Nevada prosecutors on Tuesday dropped a misdemeanor battery charge filed in November against Los Angeles Clippers power forward Blake Griffin in connection with an alleged confrontation at a Las Vegas nightclub.
Daniel Schuhman, 39, told police that Griffin, 26, had slapped him and grabbed his cell phone during a contentious interaction reportedly related to the unwelcome use of a camera at TAO Nightclub in Las Vegas on Oct. 19, 2014. Those claims evidently couldn't be substantiated to the point of bringing a case against the five-time All-Star, according to The Associated Press:
Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said Tuesday that new information obtained since a battery charge was filed in November made it clear that the allegations couldn't be proved.
The 26-year-old Griffin didn't appear in court. [...]
A telephone call to the alleged victim, Daniel Schuman of West Hollywood, California, rang unanswered.
While Griffin himself has offered scant comment on the matter over the past several months, his representative said he was pleased with the outcome, according to Austin Knoblauch of the Los Angeles Times:
Griffin’s attorney, Richard Schonfeld, said the case against his client was dismissed after his office provided transcripts of witness interviews.
“The State reviewed that evidence in conjunction with the rest of the materials in the case and determined that they could not proceed with the case,” Schonfeld said via email. “We are pleased with the dismissal and believe that it is the appropriate result.”
With this distraction behind him, Griffin — who returned to the L.A. lineup a week and a half ago after missing 15 games following surgery to address a staph infection in his right elbow — can focus solely on returning to form and helping the Clippers make a late-season playoff push.
Griffin has averaged 18.8 points, 8.6 rebounds, 5.2 assists and just under 2.5 combined steals and blocks in 37.2 minutes per game in five contests since coming back, with the Clippers going 4-1 with him back in the mix. Doc RIvers' club enters Tuesday's action at 46-25, slotting them in fifth in the Western Conference, just 1 1/2 games south of the No. 3-seeded Houston Rockets.
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