Johnny Manziel Indicted in Dallas

Johhny Manziel

Johnny Manziel has been indicted by a Dallas County grand jury on a misdemeanor assault charge, according to multiple reports, after an argument with his ex-girlfriend in January in which she accused Manziel of hitting her so hard he burst her eardrum.

The charge is set to be formally announced on Monday. Manziel’s case was heard by a grand jury on Thursday.

Colleen Crowley had told police that the incident, which happened on 29 January, began with an argument about another woman. She said she and Manziel had a confrontation in a Dallas hotel room, and it continued downstairs at the valet station. She said he forced her into a car, and a valet ignored her pleas for help.

The two drove to where her car was parked in front of a Dallas bar, she said in an affidavit. She accused Manziel of getting into the driver’s seat and beginning to drive. She said that when she tried to jump out of the car, Manziel stopped, dragged her back into the car and hit her.

Police said they have spoken to Crowley, interviewed several other witnesses and reviewed medical records. But they did not arrest Manziel, and instead took the unusual step of asking the district attorney’s office to present the case to a grand jury. Typically, the local grand jury hears only felony cases, according to ABC News 8.

Crowley requested and was granted a protective order against Manziel, 23, that prevents him from seeing her for two years.

A misdemeanor assault case carries a maximum punishment of one year in jail and a $4,000 fine.

Manziel was cut by the Browns in March after two tumultuous seasons marked by substandard play and off-the-field headlines. His future in the NFL is uncertain, and the quarterback has been cut by two agents and dropped from a multi-million dollar sponsorship deal by Nike.

In a statement on Tuesday, Manziel said: “I’m hoping to take care of the issues in front of me right now, so I can focus on what I have to do if I want to play in 2016. I also continue to be thankful to those who really know me and support me.”

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King James Blamed for Blatt Exit

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Cavaliers star LeBron James said “it sucks” that people think he was behind coach David Blatt’s shock exit – but feels “people get it so misconstrued because I’m a smart basketball player.”

An exasperated James said to reporters on Wednesday: “What do you guys want me to do? Turn my brain off because I have a huge basketball IQ?”

James insisted he had nothing to do with Cleveland’s decision to fire Blatt, who was surprisingly let go just months after taking the Cavaliers to the NBA finals.

“It sucks,” James said. “But what can I do about it? I’ve never, in my time since I picked up a basketball, ever undermined a coach, ever disrespected a coach. You ask any of my little league coaches, my high school coaches, coaches I’ve played for in tournaments, camps, my NBA coaches. I’ve always respected what they wanted to do. And I’m not the owner of a team, I’m not the GM of a team. I’m the player of a team.”

The four-time NBA MVP has been labelled a “coach killer” for apparently orchestrating in Blatt’s departure, in order to get Tyronn Lue, his preferred coach, into the top role. But that just isn’t true, said LeBron.

“People get it so misconstrued because I’m a smart basketball player and I’ve voiced my opinion about certain things, which I did when I was here my first stint with Paul Silas and Mike Brown. Which I did in Miami with Coach Spo [Erik Spoelstra]. Which I did with Blatt and I’ll do with T-Lue. And at the end of the day, they’ll still have their final call.”

“I don’t know,” James said. “What do you guys want me to do, turn my brain off because I have a huge basketball IQ? If that’s what they want me to do, I’m not going to do it, because I’ve got so much to give to the game. There’s no difference for me telling my team-mates or telling guys how to get better with their game. If I feel I got something that will help our team, ultimately, I like to give it. It helped me get two titles.”

“So, but I think it does suck that people want to throw my name in dirt for no particular reason, because of speculation or whatever the case may be. But you can’t worry about it too much. I got 14 guys here. I got a fan base here and a fan base all over the world that loves what I do, and they respect what I do, and I can’t worry about a select group of people that wants to use their negative energy to take away my positive energy. I can’t allow that to happen.”

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