Yahoo Sports spoke to three Kentucky attorneys who have experience in Louisville criminal matters.
“Cops these days, everyone has body cam,” said Russ Baldani, senior partner in the Baldani Law Group of Lexington. “There will be video of what happened. … It’s going to depend on what actually happened, but I’m used to these descriptions of events being way exaggerated. Unless video evidence shows that it’s extremely egregious — if he literally did drag the cop, that kind of thing — it’s probably not going to amount to anything.”
Another Kentucky attorney seemed confident that Scheffler’s assault of a police officer charged would be dismissed.
“Assault of a police officer is a Class C felony [which] carries a possibility of five to 10 years,” says William Butler, a Louisville-based criminal defense attorney. “Don’t take this to the bank, but I’m sure that’ll be dismissed.”
However, Gary Stewart, a Louisville criminal defense attorney, said this is not an uncommon charge for someone in Scheffler’s situation.
“I’ve seen where people are driving through accident scenes, I’ve had clients not following directions,” Steward said. “I’ve always seen them charge him with assault based on if there’s any type [of] injury to the officer — if they bump their knee, if they’ve been injured in any way, they always do charge him with the felony assault charge.”
What other charges does Scheffler face?
Aside from the felony charge, Scheffler could be found guilty on lesser charges.
William Butler believes that Scheffler “may be guilty” of reckless driving and/or criminal mischief. There’s also the charge of disregarding an officer’s signals, which could be particularly difficult to disprove.
“That’s a strict liability offense. So, his defense that he didn’t know he’s a police officer probably won’t work,” Butler said. “I saw pictures, I saw some video, the officers were wearing yellow … he looked like a police officer to me.”
Recapping Friday’s events at Valhalla Golf Club
Early Friday morning, an employee of a vendor working the PGA Championship was struck and killed by a shuttle bus near the entrance to Valhalla Golf Club. Police reported to the scene around 5AM and pronounced the victim dead at the scene.
The PGA of America identified the man as John Mills. They released the following statement:
“Our primary concern today remains with the family of John Mills, who lost his life in a tragic accident early this morning while reporting to work,” the PGA of America said in a statement. “As it relates to the incident involving Scottie Scheffler, we are fully cooperating as local authorities review what took place. While the legal process plays out, questions should be directed to Scheffler’s attorney or local authorities.”
Scheffler was arrested and charged later that morning. According to the police report, an officer was hospitalized after being “dragged” by Scheffler’s car and suffered injuries to his wrist and knee.
Scheffler is scheduled for arraignment on Tuesday. It will be at least several weeks before any further court proceedings occur. That includes a possible trial.
