or he could be facing jail time. The plea deal is up to the discretion of the prosecutor and the approval of the Judge, and no one can say for certain how things will play out.
Right off the bat, Rice's attorney is going to ask the prosecutor to drop the aggravated assault charge, however, instead of dismissing the charge entirely, it is more likely that he offers a reduced charge of simple assault causing bodily injury, a Class B misdemeanor with a maximum sentence of 180 days in jail. In my experience, I have never seen a defendant serve jail time on a first-offense simple assault so this would likely only result in a fine. I am unaware of any criminal history regarding Rice, and that will go a long way with the prosecutor. First-time offenders are treated much more leniently than repeat offenders.
Next, I'd expect Rice's attorney to ask the prosecutor to dismiss the third-degree felony of collision causing serious bodily injury, which the prosecutor will likely agree to, on the condition that he plead guilty to at least one of the lesser charges of leaving the scene of an accident with non-serious bodily injury.
It is important to note that the entire ordeal is on camera so Rice does not have any defenses. He admitted to the operation of the vehicle and he can be seen exiting the vehicle after the crash and walking down the highway. Thus, as far as defenses go, he's cooked. This is why he will 100% make a plea deal because it would be impossible for him to win if he takes it to trial, and he certainly does not want a jury to decide how much compensation he, a professional athlete, should pay every day citizens that he injured by his entitled and reckless behavior.
At the end of the day, I am expecting Rice to plead guilty to collision involving personal injury or death with a non-serious bodily injury and a reduced charge of misdemeanor simple assault. It is highly unlikely that he will receive any jail time, and it is all but guaranteed that whatever plea deal he accepts will include substantial compensation for the injured parties.
The prosecution could also throw in community service and probation, and his license is likely to be suspended for at least 90 days. However, Texas can only suspend his driving privileges in Texas, so it would be up to the State of Missouri if they also wanted to suspend his driving privileges.
Will He Be Suspended?
The looming question that everyone wants to know is "Will Rice be suspended to start the 2024 NFL season?" The public reaction has been all over the place, with some wanting to see Rice suspended for the entire 2024 season. While NFL punishments are unpredictable, I can emphatically say that will not happen. In my opinion, Rice is looking at a one to two-game game suspension, but no more than four. However, at this point, it is all but guaranteed that any suspension would not come until next year.
The NFL is known for letting the legal proceedings play out before issuing any discipline. The best example of this unofficial policy is Deshaun Watson, as the league did not suspend him until his civil lawsuits were settled, despite there being 24 people who came forward with sexual assault allegations against him, some of whom the NFL personally interviewed during their initial investigation of Watson.
In this case, Rice's trial date is scheduled for December 9, 2024, and I can all but guarantee that it gets pushed back even further because neither Rice nor his attorneys want this case to go to trial. It is an open-and-shut case that he admitted to, and the entire incident was caught on video. The first goal of Rice's attorneys was to make sure the legal proceedings did not take place this year. Cross that one of the list. Now, the goal turns to working out a plea deal in the offseason that keeps him out of jail. Assuming Rice does not have a criminal record and has a relatively clean driving history, this should be relatively easy to accomplish.
Initially, I did not think Rice would be suspended at all because, at its core, this is a traffic accident. However, the heightened charge of aggravated assault, a second-degree felony, might force the NFL to act to avoid more public outcry about the flaws in their disciplinary system, which has been a consistent talking point since Ray Rice was only suspended for two games after he assaulted his wife in a hotel elevator.
Historically, the NFL has not suspended players for traffic accidents that did not involve drugs/alcohol and/or resulted in a fatality. Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Jordan Addison was cited for going 140 mph in a 55 mph-zone and did not receive any discipline from his team or the league.
On the flip side, in 1998, Leonard Little of the St. Louis Rams killed a woman while driving drunk and received only an eight-game suspension, but the NFL wised up in 2009 after it suspended Donte Stallworth for the entire season after he killed a pedestrian while driving drunk. We do not even need to discuss Henry Ruggs as he is serving 10 years in prison and will never play another down in the NFL. His accident involved many aggravating factors and is not an appropriate comparison to this Rice incident.
The reason I am expecting a small suspension for Rice next season is that this was a little more than a routine traffic accident, and the league might want to send a message to new players to make smarter decisions. Essentially, he was street racing at over 115 mph on a highway, caused a high-speed accident that resulted in several injured people, and fled the scene of the accident. Rice did not kill anyone, but only because he was lucky, and it is in the NFL's best interest to try and deter the same type of reckless driving and disregard for the safety and well-being of others.
If he is suspended one to four games, I expect him to eat the suspension, however, if the NFL really tries to make an example out of him by suspending him six games or more, there is no doubt that he will appeal, and he will likely win. NFL discipline appeals are no longer presided over by Roger Goodell. Instead, the new Collective Bargaining Agreement placed that power in the hands of an independent arbitrator, and the arbitrator is bound to rule on the fairness of punishments based on the NFL's history of player disciplines.
It is why Deshaun Watson's suspension was reduced to 11 games because, despite 24 heinous allegations, the NFL has never suspended a player for the entire season based on sexual assault allegations that were not forcible r***. In this case, it bears repeating that the NFL has not suspended any player for involvement in a traffic accident that did not involve drugs/alcohol and/or result in a fatality.
Based on this, I am operating as though Rice will only be suspended for one to two games next season, and I am confidently raising him in my rankings (high-end WR2) and trying to buy him low in all of my dynasty leagues. Regardless of how this all plays out, I am confident that if Rice receives any discipline from the NFL, it will not be until next season and fantasy managers should draft him with confidence, and currently at a tremendous value, in the weeks ahead.
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