The NFL has suspended Ray Rice after video footage of him beating his wife was released by TMZ but we may be still just at the beginning of the story. While Rice is currently unemployed by the NFL and not eligible to find work thanks to the indefinite suspension handed down to him, there may still be further legal action taken against him.
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One course that could be taken would see Rice sue the Ravens for releasing him, but that’s unlikely given that teams can release players as they please. But when it comes to further legal action against Rice, that’s equally as unlikely.
According to Michael McCann from SI.com, while the video has led to Rice being released by the Ravens and then suspended by the NFL, there likely won’t be any further legal action taken against him in the form of new criminal charges.
"It is very difficult to charge someone with a crime if the case has already been tried, even if new and powerful evidence emerges. Rice’s attorney would argue, and almost certainly persuade any court, that Rice is protected from any additional charges under New Jersey law by double jeopardy, which is found in the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and which bars prosecutors from retrying someone found not guilty and bars repeat prosecutions for the same underlying conduct. It is plausible that the grand jury and prosecutors have seen the elevator video and perhaps other video, but even if they didn’t, Rice’s attorney would contend the elevator video pertains to the same underlying conduct for which Rice has already been adjudicated."
It’s hard to say what will happen next with Rice, but legal ramifications likely won’t be a part of the story. Rice is without a job, without the respect of anyone with half a conscious and has a lot to do before anyone will ever lend him a hand in redeeming whatever shred of character he has left.
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