Tyreek Hill's lawyer has left out the letter to the NFL



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Photo: Jamie Squire (Getty)

The attorneys for Kansas City Chief Receiver Tyreek Hill sent a letter to the NFL today. Shortly after, the reporters got it and made it public. The letter deals with KCTV's Kansas City weekend acoustics, in which Crystal Espinal, Hill's fiancée and mother of his son, confronts Hill with the question of how their son broke his arm why their son seems terrified to face his father. defended Hill State investigators of child protection. In the audio, Hill threatens Espinal, saying, "You must be terrified of me too, bitch." The audio came out a day after the Kansas City authorities claimed to believe that one crime had been committed. but did not have enough evidence to lay charges. After the KCTV report, the authorities reopened the criminal case.

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The four-page letter that Hill's lawyers sent to the NFL is essentially an attempt to rephrase the conversation in a more favorable light for Hill. Attorney N. Trey Pettlon explains that Espinal's questions, as heard on the audio, were accusing and threatening, that she had omitted some of the key facts that would exonerate Hill, and that she had used misleading terms for Hill's behavior to look worse. was.

A key element of the letter is when Pettlon includes two text messages that tell Espinal she admits to having bruised the child.

It is of no value that Hill has the important right to defend himself against such accusations, and that Hill's letter of Pettlon is a worthy effort to assure Hill a good defense. However, it is also important to remember that Pettlon's responsibilities are not the responsibility of Espinal or the truth, and this should be a mark of how anyone who reads this letter should be deferential.

For example: Do the text messages cited above justify Hill? No. Even if they are real (the letter does not contain screenshots of a real phone), they leave out a large number of important contexts, the type that could be extracted messages before and after those cited. Counsel stated that the review of additional text messages between the two shows shows "friendly and respectful" conversations, although these are not included.

There is nothing either that can talk about Espinal's motives behind sending messages. She could have said that to protect herself and her son if, for example, she thought that the fight that would ensue if she did not provide Hill with this paper trail that could potentially erase her name would be even worse. She could have said that to keep the state away from the topic, as even well-intentioned criminal investigations of domestic violence often increase the danger to a person in a violent relationship. (A 2015 survey of the Domestic Assistance Line against Domestic Violence found that more than half of the survivors of domestic violence said "calling the police would make matters worse".) She could have say to avoid NFL involvement, unemployment is a risk factor in domestic violence homicides, and chiefs could reduce Hill because of the case if they deem it necessary.

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The letter also leaves out an important context element included in the KCTV report. Before the audio was played, investigative journalist Angie Ricono said: "We were told that it was an insurance policy for Crystal and that it was recorded while the couple were walking through Dubai International Airport. He was given to a friend to keep him safe. It has been distributed. It is a common advice to ask women who have abusive relationships to document this abuse.

As for the threat to Espinal, Pettlon says it was an "unacceptable comment" that was "inconsistent with Tyreek's conversations with Ms. Espinal in recent months." where he attends "without fault". Hill is invested in his son, his lawyer writes, and both parents now know that corporal punishment is wrong.

What does all this mean? Very little else than Hill got a lawyer who will defend his client with vigor. An unfortunate consequence of introducing spousal violence into the criminal justice system is that it becomes an additional crime, at the mercy of this very system, which often creates a fight between dueling lawyers struggling to say the best. narrative to serve their own purposes. By incorporating this into the NFL's arbitration system, which essentially consists of shamelessly duplicating the criminal justice system, this case will leave little room for blame for the NFL's liability. in order to best serve the economy and society interests of relationships.

Espinal knows the truth and there are many very good reasons why she might never share it with the state or the NFL. The only thing that matters is that Espinal feels safe and, if it is not, if it has a support system ready and able to help it to get closer to safety. No NFL suspensions. Not the Super Bowl rating of the Chiefs with or without Hill. It was not the usual punishment that the writer Natalie Weiner had previously dubbed "Whack-A-Sexist".

This year will mark the fifth anniversary of the Ray Rice affair, an event in which the league promised to severely attack domestic violence. At the time, two women married to NFL players had said the NFL would "harden" would only make matters worse; the fear of losing an income because of fines or suspensions was part of the reason why women said to be silent for so long.

These women asked for less discussion about punishment and more about rehabilitation. One of them had a prediction: "You will hear about a murdered woman before hearing another make herself known." Five years later, the domestic violence case of another NFL player turns into a suspension application exercise long enough to appease the guilt of football fans and the media and forward them / cover the sport without worry, his words remain those that almost nobody in professional sports wants to hear.

The letter from Hill's lawyers, as published online by ESPN, is below.

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