A tentative date of December 1 has been set for Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson to stand trial on a felony child abuse charge. Cheap NFL Jerseys China . All along, Peterson has expressed he is not interested in cutting a deal and believes he did nothing wrong. While he indicated to police that he felt bad in light of the extent of the injuries, he added to be honest with you, I feel very confident with my actions because I know my intent and he characterized the incident as a normal whooping. Peterson also maintained his innocence in a statement issued through his lawyer Rusty Hardin, saying, I never ever intended to harm my son. I will say the same thing once I have my day in court. If this goes to trial (which is not a guarantee if the sides can settle), it remains possible Peterson could be acquitted. The Beating The criminal charge stems from a beating he gave his four-year-old son with a tree branch (or a switch) after Petersons son pushed another child off of a motorbike video game. Peterson grabbed a tree branch, removed the leaves and struck his son repeatedly. According to CBS Houstons Nick Wright, the assault resulted numerous injuries to the child, including cuts and bruises to the childs back, buttocks, ankles, legs and scrotum, along with defensive wounds to the childs hands. Wright also reported the following: Peterson also allegedly said via text message to the childs mother that he felt bad after the fact when I notice the switch was wrapping around hitting I (sic) thigh and also acknowledged the injury to the childs scrotum in a text message, saying, Got him in nuts once I noticed. But I felt so bad, n Im all tearing that butt up when needed! I start putting them in timeout. N save the whooping for needed memories! In further text messages, Peterson allegedly said, Never do I go overboard! But all my kids will know, hey daddy has the biggie heart but dont play no games when it comes to acting right. According to police reports, the child, however, had a slightly different story, telling authorities that Daddy Peterson hit me on my face. The child also expressed worry that Peterson would punch him in the face if the child reported the incident to authorities. He also said that he had been hit by a belt and that there are a lot of belts in Daddys closet. He added that Peterson put leaves in his mouth when he was being hit with the switch while his pants were down. The child told his mother that Peterson likes belts and switches and has a whooping room. The Charge As per Section 22.04 of the Texas Penal Code, Peterson was indicted on a charge of recklessly, or with criminal negligence, caused bodily injury to a child. This type of charge is classified as a state jail felony and is punishable by 180 days to two years in jail and/or a fine of up to $10,000. Reckless defendants act with an awareness that their actions are likely to cause the crime but persist with their actions. In order to be characterized as criminally negligent, it just needs to be shown that the defendant was not aware of the potential consequences but should have been. The prosecution just needs to show either Peterson was reckless OR negligent. The latter is easier to establish since you dont need the element of awareness. Petersons Defence Physical abuse in Texas is an accepted form of discipline. Section 261.001 of the Texas Family Code allows parents to engage in reasonable discipline of children so long as it does not expose the child to a substantial risk of harm. This may explain why it took the prosecution two attempts to get Peterson indicted. Ultimately, Peterson was indicted because a grand jury believed that his conduct did not constitute reasonable discipline and ended up causing substantial harm to his child. Peterson Could Walk At Trial Based upon the merits of the case and the relatively low legal standard of negligence to be met, the prosecution has a strong case. The injuries inflicted certainly cross the line and constitute substantial harm. As well, while Peterson may not have intended to harm his son, he should have known those injuries were likely. Bottom line: the harm was bad and Peterson, at the very least, was negligent. That doesnt mean, however, the prosecution is going to win. Its entirely possible that Peterson could walk. To find Peterson guilty, jurors must reach a unanimous verdict. That means that Rusty Hardin need only convince one juror to give Peterson a pass. Hardin, who secured an acquittal for his client Roger Clemens in his perjury trial, knows that physical abuse as a form of discipline is accepted and is part of the culture in Texas. As well, reasonable discipline is provided for, and protected, under Texas law. So while that one juror may not approve of the harm inflicted and believe it wasnt reasonable, he or she may still be empathetic towards Peterson, believe hes learned his lesson and give him a pass. And for Peterson and Hardin, thats the hope. Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys . 1. Did the Senators trade the wrong goalie? Lets make one thing clear: The Ottawa Senators acquired Ben Bishop from the St. Louis Blues for one reason and one reason alone. Cheap NFL Jerseys Paypal . Roma has a game in hand but now second place is even at risk for the capital side as Napoli moved to within three points with the win. "The result is not always fair," Roma coach Rudi Garcia said. "If we play like this until the end we will win many matches. http://www.wholesalenfljerseyssupplycheap.com/ . He had even more fun Friday. Coming off a sensational rookie season, Spieth opened the new year by never coming close to bogey and making a 12-foot birdie putt on the last hole for a 7-under 66.LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Russ Smith really didnt care about being top scorer in his home finale with Louisville because passing to open teammates was the better choice. The star guard is showing he can be pass-first when needed. Just ask Cardinals forward Montrezl Harrell, who scored 20 points while Smith recorded a career-high 13 assists as No. 11 Louisville routed No. 19 Connecticut 81-48 on Saturday to claim a share of the American Athletic Conference championship. The Cardinals (26-5, 15-3) finished tied with No. 15 Cincinnati atop the league. A postgame coin flip went to Cincinnati and left Louisville with the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament. The Cardinals still got to hoist a trophy thanks to Smiths generosity. "Russ does so much for our team," said Harrell, who added 11 rebounds and several thunderous dunks. "He doesnt just worry about scoring. He had like (three) points tonight and 13 assists, so how does he not make us better? ... Right now, hes just worried about us winning, and thats what we need." Smiths performance was appreciated by a sellout crowd that gave him a standing ovation as he went to the bench with 4:22 left in the game. The reception capped a joyous day as he and fellow seniors Luke Hancock, Tim Henderson and Stephan Van Treese were honoured as the programs winningest class. Their achievements included winning last years NCAA championship. All played key roles in Saturdays 116th win together. Smith made just one of two shots but topped his previous assist high by two. Hancock added 16 points while Henderson added an early basket on feeds from Smith. Van Treese grabbed 13 rebounds. "It was just getting the ball to my teammates to get the ball movement going," said Smith, whose audience included nine NBA scouts. "When I looked at the film after the first UConn game, I was very sloppy with the rock. I wasnt handling the ball as well as I should have. I negated any discrepancy about turning the ball over. I just kicked it out to other teammates." Louisvilles defence, meanwhile, frustrated the Huskiies (24-7, 12-6) into season lows in scoring and shooting (29. China Jerseys. 4 per cent) in completing the sweep. Their previous shooting low was 29.6 per cent in a loss to SMU. "I didnt see anything like this coming," said UConn coach Kevin Ollie, whose team still earned the No. 4 seed. "And Im glad it came because now we know how tough we have to be to be a champion. "We werent tough enough. We werent together enough. Louisville took every opportunity to take advantage of it. ... Thats what champions do." Wayne Blackshear added 11 points and Chris Jones 10 as Louisville won this matchup between two of the past three NCAA champions. While the defending champion Cardinals werent always smooth in beating the Huskies, they shot 45 per cent (26 of 58) from the field and mounted a couple of second-half runs to put the game out of reach. DeAndre Daniels 17 points led UConn, which had its four-game winning streak snapped and dropped to 0-4 at the KFC Yum! Center. Senior guard Shabazz Napier managed nine points on 2-of-13 shooting just days after scoring 26 points including a career-best seven 3-pointers in a win over Rutgers, Emotion preceded the game as Louisville honoured the seniors who helped earn the schools third national championship last spring. Smith as expected drew the loudest cheers from a red-clad sellout crowd as a montage of his and teammates shining moments was played on the video screen, which included a shout-out from rapper Pit Bull. Louisvilles 30-18 lead at the break eventually grew to 34 with 91 seconds left to put fitting end to a fond farewell to the seniors -- especially Smith. "Its a special class because for four years they totally did things for all the right reasons," Louisville coach Rick Pitino said. Of Smith, he added, "how would you ever imagine Russ Smith knowing on Senior Night he would pass up all opportunities to score and get 13 assists? That shows you how much hes grown. If any pro scouts wondered tonight whether he could be a point guard, I think the thing is all closed." ' ' '