Timestamp From Nightclub Footage Casts Doubt On Exoneration Of Rashee Rice

Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice, 24, was recently arrested on eight felony charges concerning a hit-and-run accident while drag-racing his Lamborghini at 119 mph on a Dallas highway. 

Multiple outlets, including The Athletic, then reported on an undisclosed incident in which Rice and/or one of his friends allegedly fired multiple bullets into an empty vehicle while attending SMU. 

Police are currently investigating Rice for allegedly punching a photographer at the Lit Kitchen nightclub in Dallas last week.

Other than that, Rice is enjoying a quiet offseason.

Rice admitted to the hit-and-run accident. The NFL will almost certainly suspend him, as ESPN insider Adam Schefter confirmed on Monday. It's just a matter of how many games he will be suspended. 

It's unlikely the incident in college, of which all 32 teams were reportedly aware, will impact the length of the suspension. 

But the nightclub incident may. If true, assaulting someone five weeks after facing felony charges certainly doesn't help Rice's case when the NFL imposes discipline on him under the Personal Conduct Policy.

Now, the owner of the club, Reza Dibaje, did cast doubt on the "if true" part of the equation last Friday. Dibaje released security cam footage to the Dallas ABC affiliate WFAA, which appeared to discredit Rice's accuser.

The club owner identified the accuser as the man in the blue jumpsuit below:

"We went through all the videos, cameras outside to see, and then the detective pointed out that's the accuser," said Dibaje. "You see him coming across the street with his camera. It doesn't look like the guy got a head, punch, or anything."

He's right: the accuser does not match the "swelling on his jaw" description stated in the police document. 

However, we caution Chiefs fans cheering that the video exonerates Rice. It doesn't. Read a snippet of the police filing below:

According to the report, the photographer arrived at the club earlier that night (May 5), left, and then returned later after he was "lured" back by Rice. The filing says Rice allegedly assaulted the man once he returned to the club, around 1:55 a.m.

Those details are important. If you look at the first photo above, the security cam footage is timestamped at "23:56:28," as in 11:56 p.m. – two hours before the alleged assault.

It would appear the footage that the club owner released only shows when the accuser left the club the first time, not the second time when he claims Rice assaulted him.

Does the timestamp prove Rice is guilty? Of course not. But it doesn't prove his innocence either. It doesn't prove anything – at least as of now, given the details available.

Here's what we know so far: Rice was at a nightclub, a photographer says Rice assaulted him, and other witnesses (who may or may not be friends with Rice) say there was just a "verbal altercation."

Seth Keysor is a prosecutor in Minnesota by day and Chiefs film analyst by night. He explained last Thursday on KCSN that the "verbal altercation" coupled with the assault accusations prove "something happened."  

Whether it was physical or verbal, Keysor says both sides of the story give the police reason to continue the investigation.

Legally, Rice is innocent until proven guilty. However, the same burden of proof does not apply to the NFL's disciplinary process. The league can/will factor in the conflicting accounts of the nightclub incident when ruling on Rice's inevitable suspension.

The NFL's Personal Conduct policy states that "[p]layers with a prior history of misconduct, including misconduct occurring prior to their association with the NFL, will be subject to enhanced and/or expedited discipline."

Unless Rice proves the accuser lied, the NFL has the jurisdiction to consider that "something happened," as Keysor put it, just weeks after Rice was arrested on felony charges. 

Rice put himself in that situation by nightclubbing at nearly 2 am and getting into some sort of dispute with a photographer while already facing a lengthy suspension.

Further, Rashee Rice continues to lose the benefit of the doubt as violent allegations involving his name continue to surface – be it involving drag racing, shooting up cars, or punching photographers.