Eagles linebacker Nigel Bradham to appear at felony battery trial in Miami on July 3
He says he expects to be cleared of charges stemming from an incident in which he allegedly assaulted a hotel employee.
Nigel Bradham is scheduled to appear in a Miami-Dade County courthouse on July 3 when he is to be tried on a felony battery charge.
The Eagles linebacker said Tuesday that he will be in attendance and that he expects to be cleared of charges stemming from an incident in which he allegedly assaulted a hotel employee.
"I feel pretty confident," said Bradham, who has pleaded not guilty.
The altercation occurred on July 25, 2016 when Bradham and friends took exception with how long the employee – 50-year-old Jean Eliphete Courtois – took to bring the group a beach umbrella, according to the police report.
Courtois, whose nose was broken, among other minor injuries, said last summer that he had never been in a physical dispute. He questioned the implication that he would get into a physical altercation when outnumbered and with someone almost half his age and much larger. Courtois said he weighed 160 pounds.
Bradham, 27, was listed at 6-foot-2, 241 pounds last year.
Sources close to Bradham have disputed Courtois' account given in the affidavit. They said that the dispute was initially over how many chairs Bradham's group could have and how close the group could be to the water.
An argument ensued and got heated, the sources said, and when Bradham's girlfriend was hit in the head – possibly by a punch thrown at Bradham by Courtois – the linebacker retaliated and struck Courtois three times.
The trial has twice been postponed. It was originally slated to begin on Jan. 17, but was later moved to April 10 after the first of two motions for continuance, according to court records. The new trial is set to start at 9:30 a.m.
The Eagles will break for the summer Thursday after a three-day mandatory minicamp and won't return to the NovaCare Complex until late July. Bradham would be expected to report to training camp July 26 with the rest of the team's veterans.
Bradham was arrested again in October when he brought a loaded handgun through airport security in Miami. He said he had forgotten to remove the Glock 40, which he had a license to carry in Florida, from his backpack.
Bradham said Tuesday that he pleaded to a misdemeanor charge and paid a $100 fine.