Oakland Raiders coach Tom Cable will not face criminal charges for allegations of assault, announced Napa County District Attorney Gary Lieberstein on Thursday. (view video)
The well-publicized accusations came in early August, when it was reported that Cable broke the jaw of one of his assistant coaches, Randy Hanson. Hanson even said in an interview with Yahoo Sports that Cable had threatened to kill him during the incident.
From most accounts, it appeared obvious that the National Football League coach was guilty of assault. But collecting hard evidence and witness accounts wasn’t so easy.
So the District Attorney’s Office opted not to charge Cable. To the eye of public opinion, it initially looked like a case of high-profile politics at work.
Cable, a celebrity, was let off the hook. Deeper down the conspiracy path, Napa would hate to see the Raiders stop using its city as a training camp location.
Or is it strictly a standard move?
“Our duty is to do the right thing for the right reasons,” Lieberstein said, according to the Associated Press. “Under the facts and circumstances of this case, it would be a miscarriage of justice to pursue criminal charges and we will not ask our citizens to give up their valuable time for jury duty, nor will we allow our criminal justice system to be compromised.”
So what’s your take? Was the district attorney just doing his job and saving his city a headache, knowing he couldn’t sell the facts of this case to a jury? Or did he let celebrity influence charges that should have been made?
Post your take below or e-mail the editor at jspencer@publicceo.com
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