By Rusty Hardin: There Was No Basis for Adrian Peterson’s Arrest and He Didn’t Resist
July 11, 2012 – 7:00 am by Eric Schmoldt
To hear high-profile lawyer Rusty Hardin tell it, he really should have an open-and-shut case when it comes to the arrest of Adrian Peterson. The Minnesota Vikings running back was charged with resisting arrest in Houston over the weekend. However, he wasn’t charged with anything on top of that, which makes it seem hard to be charged with resisting arrest if there is no basis to be arrested in the first place. That’s part of Hardin’s argument.
The only question Hardin — who just led Roger Clemens to victory in his perjury trial — isn’t able to answer is why in the world Peterson felt like he needed such a distinguished lawyer when he’s only been charged with a misdemeanor and all the evidence seems to be on his side.
Rusty Hardin joined 106.7 The Fan in Washington D.C. with Holden and Danny to discuss the charges against Adrian Peterson, Peterson’s side of the story, Peterson’s history of good judgment, if he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, the injuries Peterson sustained, if Peterson could turn around and sue the police department and why Hardin is involved.
How can somebody be charged with resisting arrest if there are no other charges involved?:
“Theoretically, if everybody’s following the law, there should be some legitimate basis that the police are trying to arrest somebody for. And then, while they’re trying, they physically resist. That’s not what happened here. … There is nothing that he had done that was supposed to be a basis for arrest, and he actually didn’t resist, so he struck out on both counts.”
What is Peterson’s side of the story?:
“That he didn’t resist — that he didn’t push, shove or hit any police officer. The initial report that came out, the bar or restaurant or whatever you want to call it, put out something that TMZ picked up and it was just a total fabrication. … There are no witnesses other than a couple police officers that contend he resisted. There were no witnesses that saw him do anything. … The place was closing up. He had only been there, with a couple of guy friends, for about 20 or 30 minutes. And they were closing up and apparently he and his friends weren’t getting out of the place as quickly as an officer wanted and that led to some words. And then, all of the sudden, as he’s leaving and a bouncer’s taking him out and walking with him — no resisting or anything, no improper conduct — the officer says something to him and he said something back and then, wham, he’s on the floor and arrested.”
More on the situation:
“He actually gets hit several times himself. But, look, the whole thing about this guy is, we all know that some athletes act out and do things they’re not supposed to be doing. … That’s totally contrary to everything Adrian’s ever been about and is. He just didn’t do anything wrong that night.”
Is it just a case of Peterson being in the wrong place at the wrong time?:
“What you have is a police officer that overreacted. And then, when sometimes that happens, they have to cover the back of their lap and that’s what happened here.”
What are the injuries that Adrian Peterson sustained?:
“He got hit … up near his eye. By the time I saw him for the first time Sunday — he was arrested early Saturday morning — he still had sort of a mouse under his eye where one of the officers popped him a couple times in the face.”
If he’s acquitted or charges are dropped when all the facts come out, is this something where he could turn around and sue the police department?:
“Oh he always could, but I think it’s way premature for anybody to talk about those kind of things. We want to get this taken care of first and then he can decide what he wants to do.”
This doesn’t seem like a very high-profile case. Why involve yourself here?:
“A legitimate question except we handle an awful lot of low-profile cases. The majority of the stuff we do, nobody ever hears about. We only hear about it if somebody has a certain degree of fame. I think he just wanted to get someone that he was comfortable with that could help him. But you’re absolutely right, there’s hundreds of other lawyers in Houston that could do just as well or a better job, but he happened to call us.”
Listen to Rusty Hardin on 106.7 The Fan in Washington D.C. here
Tags: Adrian Peterson, Adrian Peterson arrested, legal trouble, Minnesota Vikings, NFL, Rusty Hardin
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