Henry Ruggs Back In Court Over Missed Breath Test

A Las Vegas judge had words for former Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Henry Ruggs III when he appeared to court Monday, but the 22-year-old is allowed to remain on house arrest with a continuous alcohol monitor and a GPS monitor following a fatal crash he's accused of causing by driving drunk earlier this month.

ESPN reports the judge told Ruggs and his lawyers she was "comfortable with a higher level of monitoring" after a hearing about a delay in Ruggs providing a remote breath alcohol test with a hand-held device on Nov. 13.

"But if there are any misses, if there are any problems, if there is any alcohol detected in your system, you need to know that's going to be problematic for this court going forward," she said.

Ruggs' attorneys, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, said their client took a test anyway "out of an abundance of caution" on Nov. 13 and met a three-hour requirement by submitting the negative test.

"Henry still did the right thing by testing within the window," Chesnoff said, standing with Ruggs before the judge, per ESPN. "He should not be punished because his case attracts so much attention."

Ruggs' attorneys told the judge that since his Nov. 3 release from jail on $150,000 bail, he has passed more than 77 breath alcohol tests and submitted testimonials from two people who said they were with Ruggs when he missed the call Nov. 13 and didn't hear a signal from the monitor, ESPN reports.

State prosecutors said Ruggs' blood alcohol level was 0.16% — twice the legal limit for drivers in Nevada — and his vehicle hit speeds of 156 mph before the crash.

ESPN reports that Ruggs is due for a Dec. 16 evidence hearing on two felony driving under the influence charges, each carrying mandatory prison time of two to 20 years if he's convicted, plus felony reckless driving and a misdemeanor weapon charge.

Ruggs, a first-round pick out of Alabama in the 2020 NFL Draft, had 469 reception yards and two touchdowns through seven games for the Raiders before the team released him following the crash.

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