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FOOTBALL – Former NFL Lawrence Phillips Faces Prison – October 10, 2006
Lawrence Phillips, who is a former NFL and Nebraska running back, has been arrested on last August and has been convicted Tuesday on seven counts of assault with a deadly weapon for driving a car at a group of young men injuring three of them.
According to the prosecutor, Phillips drove onto a field near Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum after losing a pickup football game on Aug. 21, 2005. He struck two boys, ages 14 and 15, and a 19-year-old man and narrowly missed four others between 15 and 24 years old. The three young men who were struck sustained "severe bumps and bruises and cuts according to Deputy District Attorney Todd Hicks.
After deliberating about an hour, a Los Angeles Superior Court jury found Phillips guilty. Phillips, 31, risks up to 20 years in state prison. The sentencing date is expected to be set Oct. 19. During the trial, the prosecutor explained to jurors that Phillips became agitated when his team lost the pickup game. Phillips left the field, accused the boys of stealing from him and drove onto the field at a high rate of speed.
But Phillips’ Attorney, Leslie Ringold, argued that her client's actions were neither willful nor intentional. She said there was "woefully insufficient evidence of assault” explaining that Phillips was driving first hit the front wheel of a bike and in fact fishtailed. Since that day Phillips has been arrested and kept in jail.
Phillips is accustomed to run-in with the law. Already a decade ago to his time as one of the nation's top college football players, the St. Louis Rams released him for insubordination in 1997 after he played 25 games with them. Phillips signed with the Miami Dolphins later in the 1997 season but was released after pleading no contest to hitting a woman in a nightclub.
Phillips became later the top offensive player in NFL Europe in 1999 after setting league records for rushing and touchdowns with the Barcelona Dragons. He signed with the San Francisco 49ers later that year but was released for missing a practice. He has also played in the Canadian Football League.
