Pacman's attorney fears 'mob mentality'</font>
Lawyer urges fans, media not to judge until case resolved
By JIM WYATT
Staff Writer
His office is roughly 250 miles away in Atlanta, but the attorney for Pacman Jones is fully aware of what's being said, and what some might think, about his client in Nashville.
On Thursday, attorney Manny Arora asked for everyone not to rush to judgment on cases involving the Titans cornerback, while criticizing authorities in Georgia for the way they've portrayed him on charges in his home state.
"I'd like people to take pause, and rather than the mob mentality kicking in, I'd like for them to sit back and say, 'Hey, he didn't do these things. He's been in the wrong situation, yeah.' But he is almost snakebit a little bit," Arora said.
"He's been trashed in every possible forum publicly  television, the newspaper  and all for what? It is almost like there's an open call for anyone who wants to say anything negative about Adam. That's what this has become.''
While detectives in Las Vegas continue to investigate a triple shooting on Feb. 19  the co-owner of the strip club where that incident took place accused Jones of being a friend of the shooter  old charges in Georgia against Jones came to light on Wednesday when it was discovered that he's due in court later this month for allegedly obstructing police during an incident last February.
Jones was arrested and charged with marijuana possession not long after that incident in Fayetteville, Ga., though those charges were dismissed. On Thursday, the Fayette County solicitor said there wasn't strong enough evidence against Jones to prosecute that case, but even that set off a controversy.
Jones has been involved in at least 10 off-the-field incidents involving police since he was drafted in the first round of the 2005 draft.
"I am not happy about it, but there is not much I can do about it unless I just want to go over there and pound on the solicitor's desk,'' said Mike Pruitt of the Fayette County Drug Task Force, who was involved in arresting Jones, along with his mother and two friends.
"It was his house, and the basement had dope scattered all over it in plain view. I think it was a good case against him. It's not right.''
Jones under stress
The Tennessean has had numerous conversations with Jones this week, but not for print. Jones expressed frustration with some of the stories he'd read, and Arora said Jones "is stressed beyond belief.''
Jones is scheduled to appear in Superior Court in Fayetteville later this month on a felony charge of obstructing police and two charges of misdemeanor obstruction after a scuffle with police.
According to Fayetteville Police Chief Steve Heaton, the obstruction charges stem from a verbal confrontation between police and Jones and some friends who were in a car outside a house around 1 a.m. in an area where numerous thefts had been reported. Heaton said Jones fought with police when he ran into the home. A police report said Jones bit an officer during the scuffle.
What police didn't make clear, Arora said, is that Jones was sitting in front of his girlfriend's house and had done nothing wrong. "The police gave no reason why they came up to Pac's car. He had committed no crime, and there was no reason for police to come up and talk to him, but they do,'' Arora said. "He told police he wanted to leave and (a) police officer ordered him back in the car, and everything starts from there."
In the marijuana charge that wasn't prosecuted, Fayette County Solicitor General Jamie Inaguwa said Thursday that Jones didn't have any marijuana in his possession, and that his mother and a friend claimed responsibility for the marijuana that was found in his house during a search by authorities.
A total of four individuals were initially charged in the case, and two of the four were prosecuted, Inaguwa said. He said a friend of Jones, Marcus Bowens, said he had been smoking in the car the two arrived in. But Inaguwa, citing a police report, said Jones said he hadn't been smoking.
"With him driving up and not being in the house and the people pleading guilty to it inside, it would be very difficult for me to substantiate a charge against (Jones), no matter how I felt,'' Inaguwa said.
Pruitt, however, said Jones admitted in another conversation that he had been smoking marijuana on the drive from Nashville to Atlanta after initially denying it.
Lawyer weighs options
Authorities in Las Vegas still haven't named a suspect in the triple shooting at the Minxx Gentleman's Club, which paralyzed one man.
Meanwhile, Arora is considering his own options in that case, which could include filing suits against co-owner Robert Susnar, who has accused Jones of starting the melee and being involved.
The Titans and the NFL are monitoring the events. There's a chance Jones could be in violation of the NFL's Personal Conduct Policy, which relates to off-the-field matters. Accusations of marijuana use raise questions about his potentially being in violation of the NFL's Substance Abuse Policy.
The Titans haven't commented much on the issue, saying they're waiting on all of the facts. At the NFL Combine last weekend, Titans General Manager Mike Reinfeldt didn't rule out the possibility of Jones not being on the roster this fall.
"From me reading in the papers and different things, certainly there is a lot of pressure on the team to do something, and I compliment them that they have not commented or gone public until all the facts are out,'' Arora said. "What happens if they cut him and do all these things and the case is never a case and he's just always been a witness? Now you've ruined a young kid's life ...
"It just doesn't seem like any of this (negativity) out there is going to stop any time. Nothing positive seems to ever show up on the radar screen, things he has done. I don't want it to be a contest where he's good, he's bad, or he's this, that or the other, but nobody hesitates to think, 'Hey, he has been in trouble before, but the charges weren't there.' Yeah, he's made some bad choices, but those cases get dismissed for a reason."
