Henry Ruggs III did not appear at his arraignment on Wednesday at Las Vegas Regional Justice Center, so attorneys David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld represented Ruggs before Justice of the Peace Suzan Baucum.
The former Las Vegas Raiders and Alabama wide receiver was charged with:
- · Driving under the influence of alcohol and/or controlled or prohibited substance resulting in death.
- · Driving under the influence of alcohol and/or controlled or prohibited substance resulting in death or substantial bodily harm.
- · Reckless driving resulting in death or substantial bodily harm.
- · Reckless driving resulting in death or substantial bodily harm.
- · Possession of a gun under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
The driving charges are all felonies while the gun charge is a misdemeanor.
Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson outlined what Ruggs would face if he gets convicted.
“The bare minimum would be two years in prison up to as much as somewhere in the 50 range,” Wolfson said. “These are non-probational offenses, so the felony DUI charges, if Mr. Ruggs is convicted, he can’t get probation. He must get a prison sentence.”
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral NFL stories via Google! Follow Us
Ruggs was driving a Corvette Stingray that was traveling at 156 mph just seconds before impact and 127 mph at the time of a collision with a Toyota Rav4 driven by Tina Tintor. The police also reported blood taken from Ruggs that showed he had a blood alcohol level of 0.161 percent. The legal limit in Nevada is 0.08 percent.
Attorney Chesnoff gave a statement to reporters before leaving the courtroom on Wednesday: “Lawyers are constrained by what they can say about the facts of a case by court rule and state bar rules. The police aren’t. The police, an arm of the district attorney, has released what they say are facts. I have been doing this for 40 years, and I can tell each and every one of you that I have had multiple experiences where the facts that were presented at the outset of the case turned out not to be the facts, so that’s why I keep saying: Please don’t pre-judge. Let us do our work in the courtroom. The state, the prosecutor will do theirs, and that’s when the facts will be determined. And I really appreciate everybody understanding that and not prejudging this. I appreciate it, and I’m not going to answer any questions because, as I say, I’m not allowed to discuss the facts.”
Justice of the Peace Joe Bonaventure has ordered Ruggs to abstain from alcohol and other controlled substances and not to drive while his case is adjudicated. He also had to surrender his passport and was placed in an electronic-monitoring program upon his release.
Wolfson said the prosecutors added charges against Ruggs because of injuries in the wreck to his girlfriend, Kiara Je’nai Kilgo-Washington, who was a passenger in the Corvette.
“The evidence supports a second felony DUI charge,” Wolfson said. “We believe that Mr. Ruggs’ girlfriend was substantially injured, and under Nevada law, if one is substantially injured in a DUI collision as a result of the defendant’s actions, we can file a second charge. That’s for the second reckless driving as well.
“And then the misdemeanor — prohibited person in possession of a firearm – as many of you know, a firearm was found inside in the vehicle very near where Mr. Ruggs was driving.”
The Raiders waived Ruggs on Nov. 2nd.
