Grand Jury To Sign Off On Johnny Manziel Indictment Tuesday
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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Former NFL quarterback and 2012 Texas A&M University Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel is expected to be formally charged with assault with bodily injury tomorrow.
Word came out late Sunday that a Dallas County Grand Jury had indicted Manziel, but sources in the Dallas County District Attorney's Office say the charge isn't official until the grand jury signs off on it – and that is expected to take place sometime on Tuesday.
Officials with the DA's Office had said they would release a statement about Manziel's indictment today, but now say they won't speak about the case until the grand jury process is complete. But the office did say that the Tuesday's grand jury meeting is purely a formality and Manziel will be indicted.
The grand jury began reviewing evidence in the assault case against Manziel on April 21. It was back in January when Manziel allegedly assaulted his ex-girlfriend Colleen Crowley. The attack reportedly happened as the couple left Hotel ZaZa in Dallas and drove to Crowley's home in Fort Worth.
In a police report, Crowley alleged that Manziel was acting as if he were "on some kind of drugs," and was acting aggressive towards her while still at the hotel and that he struck her several times, including hitting her in left ear -- causing her to lose some hearing.
She said she opened the car door and tried to jumped out, but Manziel chased her down and pulled her back inside. "Fearful for my life, I hit [Manziel] several times, hoping I could back out of the car," she said in the affidavit, adding Manziel "threw me off of him and I hit my head on the car window and I fell into the passenger floorboard."
According to Crowley, Manziel insisted on driving her home because he "didn't want her to drive while intoxicated." In the report, Crowley said that on the drive back to her place in Fort Worth, Manziel struck her several more times.
Less than a week after the incident a judge issued a protective order for Crowley, dictating that Manziel stay away from Colleen Crowley until at least Feb. 3, 2018, including at least 500 feet away from her Fort Worth apartment.
♦♦ Read Colleen Crowley's Affidavit Requesting A Protective Order ♦♦
The incident was reported to officials and they began investigating on February 5, but instead of arresting Manziel the Dallas Police Department decided to present the evidence to the grand jury to decide if they should pursue a misdemeanor case. Monday morning they decided it should proceed. The Class A misdemeanor Assault/Domestic Violence case was referred to the grand jury on Feb. 25.
Manziel, 23, was cut by the Browns in March after two tumultuous seasons marked by inconsistent play and off-the-field headlines about his partying and drinking. And the once much-hyped quarterback has been fired by two sports agents in the last three months.
If convicted of the misdemeanor charge, Manziel faces up to one year in jail and a $4,000 fine.
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