Posted: May 7, 2008
The fact Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Marvin Harrison could be involved in a Philadelphia shooting provokes bewilderment in most circles. Football fans, and to a certain extent media members, simply can't accept the notion that Harrison would do anything contrary to his nice-guy image, which arose primarily from the fact he seeks solitude instead of the spotlight.
Based on reports from multiple media outlets, a gun owned by Harrison was involved in a shooting April 29, and the gun made its way back to Harrison's hands the next day. Unless Harrison can come up with a compelling explanation that authorities deem to be persuasive and, more important, true, he could face real problems -- with the court system and with the NFL.
Under Pennsylvania law, if Harrison is deemed the shooter, he could be convicted of aggravated assault. Even if none of the bullets had hit anyone, the mere act of firing a gun at another person constitutes aggravated assault in Pennsylvania, exposing the shooter to up to 10 years in prison.
If and when there is a prosecution, could the government prove Harrison's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt? The reluctance of the victim to identify the shooter would make the case more difficult to prosecute. That said, the chain of circumstantial evidence -- Harrison has gun, gun fires at someone, Harrison still has gun the next day -- is powerful.
Even if Harrison didn't pull the trigger, the fact it's his gun exposes him to potential criminal liability for lending or giving a firearm to another person. Under Pennsylvania law, that's a misdemeanor and carries a potential sentence of up to one year.
Against those basic facts, police recently declared that Harrison isn't a suspect "at this point." But someone surely will be a suspect at some point because the gun didn't shoot itself. Moreover, it could be that the police merely are trying to persuade Harrison to continue to cooperate by taking a public stance that he is not the focus.
Even if he is.
That's why Harrison's lawyer should be treading carefully. Harrison needs to create the appearance he is being cooperative, but at the same time Harrison must be careful not to say or do anything that would cause the police to believe he is guilty. For example, Harrison reportedly claimed the gun involved in the shooting never left his home but yet on the same day it turned up in a bucket at his car wash. If the reports are true, police detectives surely view everything Harrison now says with a strong dose of skepticism.
At the same time, Harrison's lawyer should be quarterbacking his own investigation as to the true identity of the shooter. If the lawyer concludes that Harrison did it, then the lawyer must cut a swift and favorable plea deal -- before district attorney Lynne Abraham reaches the same conclusion. If Harrison's lawyer concludes that Harrison didn't do it, then the lawyer must do everything he can to get the detectives and prosecutor to agree.
Apart from any potential criminal prosecution will be the question of whether NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will discipline Harrison under the Personal Conduct Policy. In his 20-plus months on the job, Goodell has shown a willingness to mete out punishment commensurate with a given crime, regardless of whether the player in question is a superstar (Michael Vick) or a scalawag (Pacman Jones).
The Personal Conduct Policy arises from a stated desire to avoid conduct detrimental to the integrity of and public confidence in the NFL. And the policy stresses that it's not enough to avoid being found guilty of a crime in a court of law; NFL employees are expected to conduct themselves in a way that is responsible, promotes the values on which the NFL is based and is lawful.
The commission of a violent crime clearly is grounds for discipline, as is conduct that imposes "inherent risk" to the safety and well-being of another person. Shooting a man in the hand and sending five other bullets whizzing past him presumably would be enough to meet such a standard. Entrusting a gun to someone else who does the same thing could be a violation of the Personal Conduct Policy as well.
Harrison also could have a problem if Colts officials and/or NFL officials learned of the incident not from him soon after it occurred but from media reports three days after the shooting. The Personal Conduct Policy mandates prompt reporting of any incident that "may be" a violation; though the delay was relatively short in the grand scheme of things, a failure by Harrison to report that his gun was used by someone to fire shots at someone else could be a problem.
The potential penalty that would be imposed, if Harrison is determined to have been the shooter, is unclear. This kind of an incident is unprecedented.
The injury wasn't serious, but the conduct was serious.
Firing shots at someone else in public, complete with flying glass from one of the bullets striking and cutting a child, falls somewhere between 9 and 10 on the scale of the worst possible things an NFL player can do. Such behavior arguably is far worse than anything Jones, Vick, Chris Henry or Tank Johnson has done.
That said, it's unlikely that Goodell will act against Harrison before criminal charges (if any) against him are resolved. And given that Harrison reportedly still is having trouble with his knees, there is a chance he'll retire before he could be suspended.
The mere possibility of a suspension or jail time for Harrison still seems incomprehensible. A year ago, however, the idea that Vick would be imprisoned for dogfighting was downright ludicrous.
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