Back when Ray Rice, 27, got into a physical altercation with his fiancee Janay Palmer, 26, (which ended with Palmer knocked unconscious) at an Atlantic City casino in February, both were arrested for simple assault. But a grand jury who viewed the security camera footage of the incident upgraded Rice’s charge to third-degree aggravated assault, a felony, and dropped Palmer’s assault charge.
Though Rice’s attorney claims that Palmer has no desire to participate in the prosecution of this charge, that’s not going to stop New Jersey from seeing it through without her . On the other hand, according to the Baltimore Sun, Rice’s clean record could go far in mitigating his punishment if he is convicted and might even allow for the charge’s eventual dismissal if he participates in a diversionary program.
Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti managed to employ the most tone-deaf metaphor possible to describe his feelings about the incident, relating how hard it is to see Rice “take this kind of public relations hit.” (emphasis mine)
