A 6' 300lb DE....his fists could be argued as dangerous weapons but....I'll give up the aggravated part. He did render a male unconscious and he did inflict serious bodily injury, pain, and risk of death to the girlfriend....that sounds like second degree to me, nothing simple about it.
So he put his arm through a window, stole a bike, beat a guy unconscious, rummaged through his clothing, and punched a girl in the face. Sounds like he needs a mental illness evaluation.
A grand jury might agree with that . . . or not. Prosecutors and judges have to be consistent with how they rule on this every day. If the male was truly unconscious, that may be a strike against him. But serious bodily injury is defined as "extreme pain, disfigurement, loss or impairment, or substantial risk of death." Those may not be applicable here. A punch in the mouth is not normally life-threatening, disfiguring, causes loss of body parts or impairment. Pain is judgmental. Hard to make that call on the sketchy report so far. Did she lose teeth or have a jaw broken? If so he may get his charge upgraded. Much depends on where they draw the the line on everyday bar fights. Even more depends on what they can prove in court. They won't charge him if they don't think they have the witnesses, the forensic evidence, or other necessary proof to convict him. They can almost certainly convict him of simple battery. And no, fists cannot be argued as weapons. He is a student and a football player, not a boxer or a martial artist. Again they have to go by the precedents.
Now it sounds like he did not assault the male, he was rolling a drunk. Lealaimatafao tried to pickpocket a man who was unconscious in the parking lot near Reggie’s bar after 2 a.m. on June 16. He is not a suspect in that man’s assault, but Lealaimatafao was apparently not trying to revive him, either, according to Baton Rouge Police witnesses. “He began digging in his pants,” Baton Rouge police spokesman Don Coppola told Gannett Louisiana on Friday. “Then when the woman approached, we’re told he hit her.”
How did the story get there ^^^^.......from here..... "Lealaimatafao, a redshirt freshman from Texas, beat an unnamed male victim unconscious and then punched the victim’s girlfriend in the face with a closed fist in the parking lot of Reggie’s bar on Tuesday, police records show. Lealaimatafao dug through the male victim’s pockets after the alleged beating. Three eye witnesses told police that the football player fled the scene when authorities arrived. All three witnesses gave police similar accounts of the incident. " So police records that included eyewitness accounts have changed quite a bit. Lol. Still, rolling a drunk is nothing compared to aggravated battery on a female. Pushing and punching her in the face with a closed fist should be enough for him to go.
Oh he's gone anyway, because it's his third misbehavior and this time it was violence. The point is that the first reports are not always accurate and there are a lot of details that will trickle out over the next few weeks. Sometimes the witnesses that call the police are all the victims friends. Other witnesses will be interviewed. And if he wasn't responsible for the mans unconsciousness and the woman was not seriously hurt, it explains why the charge is simple battery.
Rey Maualuga says hi. As a side note, you can find research studies that suggest a higher than average rate of alcoholism within the Samoan community.
