The League

No charges against Cable

UPDATED (8:14 p.m.)...

Oakland Raiders Coach Tom Cable will not face criminal charges for his role in a training camp incident involving one of the team's assistant coaches, Randy Hanson.

Gary Lieberstein, the district attorney for Napa County, Calif., announced the decision Thursday.

"Our duty is to do the right thing for the right reasons," Lieberstein said, according to the Associated Press. "Under the facts and circumstances of this case, it would be a miscarriage of justice to pursue criminal charges and we will not ask our citizens to give up their valuable time for jury duty, nor will we allow our criminal justice system to be compromised."

Cable had been accused of assaulting Hanson and breaking Hanson's jaw. Hanson told Yahoo Sports during an interview that Cable threatened to kill him during the alleged confrontation and, according to Hanson, knocked Hanson from a chair into a piece of furniture.

Cable previously denied that any punches were thrown during the alleged incident and has said that nothing happened.

"The Raider organization waited patiently for a comprehensive legal process to conclude and now this matter has been resolved," Raiders spokesman Mike Taylor said, according to the AP.

According to the AP, Lieberstein said that interviews with witnesses indicated that Cable did not threaten Hanson or punch him. Lieberstein indicated that Cable angrily rushed toward Hanson but was blocked by another assistant coach, and the other assistant coach made contact with Hanson and knocked Hanson from his chair.

"It should be further noted that within the past week and a half, Mr. Hanson showed up unannounced at the police department and made a statement to the effect that since the Raiders had not given him what he asked for, he would now fully cooperate with the prosecution," Lieberstein said, according to the AP.

Hanson told Yahoo Sports in an interview earlier this month regarding the Aug. 5 incident: "From my blind side, Tom Cable threw me from my chair and into a piece of furniture that a lamp sat upon. He was screaming, 'I'll [expletive] kill you! I'll [expletive] kill you!' And I have no reason to believe he wouldn't have killed me if they hadn't pulled him away.

"If my head would've hit a different way, I might be dead right now."

According to the report by Yahoo, Cable and Hanson previously had a strained relationship, perhaps in part because Hanson was viewed as being close to Raiders owner Al Davis. Hanson reportedly continues to be paid by the Raiders but has not been permitted to continue his coaching duties.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said last week at an owners' meeting in Boston that the league was "trying to get the facts" before deciding whether to discipline Cable under its personal conduct policy.

Goodell said in Boston: "As I understand it, it has been handed over to the district attorney. They've completed the investigative stage. They will make some determination in the next couple of weeks on whether there will be next steps. At some point we will be able to get a report on what their findings were.

"At that stage, we'll make a determination of what our next step is. I've been clear about the fact that everybody is held to that personal conduct policy, including yours truly. We would want to make sure that the same standard being held to everyone, including Coach Cable."

The league's conduct policy specifically prohibits violent or threatening behavior by one team employee toward another, either in or out of the workplace.

"The first point is you always start with trying to get the facts," Goodell said last week. "That is consistent and what is happening here: What are the facts? There is a legal process and criminal process going on to try to determine what the facts are. We are following that closely and we would like to get the facts also.

"The other issue that you'll see is under the personal conduct policy when we've gotten involved, there is a pattern of behavior and it's not the first instance. That is something we were specific in writing our personal conduct policy. If there is a pattern of behavior, we are going to get involved at an earlier stage."

Goodell is empowered by the conduct policy to impose discipline even if no criminal charges are filed.

"Our security department has been in touch with the Raiders," Goodell said at last week's owners' meeting. "The extent of all of those interviews, I'm not aware of at this stage. I think we're allowing the criminal process to go forward for at least some period of time. Then at some stage we will be very engaged.... We've specifically identified in our personal conduct policy 'workplace violence.'

"That is something that is very important to us. I don't think it's responsible for someone in a management position, particularly as important as a head coach, to be involved. But again, let's determine the facts before we make any determinations. That's important in this case and every other case."

By Mark Maske  |  October 22, 2009; 6:48 PM ET  | Category:  Raiders Save & Share:                 
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