*Thabo Sefolosha will finally be in a position to prove his innocence as a trial date has been set for a case involving an incident that took place outside a nightclub in New York.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Sefolosha will go to court on Oct. 5. The date comes after the Atlanta Hawks player opted to go to trial for a complete dismissal or a trial before a jury after turning down prosecutors who offered a conditional dismissal.
“We appreciate the District Attorney’s decision to drop charges [against Antic] and he looks forward to returning to basketball and his family,” said attorney Alex Spiro, who represents Sefolosha and former Hawk player Pero Antic. “We firmly believe Thabo’s case should be dismissed, too. He maintains his complete innocence.”
The incident at the1OAK nightclub resulted in physical damage to Sefolosha, who ended up with a broken right fibula and ligament damage. Although he doesn’t need a walking boot or crutches now, Sefolosha’s return to the basketball court is still up in the air in light of him not being cleared to play at this time.
The sportsman mentioned that it was New York City police who caused his injuries. Authorities arrived on the scene after Indiana Pacers player Chris Copeland was stabbed in the abdomen during a dispute at the club in the early morning on April 8. As a result, Sefolosha was charged with one count of resisting arrest and one count of disorderly conduct. Although Antic faced disorderly conduct and second-degree harassment charges for interfering with Sefolosha’s arrest, prosecutors dropped the charges against him in a hearing Wednesday morning (Sept. 9) in Manhattan.
Referencing proceedings in New York State Criminal Court on Tuesday (Sept. 8), the Journal-Constitution detailed the circumstances surrounding Antic’s charges being dropped, saying that prosecutors brought up the fact that their investigation showed Antic told Sefolosha to “calm down.” With the officers suffering no injuries, they ultimately dismissed the charges against Antic “in the interest of justice.”
As for Sefolosha, things turned out differently as prosecutors only offered him an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal (ACD), which requested that he perform a day of community service, in addition to agreeing to dismiss and seal the file in six months as long as he stayed clear of any trouble. The athlete refused the offer and instead decided to take the case to trial.
Commenting on the situation and his injuries, Sefolosha told the Journal-Constitution on Wednesday that he’s not sure he’ll be ready for the start of training camp later this month. Yet he remains hopeful of being to able to play when the Hawks kick off the upcoming season Oct. 27 against Detroit.
With training camp beginning Sept. 28 for the Hawks, Sefolosha confessed that the timing of the trial was “not ideal.”
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