Blake Griffin, a forward for the Los Angeles Clippers, was charged with misdemeanor battery after he was allegedly involved in an altercation in a night club in Las Vegas. However, Nevada prosecutors decided to drop the charges.
The alleged victim, Daniel Schuman, 39 years old, was allegedly slapped by Griffin, before having his cellphone taken from him by the basketball player. Apparently, Schuman was taking photographs of Griffin and other players from the Clippers last October. When Griffin saw that he was being photographed, he allegedly grabbed the man’s cellphone.
He filed the charges last November, but they have just been dismissed by the court. News OK said that Schuman’s claims could not be proven.
The statements given by defense lawyer Richard Schonfeld and prosecutor Giancarlo Pesci about Griffin being an active community service volunteer, seemed to allude that he could not have done what Schuman was accusing him of.
Schuman was contacted by the press in order to get his side of the story, but he would not answer, according to ESPN.
Furthermore, Griffin reportedly felt like the accusations against his well-being gave him unnecessary attention from the prying eyes of the public.
“I mean, I feel bad, just for the fact that it is a distraction,” Griffin told Austin Knoblauch of The Los Angeles Times. “And I do not know how big of a distraction it really is – but, it is. And that is what I feel mostly bad about.”
Now that charges have been dropped, Griffin is back on track and is merely focusing on helping the Clippers land an NBA championship.