MZ Sports has posted a video that it says shows Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice punching his then-fiancée in the face in an Atlantic City hotel elevator in February.
In the case of Ray Rice, it means that the Ravens running back cannot be put in jeopardy, a criminal prosecution, for punching his then-fiancée.
Even if the prosecutor tried to use different charges it would not be allowed if the underlying facts are the same. So double jeopardy does apply and Rice cannot be charged again in the case.
The NFL cannot increase Rice's punishment by claiming the league did not know the seriousness of what Rice did. First, who didn't know that Rice punched Palmer while in the elevator? Did anyone really think she fainted?
Second, the punishment has already been decided both in court and by the NFL and has been partially served by Rice.
If the NFL or the Ravens tried to increase the punishment by claiming they didn't know what he did, they would lose in court.
The incident drew a two-game suspension from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, a penalty that was so severely criticized as too lenient that Goodell recently revamped the league's policies regarding domestic violence.
Video of Rice dragging Janay Palmer, whom he married after the incident, from the elevator has been shown repeatedly. But this is the first time that video purporting to show Rice hitting Palmer directly has been shown since the incident, which happened on Feb. 15 at Revel Atlantic City.
In the video posted by TMZ, Rice strikes Palmer and she falls to the ground. The elevator then stops, and he drags her out.
TMZ has said it altered the video to "smooth out" what it described as jumpy, raw footage.
Said league spokesman Brian McCarthy regarding the video: "We requested from law enforcement any and all information about the incident, including the video from inside the elevator. That video was not made available to us and no one in our office has seen it until today."
A Revel spokesperson told ABC News that the hotel gave a copy of the video posted by TMZ Sports to the police. The hotel says it did not give it to TMZ.
On July 28, Adolpho Birch, the NFL's senior vice president of labor policy, was asked on ESPN Radio's "Mike and Mike" program if the league had any additional information or videos not made available to the public, and he would not say whether the NFL had seen the video from inside the elevator.
Asked if the team had any comment on the new video, a Ravens spokesman said, "Not at this time."
The NFLPA echoed that sentiment in an email to ESPN.
"We have no comment at this time. Thank you," the email read.
While the union didn't comment, several players took to Twitter to speak out against what they saw in the video. Broncos defensive tackle Terrance Knighton made it clear in several tweets Monday that Rice should be "thrown out [of] the NFL and thrown into jail."
New video released of Baltimore Ravens' Ray Rice hitting fiancee - ESPN
i knew the tape would come out eventually
still think the 2 game suspension is enough?
