The next court date in Adrian Peterson’s child abuse case has been delayed.
A hearing in Montgomery County Texas court was scheduled for Wednesday to determine whether Judge Kelly Case should be replaced in the proceedings – a request filed by District Attorney Brett Ligon due to what he calls bias against the prosecution, the Star Tribune reports.
But Adrian Peterson’s attorney, Rusty Hardin, is out of town, the Houston Chronicle reports, so the recusal hearing was delayed until Oct. 22.
The recusal hearing for Judge Kelly Case in the Adrian Peterson case has been pushed back to Oct. 22. Was slated for Wednesday.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) October 14, 2014
Ligon first requested the recusal last week, during Peterson’s first court appearance, claiming Case called both he and the defense team “media whores.” Case apologized at the time and denied the request, saying it was meant to be humorous.
According to the Houston Chronicle, Hardin has not yet filed a response to the prosecution’s request.
Peterson pleads not guilty
The Vikings running back entered a not guilty plea NFL.com reports, on felony child abuse charges.
Bloomberg reports Peterson entered his plea via writing Oct. 8, after initially not entering a plea during his court appearance. The documents were made public Monday.
Peterson was indicted in September on charges of reckless or negligent injury to a child after Peterson said he used a wooden switch to discipline his 4-year-old son. Peterson has since apologized for the incident and said he never intended to hurt his son.
On Sunday, ESPN reported Peterson may face a ban or suspension from the NFL even if he’s found not guilty. According to the report, sources say officials at a league meeting last week agreed a violation of the personal conduct policy should not require a conviction in order for punishment to be issued.
In addition, Peterson faces re-arrest and his bond invalidated after reportedly admitting last week he smoked marijuana before taking a court-mandated drug test.
According to FOX 26, prosecutors filed documents to have Peterson arrested again after he admitted to a staffer that he “smoked a little weed” before taking the drug test, which would be a violation of his bond conditions.
Prosecutors are now asking the judge in the case to set aside Peterson’s $15,000 bond and have him arrested, the station said.
The Chicago Tribune reports an arrest can only happen if the violation is confirmed, and only after the judge recusal request gets sorted out.
A trial date has been set for Dec. 1, but that date is subject to change.
