Ravens

Ray Rice Indicted For Aggravated Assault, Could Face 3-5 Years In Prison

March 27, 2014

Ravens RB Ray Rice indicted for aggravated assault, according to the Atlantic City County prosecutor’s office.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that aggravated assault carries a three-to-five year prison term.
Aaron Wilson reports that the simple assault-domestic violence charge against Janay Palmer, Ray Rice’s fiancée, has been dismissed.
- Wilson adds that NFL security continues to monitor the Rice’s case.

Rice’s lawyer denies that he committed aggravated assault and says that his fiancée started the altercation, via Adam Caplan.

“I have been advised by the prosecutors office that an indictment has been returned. The state has decided not to prosecute (Rice’s fiancée) Ms. (Janay) Palmer. While we certainly aren’t looking to pass the buck, it was Ms. Palmer who started the altercation, and the state chose to prosecute Mr. Rice only. And again, we deny that he committed an aggravated assault. We don’t think the law would support that (he did). And we just ask the public to reserve judgement until all of the facts are out.”

Rice was involved in a domestic incident with his fiancée back in February. A video surfaced shortly after the news broke and showed Rice dragging his unconscious fiancée out of an elevator.

Robert Klemko of MMQB.com later reported that police are in possession of a yet-to-be-released video that shows Rice knocking his fiancée unconscious.

Baltimore would actually take a $5.5 million cap hit by releasing him because of pro-rated bonuses, so this doesn’t make a lot of financial sense as of now. However, designating him as a June-1 release would free up $4 million in cap space, according to OverTheCap.com.

Rice, 27, is coming off of a very poor season for the Ravens, although their offensive line was clearly a weak spot last year. He ran for 660 yards on 214 carries (3.1 YPC) and contributed 58 receptions for 321 yards receiving to go along with four touchdowns.

Pro Football Focus had him rated as the worst qualifying running back in league last year.