Jury Acquits Patriots Jabrill Peppers In Assault And Battery

The domestic violence trial of New England Patriots safety Jabrill Peppers has come to an end and on Friday a jury acquitted him of the charges he faced from an alleged incident last year.

Peppers was arrested in October after a woman accused him of assaulting her in his Braintree, Massachusetts home.

According to The Boston Globe, Peppers' accuser took the stand on Thursday and said that the NFLer "grabbed me by the neck and slammed me against the wall.

On Friday, both sides presented their closing arguments and the jury was sent out for lunch and to start deliberating. It only took them half an hour before they returned and acquitted Peppers on charges of strangulation, assault, and battery with a dangerous weapon, and assault and battery on a family or household member.

After the trial, Peppers told reporters that his time in a courtroom marked "the first time in my life where football wasn’t the most important thing on my mind, and I had to just sit through everybody pouring dirt on my name."

New England Patriots safety Jabrill Peppers was acquitted of assault and battery charges/ (Greg Derr/ The Patriot Ledger Pool)

"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," Peppers said. "And I think that it makes it difficult for women who actually are abused to get their proper due, and it also sheds another light on how men in my position can be victims or targets."

While he was acquitted on the domestic violence charges, Peppers pleaded guilty to a cocaine possession charge from the day of his arrest. That charge was continued without a finding in a deal with prosecutors, which means that if he doesn't re-offend, that charge will be dismissed.

Peppers was a Cleveland Browns first-round pick during the 2-17 NFL Draft after spending his collegiate career at Michigan.

He spent two years with the Browns then spent the 2019, 2020, and 2021 seasons with the New York Giants, and has been with the Patriots since the 2022 NFL season.

Peppers appeared in just six games this season and was dealing with a shoulder injury at the time of his arrest.