A Boston-area jury found former New England Patriots receiver Stefon Diggs not guilty Tuesday of all the criminal charges brought against him, after a former private chef working for the player told law enforcement he had tried to choke her following a fight about money she was owed. Diggs had been charged with one count of felony strangulation or suffocation and one count of misdemeanor assault and battery. The Boston Globe reported that the Dedham District Court jury reached its verdict after deliberating for under two hours following closing arguments earlier in the day.
Local reporters in the courtroom signaled that a key moment in the two-day trial came during the chef's testimony. Boston 25 News, which broke the story of the criminal charges back in December, reported that Diggs's defense lawyer asked the chef Jamila Adams, "You know that someone on your behalf has demanded 5.5 million dollars from Stefon Diggs, don't you?" Adams replied that she had a workers' comp claim and was also exploring her civil options. The Associated Press reported that, when further pressed about the $5.5 million demand from her lawyer, Adams didn't answer the question directly, saying "I can't speak on that."
Diggs's legal team called several witnesses to the stand who testified that they saw Adams the day of the alleged assault or soon afterward, and she seemed to act normal to them. Per the AP, the witnesses were also people who worked for Diggs: his chief of staff, his massage therapist, a nurse, and his hairstylist. The hairstylist, Xia Charles, said she hung out with Adams in New York and she didn't see any injuries. Per the Globe, jurors also saw video of Adams "laughing and dancing with friends in New York," and defense lawyers brought up that Adams went back to working for Diggs about a week later.
In his closing arguments, assistant district attorney Drew Virtue told jurors that Adams's behavior right afterward did make sense, given the power imbalance between the two of them, and her words should not be discounted due to her not being "a perfect witness."
"She was argumentative, avoidant, difficult. But does that mean you should throw away everything she said? No," he said, according to the AP, adding that jurors should give her testimony "the attention, the scrutiny, the weight it deserves."
Adams, the Globe said, left the courtroom after closing arguments. Diggs, now a free agent, didn't comment after the verdict. He didn't have to. A handful of his fans gathered outside the courthouse, and they celebrated the news. One man, who named his dog after Diggs, told Globe reporter Claire Thornton, "That’s the best news because I’m his biggest fan."
