Oklahoma Supreme Court rules tape of OU RB punching woman must be released

Joe Mixon missed the 2014 season after the punch. (Getty)

The public has a right to see the surveillance tape of Oklahoma running back Joe Mixon punching a woman in the summer of 2014 according to the Oklahoma Supreme Court.

The court ruled Tuesday the video, which hasn’t been released, must be available to the public. Mixon was suspended for the 2014 season after the incident, which left the woman with reported facial fractures.

The city of Norman, Okla., has sought to keep open-records laws from being applicable to the video.

 

From the Tulsa World:

It’s unclear, however, if the video will be immediately released. One Norman city official said an appeal for a re-hearing of the ruling remains possible, which could delay release of the video until at least January 2017.

The right to view the tape made it to the Supreme Court following a suit by the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters. The association has contended that since it has to do with Mixon’s arrest on misdemeanor assault charges, the tape is part of the public record.

Mixon reached a plea deal regarding the misdemeanor assault charges from the incident.

The tape was shown to a group of media members in 2014 and below is what Sooner Scoop, one of the outlets granted a viewing, said about it. Mixon and the woman, an OU student, were in an argument in a Pickleman’s Cafe in Norman when the confrontation became physical.

Following the slap across the left side of his neck (she can barely reach his face), Mixon unloads a violent right handed hook. There’s really not a nice or clean way of saying it. [Amelia] Molitor immediately falls to the floor from the strike, hitting her face on the edge of the table in the process. Mixon immediately bolts out of frame.

Mixon was reinstated to the team in 2015 but refused to answer “non-football” questions at the Sooners’ Orange Bowl media day appearance last December because of the possibility of a civil suit. Molitor filed a civil suit vs. Mixon over the summer seeking damages from the punch.

The redshirt sophomore running back has been a potent weapon for Oklahoma’s offensive attack. After rushing for 753 yards and seven scores in 2015, Mixon has 1,183 yards and eight touchdowns in 2016. He also has 32 catches for 449 yards and five touchdowns and also scored via a kickoff return this season.