Lawyer for Kings' Voynov: 'There was no crime here'
The lawyer for Los Angeles Kings defenseman Slava Voynov doubts his client will be charged after he was arrested Monday on domestic violence accusations.
Craig Renetzky, a criminal lawyer representing Voynov, interviewed the alleged victim for more than an hour Tuesday, concluding, "It’s clear to me there was no crime here,” according to The Hockey News.
Renetzky said a language barrier, both on the part of Voynov and the alleged victim, created a misunderstanding regarding the cause of the victim's injuries that caused her to be hospitalized early Monday morning.
He continued:
Hopefully, the police will get that. And we’re hoping the NHL looks at the new evidence and will lift the suspension. What the police will find out when they talk to her is that the action was not related to Mr. Voynov. I can’t go into complete details, but Mr. Voynov never hit the woman. This is really just a pure accident and we’re going to provide them with some additional evidence we hope they’ll present to the District Attorney’s office. And if they do, based on my experience, they don’t have a case.
I think if the authorities act properly and do a complete investigation, they will have to find that charges are not warranted.
In regard to the indefinite suspension levied on Voynov by the NHL as the investigation continues, Rentezky contends the league went "extremely overboard," basing the decision strictly on reports, and as a reaction to recent controversies surrounding other professional sports leagues.
This case is so different from a situation where a football player punches a woman and it’s on video tape. I can understand the league taking some kind of action in that case because if there’s a presumption of innocence, maybe it’s been overcome by something like this. There’s nothing like that in this case. And I think the league, in an overcautious attempt to protect its name, has gone the other way. And I think there has to be a happy medium.
Finally, he said Voynov is eager to have his name cleared and return to game action with the Kings.
He is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 1.