Gilbert Arenas charged with felony
Editor's Note: So much for the plea deal.
UPDATE: Whoops. Obviously he could still plea to a lesser charge, but this morning's article made it seem like they were hoping to reach an agreement before being charged. Maybe I just read it wrong.
UPDATE: Washington Post now has more about the charges
UPDATE: I'm also doing the work on this story on SBNation.com here.
UPDATE: I'm tweeting about this here. I still need some hours to gather coherent thoughts for a full post, but read my thoughts in bits there.
UPDATE: The Wizards just e-mailed this statement.
"We are aware of the charge filed against Gilbert Arenas today and will continue to follow the ongoing legal process very carefully. We will also continue to cooperate fully with the proper authorities and the NBA. Beyond our previous statements on this serious and unfortunate matter, will have no further comment at this time."
UPDATE: Michael Lee, via Twitter, echoes my thoughts.
Wouldn't get overly panicked over GA's felony charge. A plea deal is likely in the works. He surely is looking to plea down to a misdemeanor
UPDATE: The Washington Examiner is reporting that it's one felony AND four misdemeanors that Arenas is being charged with.
over 2 years ago
Gilbert4SpaceJam2
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of course...
A plea for a lesser sentence could still be negotiated.
I think you're right
That this is bad news for Arenas.
The chance for a better plea might be a little optimistic (I have no f’ing idea). It might be that Arenas’s plea will be felony conviction, but no jail time. Who knows…
by Johnnie Futbol on Jan 14, 2010 4:37 PM EST up reply actions
Felnoy
pretty much means game over for Gil right? If he is convicted of a felony we can void his contract without much problem, correct? Really sad that is the outcome I am cheering for, but at this point voiding gils contract puts us in the best possible position to be successful
he's been charged with a felony...
… he hasnt been convicted of a felony. he can still plea bargain for a lesser charge.
Wizards can void if he is convicted of a felony.
They can’t if he is just charged with one.
From what I know about the law
this doesn’t make a difference. He’s not convicted of a felony, just charged. He could still be convicted of a misdemeanor.
Of course I know nothing at all about the law.
We need satchmore-
he seems to be our resident lawyer. I’m having trouble understanding what exactly this means
I agree
Satchmore to the rescue!
You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.
Im not Satchmore, obviously
but even though Arenas is charged with a felony does not been he will be CONVICTED of one. If the DA is looking to plead this case out which is likely than this is just a starting point. Now, Gilbert can either accept the plea offered by the prosecution which can range from pleading guilty to a felony but avoiding jail time (paying a fine and/or community service and/or probation) or having the felony dropped to a misdemeanor (IMO this is the most likely scenario). Additionally, if Gilbert and his attorney are not happy with the plea deal offered by the prosecution they can always battle this in court (highly unlikely). Have to run but just because someone is charged with a felony by no means will they be convicted of one even as blatantly guilty as Gilbert seems to be.
Mo, you can trade anything of mine.
by njnick on Jan 14, 2010 7:25 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
You rang?
I’m what you would call a non-resident lawyer, and I practice a couple of time zones away from D.C. (which explains why I get to these posts so late). And I’m no criminal lawyer, as evidenced by my incredibly poor analysis of the Arenas case to date. But yes, Arenas has been charged, and he can plea to a lesser charge, provided that the prosecution and defense agree to it. If they don’t reach a deal, then he’ll go to trial over the charges in the criminal Information (aka the “indictment”).
One thing (that I haven’t honestly looked into at all) is the somewhat remote possibility that, depending on D.C. laws, Arenas might be able to get the judge to give him a “suspended” or “deferred” conviction (not to be confused with a suspended sentence). Now, in most places, suspended convictions require that the defendant not have any priors, and Arenas has at least one prior misdemeanor from another jurisdiction. If D.C. has a “no priors” standard, then this won’t work. But if his attorney can work this out, a suspended conviction would mean that he would have to comply with terms of probation (be on good behavior for 3 years, etc.), and then the conviction would magically disappear (thus, the “suspension” or “deferral” of the conviction). Does a “suspended” conviction constitute an actual conviction until its erased? That’s a good question, and I don’t know what the answer is in D.C. But it’s possible that it wouldn’t.
But regardless
You can be certain that Arenas is going to get a deal that’s less than what he’s been charged with. There are conflicting reports about whether he’s charged with a felony plus multiple misdemeanors, or just a felony. Typically, felonies that are pled down go down to lesser degrees of the same felony, but I’m not aware that there are such things as “degrees” for possession without a license: either you did it or you didn’t. So instead, I think it’s likely that this will be pled down to a misdemeanor charge, assuming it’s just one felony that he’s been charged with.
It’s still possible he could see jail time, but judging by this charge, I’d say Arenas is in a very good position, and certainly a lot better than the one that he could have been in. I would be surprised if he sees any jail time, but you never know.
im still on team gil
im prolly one of few that hopes we keep him, and prada and truth’s latest tweets have kept my hope alive.
I am and I'm not at the same time-
he’s given me so many good memories and I love watching him play. But it might be better for all to part ways as long as he still gets to play for another team. I just think way too much has happened to go back
I'm with you
…but at the same time I am slowly accepting that Gil might not play for the Wizards anymore. As sad at that would make me, I’ll just have to be a Wizards fan and a Gilbert Arenas fan as separate things. But I’m definitely not abandoning Gil, even if he is a knucklehead.
"...at some point, when u r screaming for more minutes for Pecherov, you have to ask yourselves this question: 'If you keep adding more pineapple to a 'Papa Johns Pizza with Pineapple', when does it become a Papa Johns Pineapple with Pizza???'"
by Gilbert4SpaceJam2 on Jan 14, 2010 5:55 PM EST up reply actions
two different things
yea, i think regardless of what happens, being a gil fan and being a wizards fan will have to be completely separate from one another.
I'm going to a planholders roundtable next friday
and I will be wearing my Arenas jersey to make a point. Whether they let me in is another story….
I think we need to start rooting for the team being able to void the deal...
because it seems clear he won’t be playing for us again. Let’s face it with the way the team helped the prosecution and purged his image, it seems difficult to imagine Gil having a productive attitude toward playing for the Wiz. Just as obviously the team has made their feelings clear. If we don’t get a voided contract we’re going to have a Stephon Marbury situation (hopefully without the strange youtube videos.)
by NeverNervousPervis on Jan 14, 2010 9:59 PM EST up reply actions
Against Voiding he deal...
…. Gilbert had a close call with the law… i think if he Wizards give him a second chance…he’ll have a very productive attitude. I very much want the Wiz to keep Gilbert. He’s the only reason Ive been buying season tickets for the past 4 years.
which is assuming
that Gil even wants to come back here after the way the organization has been treating this whole situation.
22-7
With one season without knee problems, it’s very possible a team would take a chance on him, given that he put up good numbers despite being rusty.
Additionally the Wizards could agree take on equally bad contracts (and there are worse contracts out there).
If it were up to me he’d stay a Wizard.
by Johnnie Futbol on Jan 14, 2010 11:06 PM EST up reply actions
Gils DC time is over
The franchise already essentially ban him and are more than likely going to get their money back that they invested in him. Its so sad that he has to be punished this harshly but its time to move forward as a team.
Here's why the NBA/Wiz are treating Gilbert like OJ Simpson...
I hope everyone read Wilbon’s column in today’s WaPo in which he says the NBA/Wiz are going way overboard in “erasing” Gilbert from the VZ Center/NBA store, etc. He makes the point that other pro-sports players have committed far far worse offenses (“sexual battery,” “assault”, etc.) than Gil, but havent been slapped with as much as $100 fine, much less suspension. So why the “shock and awe” reaction by the NBA/Wiz to “erase” Gil completely? I think it stems from David Stern and Abe Pollin’s strong distaste, bordering on hysteria about guns. Polin renamed his team because of it. Stern and the Pollin family won’t admit it, but they have let their personal views opposing gun ownership spill over to their over-the-top actions against Arenas. Think about it: they are treating Gilbert Arenas—-who everyone knows is a decent young man who made a serious mistake —like he was O.J. Simpson or mass murderer Charles Manson. It’s overkill.
If that were true
Stern would have punished Telfair and West more than he did. This isn’t about guns. It’s about guns in the workplace.
by Palace of Good Play's Golden Toilet on Jan 14, 2010 7:14 PM EST reply actions
Sorry about missing the reply button
I also want to point out that the distinction between felony and misdemeanor is not as clearcut as people make it out to be. Under section 16 of Gil’s contract http://www.nbpa.com/cba_exhibits/exhibitA.php, the Wiz can terminate it for moral turpitude. There is no felony/misdemeanor distinction. Of course a felony conviction would give the Wiz a better case to argue moral turpitude, but I’m just pointing out that it’s not felony→ bye Gil and misdemeanor → Gil stays.
by Palace of Good Play's Golden Toilet on Jan 14, 2010 7:16 PM EST up reply actions
Moral turpitude is very murky territory
There have been a few cases where teams have tried to void contracts over moral turpitude. Sprewell, for example, choked a coach. The Warriors tried voiding his deal over moral turpitude, but an independent arbitrator overturned it. The Warriors, I believe, did it again and failed with Monta Ellis.
The reason is moral turpitude is vague. There hasn’t been one case, to the best of my knowledge, where a player has been voided through the moral turpitude clause (the NBA probably doesn’t like this and will push for clearer language there). However, it says very clearly that being convicted of a felony is grounds for being voided. There’s no way of making a case against it.
You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.
Is it in the collective bargaining agreement
where it says that felony conviction allows a team to void a contract? I was just looking at the standard contract.
by Palace of Good Play's Golden Toilet on Jan 14, 2010 7:27 PM EST up reply actions
Admittedly, I haven't read your link through and through
But David Aldridge reported the felony thing back on January 1.
You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.
I just searched the CBA
The only mention of “felony” is that it requires a ten game minimum suspension. There is no rule allowing teams to void contracts based upon a felony conviction.
Reading the standard contract again, I think that Aldridge was making a leap saying that a felony conviction allows a team to void the contract. It’s not there in the standard contract language.
by Palace of Good Play's Golden Toilet on Jan 14, 2010 7:32 PM EST up reply actions
After my own search through the CBA it looks like you’re right.
by Johnnie Futbol on Jan 14, 2010 9:00 PM EST up reply actions
David Aldridge reported the felony thing:
The language in the NBA’s standard contract with players allows teams to void existing contracts if players engage in prohibited offseason activities, such as hang gliding and the like that are viewed as dangerous by the league, if players are convicted of or plead guilty to a felony crime, or if they engage in acts of “moral turpitude,” generally defined as behavior that would be viewed as embarrassing for a company or employer if disclosed publicly.
However, the Uniform Player Contract doesn’t say anything about felony crimes.. The relevant language is below:
(i) at any time, fail, refuse, or neglect to conform his personal conduct to standards of good citizenship, good moral character (defined here to mean not engaging in acts of moral turpitude, whether or not such acts would constitute a crime), and good sportsmanship, to keep himself in first class physical condition, or to obey the Team’s training rules;
THAT’s why it will be difficult to void Arenas’ contract. You would have to prove “moral turpitude”.
From Wikipedia: Moral Turpitude is an “act of baseness, vileness or depravity in the private and social duties which a man owes to his fellowmen, or to society in general, contrary to the accepted and customary rule of right and duty between man and man.”
Yeah – right. Having an unloaded gun , no matter the circumstances ; doesn’t sound vile or depraved to me.
Bullets Forever - where "Dagger ! " happens......
Leonsis & Pollin
I think it is interesting that Arenas apologized to Leonsis when the team was in Cleveland. He had traveled before he new that he was suspended and ran into Ted in the hotel lobby.
I have thought about what would have happened if Pollin were alive. I don’t think Pollin would have wiped out any sign of Arenas. Pollin would have called Arenas in his office and talked to him. He would have expressed his disappointment in him and I think Gil would have respected that.
I was just listening to Barkley and Kenny debating whether Cleveland would void LeBron’s contract if he did the same thing. Barkley’s argument was the Wash just wants to get out of Gil’s contract. If Wiz were in 1st, voiding the contract wouldn’t come up. and LeBron’s contract would be in no danger under the same circumstances. Kenny and Ernie felt LeBron would be treated the same as Gil.
theBIGC1982
Kenny and Ernie are living in a dream world...
…. Lebron would not be treated the same as Gil because 1) he is the face of the NBA and 2) the Cavs are in first place heading toward the Finals.
Barkley's right
Barkley’s argument was the Wash just wants to get out of Gil’s contract
Of course this is correct.
We’ve all been saying this. The Wizards want to void the contract because they think it would help them improve not because they’re appalled at the incident. Its foolish to think that Cleveland would want to void Lebron’s contract if he did the same thing. No way that would happen.
Perhaps Stern would treat Lebron the same as Gil, but I doubt that also.
By the way
If you are a lawyer and have some area of expertise in DC gun laws, please e-mail me. I want to get a collective BF project going.
My e-mail’s on my profile.
You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.
BARKLEY DEFENDS ARENAS
…on TNT arguing that Arenas didn’t make a “$90” million mistake, and that Lebron wouldn’t have his contract “voided” if he did the exact same thing.
Barkley's had his own run-ins with the law
Much more serious than this, in fact – and he kept his job.
Or how about Kobe Bryant's run-in with the law...
…he was actually arrested for sexual assault. Isnt that more serious than what Gilbert has done? Did the Lakers “erase” Kobe’s image and jerseys from the Staples Center? Of course not. Why then are the Wizards taking such harsh action? Is this really all about saving $90 million? If so, that’s pretty low.
Unfortunately for Gil, he can’t pay off everyone involved like Kobe did….
"I’m tired of hearing about money, money, money, money, money. I just want to play the game, drink Pepsi, wear Reebok." ~Shaq
by Max_in_Missouri on Jan 15, 2010 1:57 PM EST up reply actions
What about Marv Albert?
He’s calling the Cavs game tonight. He was charged with forcible sodomy, assault and battery of a woman, in some shady hotel scene back in 1997. He denied it all, and then DNA testing proved that the 15 bite marks on this woman were his. He pled it down to misdemeanor assault and battery charges and the rest was dropped. Now he’s the voice (and face) of NBA broadcasting. I guess he’s “fit”.
life is not fair and Stern and the Wiz are definitly done with GIL
Gils contract WILL be voided as his plight is only supported by thug mentality and he will be playing for a west coast team where gun possession is not a crime. Say your goodbyes while you can.
by Eschew Obfuscation on Jan 14, 2010 10:36 PM EST up reply actions
This runs through the legal ramifications of the charge/plea quite well:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/michael_mccann/01/14/arenas.felony/
I'll only believe it when it's confirmed by TMZ!
I jest, this is good – I really didn’t want him to get jail time.
you know what? I'm going all in
they are not going to be able to void his contract, and it’s kind of dirty to try and use this to do so.
f ‘em, gilbert. do your time, come back to the wiz, and show people what you can do. hopefully you’ll be a little wiser. but goddammit, there were no freaking bullets anywhere near those guns. no intention to harm, and really, no harm done. i know laws were broken, but i speed all the freakin’ time. and do other things that i deem harmless but are considered illegal.
so rationality is out the window for me – i always rooted for this guy, and i don’t think what he did makes it any harder for me to keep rooting for him.
"how ironic - you came here with a mouse in a bottle, now YOU are the mouse in the bottle" - B.M. Smith
by little stevie colter on Jan 15, 2010 12:03 AM EST reply actions
I disagree...
I actually think it’s this kind of attitude that has enabled Gilbert all these years. No one ever says anything’s his fault: “It’s just Gil being Gil,” after all. He’s just a loveable goofball.
And now the Wiz, after having their “franchise” player bring FOUR GUNS into their locker room, are the bad guys for wanting to void his contract? If anyone has a right to be pissed, it’s the Wizards, not “Never Gonna Grow Up” Gil.
At the least, Arenas will be suspended for the season. That’s another season the Wiz are paying him muli-millions for doing nothing. Yeah, the injuries weren’t his fault, but this was. He brought this on. And we’re supposed to feel like Gil got jobbed?
Please.
i don't feel at all like he got jobbed
legally, or even by the nba (yet). he’ll pay a price.
i do feel that the wizards are using this to try and get out of his contract.
and i do feel like if you take a step back and look at his actions there has been a severe over-reaction to this, as far as calls for huge bans and jail time.
and sure, he’s been enabled by fans, the team the league, friends. everyone. i’m not trying to change that, or think how i feel about this can have any impact on how he conducts himself.
i just want to see him play.
"how ironic - you came here with a mouse in a bottle, now YOU are the mouse in the bottle" - B.M. Smith
by little stevie colter on Jan 15, 2010 10:26 AM EST up reply actions
No jailtime = BS
’nuff said.
"I’m tired of hearing about money, money, money, money, money. I just want to play the game, drink Pepsi, wear Reebok." ~Shaq
by Max_in_Missouri on Jan 15, 2010 1:55 PM EST reply actions
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