Back in February, New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara was indicted by a grand jury for allegedly assaulting a man at a Las Vegas nightclub last year.
On Thursday, the five-time Pro Bowler pleaded not guilty to all charges in the case. His trial will reportedly be held on July 31. The Saints will be in training camp during that time.
Alvin Kamara pleads not guilty on all charges.
Kamara's trial will be on July 31. That will be during training camp.
— Nick Underhill (@nick_underhill) March 2, 2023
Video of the incident shows a pretty violent and scary situation. Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Chris Lammons was also involved in the incident and pleaded not guilty as well.
#BREAKING: Video evidence in the battery case involving New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara, Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Chris Lammons and two others includes this surveillance of a brawl in a hallway outside of a Las Vegas nightclub. More: https://t.co/bf4oXYSn4U pic.twitter.com/lONPPGNpri
— David Charns (@davidcharns) February 22, 2023
Transcripts from the grand jury hearing were recently made public. Darnell Greene, the victim in the case, recounted his side of the story.
“I went to step on the elevator and a guy put his hands on my, on my chest like to tell me, like push me back and tell me I can’t get on the elevator,” Greene said. “So when he pushed me I pushed his hands down off of my chest and then he pushed me real hard and then somebody hit me.”
Greene revealed he suffered a permanent orbital fracture and had surgery on his shoulder after the incident. He stated he thought he was getting “murdered.”
According to an arrest report, Kamara told police that he thought Greene did something to someone in his group that was leaving the nightclub.
One of Kamara’s attorneys expressed confidence in getting a “full vindication” for his client.
“We’re looking forward to a trial and a full vindication,” David Chesnoff said following the hearing.
According to the grand jury transcripts, Kamara, who was sued by Greene in October, can apparently be heard saying about the fight after the fact in a video recording.
“I connected with that (expletive) jaw so hard,” he allegedly said in the recording.
It’s not a good look for the 27-year-old, and Saints fans will undoubtedly be paying attention to the situation in the summer. They’ll surely be hoping that the case doesn’t turn into a major distraction during the 2023 regular season.
New Orleans went 7-10 during the 2022 campaign and have the No. 29 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. Unless it trades up, it won’t likely won’t get a chance to select one of the top quarterbacks available. People seem to agree that the best signal-callers in the draft are Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud, Will Levis and Anthony Richardson.
The Saints seem to instead be looking for a veteran at the position and have been linked pretty heavily to Derek Carr.
In fact, NFL insider Jeremy Fowler recently said that the Saints are “ready” to get something done with Carr.
Only time will tell what the future has in store for the Saints. Kamara is coming off a season in which racked up 1,387 yards from scrimmage and scored just four touchdowns.
