Previously, lawyers representing Packers running back Josh Jacobs filed a motion seeking to keep evidence in his criminal case from being released to the public. The victim in the case has now done the same thing.
But while the current order is temporary in nature, the new motion filed on behalf of Jacobs’s former girlfriend seeks to have the evidence in the case — including a key video — permanently sealed.
Via Rob Demovsky of ESPN, her lawyers said Tuesday that the motion “is consistent with our client’s desire to protect her privacy.”
The motion complicates the NFL’s effort to obtain the video. On Sunday, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network said that the league is “trying all sorts of legal maneuvers” to get the video.
One fairly direct maneuver would be to file an opposition to the motion, with a request for a limited opportunity to inspect the video subject to the requirements of a strict and comprehensive confidentiality order. And the league should ask Jacobs to join in the effort.
Common sense suggests that the harder Jacobs tries to keep the league from seeing the video, the worse to his ongoing career it may be. If the league decides to take an aggressive approach to the situation, the league could tell Jacobs that he’ll remain on paid leave until the league processes his disciplinary case — and that the case won’t be processed until the NFL sees the video.
