‘Reddest of red flags’: Lawyer for assault victims slams Mayo’s response to Jabrill Peppers charges

A prominent local attorney and educator who works with survivors of domestic violence says Jabrill Peppers should be released immediately from the Patriots amid allegations the safety physically attacked his girlfriend over the weekend, leading to his arrest on assault and battery charges.

“He deserves all his rights and then some in the criminal justice system,” Wendy Murphy said of Jabrill Peppers Monday afternoon. “But that has nothing to do with whether he deserves the privilege of playing for the NFL.”

Murphy is a former prosecutor, on the faculty at New England Law-Boston, and was once a Patriots cheerleader.

On Monday morning, Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo said Peppers would be allowed into the Patriots’ facilities “as we gather information, we don’t know enough to say he shouldn’t be in the building,” Mayo told reporters.

Murphy slammed Mayo for the response.

“When you send a message to your team that allegations that have led to an arrest and multiple charges… it’s let’s wait and see? Wow,” Murphy said.

In a brief statement, the Patriots said: “We are aware of an incident involving Jabrill Peppers over the weekend in which the police are currently investigating. We will have no further comment at this time.”

Among the allegations, Peppers is accused of choking the victim six times, smashing her head against a wall, and pushing her down a flight of stairs.

“When police see strangulation in a domestic violence case, they are worried about the woman dying,” Murphy said. “Strangulation is the reddest of the red flags that indicate a woman is at high risk of being killed.”

Outside court Monday, Peppers’ defense team said he was innocent.

“We have evidence that completely contradicts the alleged victims’ story,” said defense attorney Mark Brofsky, “I expect my client to be fully exonerated.”

Brofsky said video evidence would support Peppers’ defense, “and other evidence, as well.”

But Murphy said the NFL is not a court of law, and the Patriots have the same rights as most employers to fire an employee for misconduct, particularly if they are subject to a morals clause in their contract, as NFL players are.

“It doesn’t matter what the criminal justice system says,” Murphy told Boston 25 News. “It matters if the evidence is credible, and guess what? When the police make an arrest, that means they’ve already assessed credibility.”

Peppers pleaded “not guilty” at his first court appearance on Monday morning.

In 2015, the Patriots teamed up with then-AG Maura Healey to launch the “Game Change” program, designed to curb cases of youth violence in the state. In 2016, Jonathan Kraft – son of owner Robert Kraft – gave an interview to 98.5 The Sports Hub in which he said assault and abuse was “not something that we’re ever going to tolerate here at the New England Patriots.” In 2017, Patriots owner Robert Kraft said the team would not draft running back Joe Mixon after the Oklahoma product pled guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge in 2014 when he punched a woman in the head in a restaurant.

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