As questions remain about the thoroughness of investigations by the Baltimore Ravens and the NFL into running back Ray Rice’s assault on his then-fiancee, a check of public records shows little written interaction between authorities and the league or team.
The Baltimore Sun made a public-records request under New Jersey law for all written records, including email and letters, between any “non-media” parties and Atlantic City-area authorities.
Such records might have shown how far the team and the league had gone to investigate the assault on Janay Palmer, now Rice’s wife, in the early morning of Feb. 15 at the Revel Casino Hotel.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has been widely criticized for his handling of the case. He suspended Rice for two games but changed direction once a video of the assault was leaked, making the suspension indefinite. Under fire from fans, politicians and league sponsors, he hired former FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III to investigate the league’s handling of the Rice case. And on Friday, the commissioner apologized, saying, “The same mistakes can never be repeated.”
Responding to The Sun’s request, Atlantic City authorities released a letter from Darren I. Sanders, the Ravens’ senior director of security, requesting a copy of the police report from the incident. The letter did not seek any video footage.
The request was made Sept. 9 — a day after TMZ released the video of Rice’s infamous punch — and Sanders wrote that he was seeking the report “for our records.”
Asked about it Thursday, Ravens spokesman Kevin Byrne reiterated that point.
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The request wasn’t the first time the team had sought that report, Byrne said. He said the Ravens had asked for the police report right after the incident, but Atlantic City police refused to provide a copy to team security officials. Byrne did not know whether that initial request was made in person, over the phone, with a letter or in an email.
“We never received the official report when we requested it at the beginning of our process, which was obviously back in February,” Byrne said.
That was consistent with The Sun’s initial attempts to get the police report. Police and courts denied reporters the documents until open-records requests prompted the city’s lawyers to release copies days later.
Byrne said the first time the team saw police reports of the incident was when media organizations put them online.
The Atlantic County prosecutor’s office, which charged Rice with aggravated assault, said it received no requests for information from the Ravens, the NFL or anyone else outside of news organizations.
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