Jon Jones’ authorized saga over allegedly leaving the scene of an accident again in February took an odd twist with new fees being filed in opposition to him in New Mexico.
On-line data and court docket officers confirmed to MMA Preventing {that a} second case was filed in opposition to Jones on June 30 with the identical cost for leaving the scene of an accident, however this felony grievance additionally featured a second cost for Use of Phone to Terrify, Intimidate, Threaten, Harass, Annoy or Offend.
Based mostly on the unique police report filed from the incident that allegedly befell on Feb. 21, Jones was accused of leaving the scene of an accident after police responded to a automotive crash involving two autos. A girl was situated within the entrance passenger seat “exhibiting indicators of serious intoxication and missing clothes from the waist down.”
The lady claimed Jones was driving her car on the time of the accident and “subsequently fled the scene on foot.” She then positioned a name to Jones and allowed a police service aide to talk to him. The police service aide claimed that Jones “gave the impression to be closely intoxicated and made statements implying his capability to make use of deadly pressure by means of third events.”
The police service aide requested backup, and Officer Andrew Romero responded to the scene and engaged in a separate dialog with Jones the place related “allusions to violence” have been made, and the individual on the cellphone evaded questions to substantiate if it “was certainly Jon Jones.”
When police later contacted Jones, he claimed that the lady in query from the accident known as him and handed the cellphone to a person she recognized as a police officer. Jones instructed police the individual on the cellphone “instantly opened the dialog with unprofessional language” and that compelled him to query the legitimacy of the caller’s declare to be concerned with legislation enforcement.
Police ultimately subpoenaed Jones’ name data and located that he known as the lady concerned with the automotive accident 13 occasions between 2:17 a.m. and 11:34 a.m. the subsequent morning. Police additionally said that there was a niche in Jones’ location based mostly on his cellphone data from 11:51 p.m. till 2:11 a.m., which is when the accident befell.
On account of the investigation, police filed a misdemeanor cost in opposition to Jones for leaving the scene of an accident, to which he already plead not responsible with a bench trial now scheduled for Aug. 14.
This new felony grievance was filed by Officer Romero — the police officer who responded as backup to the scene of the accident and spoke to Jones on the cellphone — and this new case concerned two separate fees for leaving the scene of an accident and use of a phone to terrify, intimidate, threaten, harass, annoy or offend.
An arraignment listening to is at present scheduled for Aug. 4, however Jones’ lawyer, Christopher Dodd, already filed a movement to dismiss on July 9 due to the duplicate fees involving the identical case.
“Put merely, Mr. Jones is already dealing with prosecution in a separate case for a similar factual allegations set forth within the felony grievance on this matter, and it was wholly improper for this separate case to be filed,” Dodd wrote in his movement to the court docket. “The court docket ought to dismiss this case because it violates the obligatory joinder rule.
“The incidents at problem in each circumstances are one and the identical. Mr. Jones now’s compelled to defend himself in opposition to two separate circumstances includes the very same factual allegations. It’s unknown why an [Albuquerque Police Department] detective and an [Albuquerque Police Department] officer who have been each concerned within the investigation of this case wouldn’t talk and coordinate who would file fees however that appears to be what occurred, until the reality is that these legislation enforcement officers deliberately violated the identical obligatory joinder rule for some improper strategic objective., Both manner, the lead to the identical, this case must be dismissed as Mr. Jones has been impermissibly charged twice for a similar underlying incident.”
The case was assigned to Choose Brittany Maldonado, however she hasn’t dominated on the movement to dismiss but. For now, the felony grievance stays lively.
Jones retired from the game in June, and simply hours later, the preliminary cost in opposition to him for allegedly leaving the scene of an accident was uncovered. Since then, Jones has already hinted at a comeback with the previous heavyweight champion saying he was re-entering the UFC’s anti-doping program after President Donald Trump introduced plans to carry a struggle on the White Home in 2026.
