Link: http://www.thefacts.com/story.lasso?ewcd=57646c7b4d35bb9e Texans’ Mathis charged with family violence By John Lowman The Facts Published February 19, 2008 MANVEL — Houston Texans receiver Jerome Mathis was arrested on assault-family violence charges late Sunday after allegedly choking his pregnant girlfriend, Brazoria County Sheriff’s officials said. Mathis, 24, was booked into the Brazoria County jail at 9:26 p.m. Sunday and posted $3,000 bond at 11:11 p.m., according to the sheriff’s office. He faces one charge of assault causing bodily injury under the family violence code, Patrol Capt. Richard Foreman said. Mathis allegedly pushed Erica Smith, 26, onto a bed during an argument in their home in the 3600 block of Tumbling Falls at about 11 p.m. Friday, Foreman said. The couple apparently discussed a cell-phone battery charger before the incident, he said. “She reported that he came home verbally aggressive toward her and left the residence, then came back a few minutes later demanding his car charger,” Foreman said. “He became angry while he looked for the charger, and when she gave it to him, he pushed her down on the bed and began choking her while putting all of his body weight on her.” Mathis is 6-1, 195 pounds and Smith is 5-10, 145 pounds, according to a police report. Smith told Mathis she was calling the police before he left the home in a vehicle, according to the report. Alcohol apparently was involved, the report states. When officers arrived at the home late Friday, they saw a red mark on Smith’s neck just below her jawbone, Foreman said. Smith reported no other injuries but was “worrying about her unborn baby,” Foreman said. She refused to be taken to a hospital and declined to press charges. But under the family violence code, either a person assaulted or the state can pursue charges, District Attorney Jeri Yenne said. “It’s not unusual. the State of Texas vs. an individual is the vast majority of assault cases we have,” Yenne said. “Particularly in family violence cases, officers are mandated to make an arrest when there’s evidence an assault was committed. “We’re going to treat this case like any other Class A assault,” Yenne said. “We’ll evaluate it based on the evidence.” The Texans had no detailed comment Monday afternoon. “We’re still gathering all the details and information,” team Vice President of Communications Tony Wyllie said. “That’s all we can say at this time.” The warrant for Mathis’ arrest was issued by Brazoria County Precinct 3 Justice of the Peace Gordon Starkenburg. All incidents of family violence are reported to the state, and if an alleged victim does not wish to press charges, state officials weigh the merits of a case, Sheriff Charles Wagner said. They chose to advance the Mathis incident because Smith is pregnant, he said. “When an officer responds to a call, it’s up to them to make the initial decision to pursue it or not,” Wagner said. “In this type of situation, we have no choice because of safety issues. If something else happened and we hadn’t done anything, it would be a miscarriage of justice.” Assault-family violence is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $4,000 and up to one year in county jail. In two separate incidents in December and January, Mathis was given seven citations for allowing animals to run at large and for harboring unvaccinated animals. In December, Mathis was given four citations after his adult pit bull chased a woman into her apartment in the 3800 block of CR 94 near Manvel and sent another couple onto the roof of a car to escape. He receive three citations in January for the pit bull and puppies being out in the same area again. No threatening behavior was noted in the January incident. Mathis, a wide receiver and kick returner, has been with the Texans since 2005. He was on the team’s injured reserve list and not on the active roster this season.
I will be real surprised if we see him in a Texan's uniform next year. I sure hope Andre Davis' contract negotiations are going well.
Don't forget the bike incident. He was already clueless. Now he's added ass to the description. Good riddance. Evan
sick of him, he sucks and is always injured! now his reputation is shot, bye JM, we already knew thee
This isn't directed at you, msn, but I wanted to point out that this is the perfect example of what I was talking about in the Clemens threads. We see an article that presents one side of what happened and most of us make some kind of negative judgment about Mathis - without the full facts or trial or whatnot. If it turns out wrong, we'll change our mind, but this what I was referring to.
True, I'm assuming the reports are accurate, and I arrived at that assumption based on his history of stupidity. Of course, there were several people who witnessed the marks on her neck, and he has a history of knuckleheadedness. Roger, at least when this crap was first cropping up, didn't have a lot of similar "smoke" surrounding the alleged fire. That said, there's a lot more smoke now.
Major, there's an even better example for your argument here: Lugo. Several of us, myself included, were crowing in approval when the Astros cut him. Then his wife backed way off on her story.
