Plea deal keeps basketball star out of Baltimore jail

As a 19-year-old, Aquille Carr has already achieved a certain amount of fame. The Baltimore Sun named him its Boys Athlete of the Week two weeks in a row after he shot 38 points while defending the Class 2A state champions, Baltimore City College. In his freshman year in high school he reportedly averaged 25.5 points, 8.0 assists and 5.3 steals per game.

At slightly less than 5 feet and 6 inches tall, he has been described as having explosive ability. That explosive ability also apparently resulted in a domestic violence assault charge for an alleged attack against the mother of his young child.

When someone is charged with assault, especially domestic violence, there are often only two people who know exactly what happened. Many who are facing this charge choose to fight it in court.

In this case, the young basketball star decided to take a plea deal to stay out of jail. The reasons he made this choice were not reported.

As a condition of the plea deal, the 19-year-old must complete a 22-week program on the prevention of domestic violence. The program is called House of Ruth. According to its website, the House Of Ruth Maryland is “one of the nation’s leading domestic violence centers, helping thousands of battered women and their children find the safety and security that so many of us take for granted.” Most of the services offered by the organization are geared toward abuse victims, although there is a program called Abuser Intervention which offers “psycho-educational programs for men who are emotionally, physically, or sexually abusing their partner.”

If the 19-year-old does not complete the program, the assault charges can be reinstated, according to the terms of his plea agreement.

Source: Baltimore Business Journal, “High school basketball phenom Aquille Carr avoids trial for domestic assault,” Nov. 1, 2012

• At our Baltimore law firm we represent individuals who have been charged with assault or domestic violence similar to the charges mentioned in this posting.