NJ Advance Media recently asked New Jersey criminal defense attorney Travis J. Tormey for his thoughts on the handling of the Ray Rice domestic violence case.
As has been reported in the media, professional football player Ray Rice was arrested and charged with aggravated assault after reportedly attacking his girlfriend (now-wife) in an Atlantic City elevator.
Now new video footage showing what happened inside the elevator has surfaced. The footage has resulted in nationwide outrage about the prosecution’s handling of the case, with many people wondering aloud why Rice received such a lenient punishment and was allowed to enter a diversionary program.
As a first-time offender, Rice was eligible for admission into the diversionary program known as Pre-Trial Intervention (PTI). Some have noted that prosecutors have discretion to deny entrance into the program if the offender intentionally committed a violent act.
However, the Atlantic City Prosecutor’s Office is standing by its decision not to pursue jail time for Rice. The prosecutor’s office emphasized that Rice “received the same treatment by the criminal justice system in Atlantic County that any first-time offender has, in similar circumstances.”
When asked by media outlets for his legal opinion on the case, Morris County attorney Travis J. Tormey noted that he has had clients in similar situations get denied admission into Pre-Trial Intervention. Mr. Tormey also observed that it is often very difficult to get PTI in domestic violence cases.
For more information, check out the NJ.com article entitled “Ray Rice Video: Prosecutor’s Office Says ‘Decision Was Correct’ to Not Seek Jail Time for Rice.”
