Cleveland Browns linebacker and former Michigan star Devin Bush has been found not guilty on charges of assault and harassment. These charges stemmed from a domestic dispute with his girlfriend that happened in May. The decision came from Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Bruce Beemer. That’s because prosecutors were unable to prove that Bush was trying to harm or injure the woman he sexually assaulted.
Bush was the 10th overall pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2019. This offseason, police arrested him after responding to a report of an alleged assault at an apartment in a Pittsburgh suburb. The encounter apparently heated up after the woman alleged that Bush had attacked her and seized her car keys. On the stand during the trial, the woman described a terrifying experience. She had alleged that Bush immobilized her against a massage table and pursued her in their household, trying to get her cellphone.
Though Bush owned up to the destruction of the phone, he claimed he never showed physical violence against his girlfriend. He claimed he was motivated by a rare combination of zeal to recover a stolen phone. She had saved their rebuttal fight on it. The prosecution used the recorded argument to prove that Bush acted aggressively in the encounter.
Unlike last season though, Devin Bush has surely bolstered the Brown’s defense this year. He currently ranks second on the team with an impressive 93 combined tackles. We’ve been following his progress on the field ever since. That might be on top of existing scrutiny from the legal challenges he defended earlier this year, which has increased.
In effect, the judge’s ruling amounted to an acquittal of Bush due to lack of intent. Especially in assault and harassment cases, intent is key. Therefore, prosecutors found it was difficult to prove that anything Bush did was a threat or physical harm against his girlfriend.
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