Cable-vision: worth another look

Cable-vision

There’s speculation that Oakland Raiders coach Tom Cable may not survive the publicity generated by ESPN’s report this week about his past violent acts against women. Wednesday, the Associated Press said that Cable had spoken with team owner Al Davis about allegations involving a 20-year-old incident with his first wife and more recent charges of abuse involving a former girlfriend.

Certainly the NFL can’t afford to alienate any portion of its fan base, but does anyone find it odd that Cable has so far survived allegations that he broke an assistant coach’s jaw in a training camp meeting but might face termination or discipline for acts that pre-date his coaching tenure? The lawyer in me wonders why ESPN waited until the Napa County (Calif.) District Attorney elected not to prosecute Cable for the camp incident to release these more recent allegations. Clearly, Chris Mortensen and Adam Schefter of ESPN had this information already. Did they deem it too inflammatory, or did the folks at their network purposely wait for Cable to be cleared in Napa only to try him and convict him in their court?

APWill Raiders head coach Tom Cable survive after reports of past abuse surfaced last week?

Cable, who is still facing a civil lawsuit from Randy Hanson, the assistant coach who suffered a broken jaw, is still in a very touchy position since he can’t say much in his defense or risk compromising his case. In fact, it is Hanson and his attorney who may be driving this matter now. Generally, uncharged prior bad acts are inadmissible in a criminal case, so the allegations against Cable that have become public might have had no bearing in a criminal case that has now been abandoned. But there’s no similar prohibition against uncharged bad acts in a civil lawsuit, and the allegations that Cable has a history of violent acts may be very helpful to Hanson’s civil suit. Nothing prevents the Napa D.A. from reconsidering his decision not to prosecute, and if Cable can be made to look more unsympathetic, the possibility, while remote, remains open since double jeopardy doesn’t apply until a trial has concluded.

Similarly, there are no rules of evidence that apply to Commissioner Roger Goodell’s ability to enforce the league’s disciplinary policy over which he’s the sole decision maker. So throwing mud at Cable may again force Goodell to take action. The commissioner showed great deference to the legal system to make its investigation of the Hanson injuries. He did not meet with Cable and has elected now to allow the legal process to run its course before seeking to impose league discipline with regard to first-time offenders. But is Cable a first-time offender and has he been muddied up enough to cause Goodell to take action?

I’m not sure that Cable isn’t a bit of a victim in all of this. Sure, he’s a guy with a past -- who doesn’t have something buried we’d like not to have dredged up? – and now he’s caught in a storm of forces beyond his control. He beat the rap with the Napa D.A., but whether he can win in the Court of ESPN and of Roger Goodell remains to be seen.

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