Jury finds Stefon Diggs not guilty of assault, strangulation - ESPN

BOSTON — Former New England Patriots receiver Stefon Diggs was found not guilty on Tuesday of assaulting his private chef in a pay dispute.

The four-time Pro Bowl wideout pleaded not guilty in February to a felony strangulation charge and a misdemeanor assault and battery charge stemming from the alleged dispute.

The trial lasted only two days.

The case centered on a Dec. 2 encounter at Diggs' home in Dedham, where Jamila Adams, a former live-in personal chef who is known as Mila, testified that he slapped and choked her during an argument.

Diggs' attorneys said the alleged assault never happened and questioned Adams' credibility and whether the dispute was about money, relationship tensions — including a disagreement over a planned trip to Miami — or an alleged assault.

«We have taken these allegations seriously from day one and that's exactly why we were eager for the facts to come to light through the legal process,» Mitch Schuster of Meister, Seelig & Schuster said in a statement. "… Professional athletes have a target on their back. When someone sees a uniform and a contract, they see leverage; they see a settlement. And they're counting on that pressure in the court of public opinion to drive a default decision to settle regardless of the facts of the matter.

«The evidence has shown what we've maintained from day one: Mr. Diggs was wrongly accused, and this case represents exactly the kind of opportunistic targeting that players can face the moment they step off the field.»

Diggs' attorneys pointed to financial demands she made and testimony from friends and employees who said she did not appear injured in the days after the encounter, and defense attorney Andrew Kettlewell told jurors during closing arguments that