A jury found New England Patriots safety Jabrill Peppers not guilty on all charges in a Massachusetts trial over allegations of domestic violence.
The jury deliberated for just over an hour on Friday afternoon before returning the verdict.
Peppers was accused of attacking a single mother he’d seen on and off for a couple of years after a night out in October at his Braintree condo.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline by calling 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), visiting www.thehotline.org or texting LOVEIS to 22522.
Outside of court, Peppers said it hurt to be accused of such a crime, which hurt his reputation.
“I had to sit through everybody pouring dirt on my name,” he said. “To me, crimes against children and women are the most egregious thing that you can do and to be accused of that, it just hurt me.”
He said it was “the first time in my life where football wasn’t the most important thing on my mind.”
Peppers’ lawyer noted that he’d brought Peppers’ video evidence to the district attorney’s office before the trial but said they wouldn’t drop the case.
The Norfolk District Attorney’s Office shared a statement on the verdict: “The jury heard the evidence and rendered its verdict. We respect the jury’s decision and thank them for their service to the Commonwealth.”
Peppers began the day in court by testifying about the night of the incident — his 29th birthday. He said he was not playing for the Patriots that weekend due to a knee injury. He described seeing his accuser at a party, and said he had two espresso martinis at the event. He said they left around midnight and went to a nightclub. He said he drank two shots of tequila while there.
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Eventually, they returned to his condo in Braintree, where they had sex. While they were having sex, his accuser’s phone rang multiple times. He said she attempted to have unprotected sex with him, but he declined and told her she had to leave.
At this point, Peppers said the woman began calling him names and getting ready to leave. Peppers’ attorney also played graphic video in court that Peppers shot on his cellphone of their dispute.
Peppers denied assaulting the woman or pushing her down the stairs, but said she slapped him once or twice. He also described the series of events leading up to his arrest.
The defense finished questioning Peppers around 10 a.m., at which time prosecutors began cross examining him. When they concluded asking him about the night in question, the defense team asked several additional questions during redirect before resting their case around 10:45 a.m.
The judge took a brief recess, and closing arguments began afterward, with the defense again trying to cast doubt on the accuser’s story.
“There’s no doubt Mr. Peppers was frustrated,” defense attorney Marc Brofsky said. But he said there is no evidence that Peppers assaulted the woman, even in medical reports from weeks after the incident.
“Based on these medical findings, you might find that this is all a scam,” Brofsky said. “That’s up for you to decide. You might say it’s a shakedown… or a money grab. She’s looking to get paid. But that’s going to be for you to decide if you believe that.”
Assistant District Attorney Abigail Bird began her closing arguments just after noon Friday.
“This case isn’t about money, this is about control,” she said. “Mr. Peppers wanted control of every aspect of his relationship… That loss of control made him angry. He told you he was angry. He said he was frustrated and he was angry. And when she didn’t leave his house like he immediately demanded her to, he was mad.”
The jury got the case around 1 p.m. to begin its deliberations after the judge delivered a series of jury instructions.
During the first day of court, Peppers’ accuser shared her account of the night in question. It’s a stark difference from his interpretation.
Both Peppers and his accuser say they weren’t ever exclusive, but admit they hung out together multiple times before the night in question. They’d had several casual sexual encounters, but the night of Oct. 5, 2024, was unlike any of the others.
The victim said after the two met up at a club in the early-morning hours, they went back to Peppers’ condo. But during their night, she claims Peppers became angry when she received a phone call from another man while the two were in bed.
That’s when the 34-year-old woman said Peppers grabbed her around the neck, smashed her head against the wall, assaulted and pushed her down a flight of stairs.
“He grabbed me by the neck and slammed me against the wall,” the woman said, at times getting emotional. “My feet weren’t touching the wall and he was holding me up against the wall.”
She called police shortly thereafter, but from the moment after the alleged attack until police arrived, Peppers took videos on his cellphone asking the woman to leave his home.
Peppers claims the reason he asked the woman to leave that night was because she wanted to have unprotected sex.
Brofsky challenged the woman’s account and the extent of her injuries during cross-examination — noting she waited to call the police until she left Peppers’ house and didn’t go to the hospital for treatment of injuries she sustained to her face and knee.
“If your head was smashed open, you were strangled and you were thrown down a set of stairs and you had serious injuries, wouldn’t you go to the hospital,” Brofsky asked the woman.
He also brought up a $9.5 million civil lawsuit the woman has filed against Peppers, noting she was “looking for money.”
But the woman disputed that it was about money, saying, “You can’t put a number on trauma.” She said she was also looking for an apology and for Peppers to get counseling for anger management.
In the early morning after the alleged assault, Peppers answered the door shirtless, nodding his head and telling police, “I know what is going on,” according to court documents. He was arrested without incident.
Police said they found a clear plastic bag at the home containing a white powder, which later tested positive for cocaine.
On Thursday, Peppers admitted to cocaine possession ahead of his domestic violence trial. That was continued without finding, according to The Boston Globe, which means if he stays out of trouble over the next four months the charge will be dropped.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.