Andy Herron
Footballguy
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3813507
Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham announced Tuesday that her office will not be able to proceed with criminal charges against Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Marvin Harrison in connection with a shooting in North Philadelphia last year.
Abraham said she does not believe there are credible accounts of what happened during the April 29 incident outside a business owned by Harrison.
Police detectives have long believed they had enough evidence to bring weapons charges against Harrison, a source with knowledge of the police investigation told ESPN.com. But witnesses have been less than cooperative with the authorities, sources said, and that has led to uncertainty surrounding the evidence in the case.
In May, Philadelphia police detectives told ESPN that six of the bullet casings found after the April 29 shooting on the street corner across the street from Harrison's car wash and garage came from a gun -- a rare, Belgian-made pistol -- that Harrison surrendered to police.
In interviews with police, Harrison has maintained that he was not involved in the shooting, sources say. But Pennsylvania gun laws specifically state that if Harrison's gun was discharged in the act of a crime, he could be charged -- even if he was not the shooter.
In October, one of the victims of the shooting filed a $100,000 civil suit against Harrison, claiming that he suffered "serious and permanent injuries -- and severe shock to his nerves and nervous system" as a result of the shooting. The alleged victim, Dwight Dixon, claims he was shot in the left hand. Harrison has acknowledged he was involved in a fight with Dixon at Harrison's North Philadelphia bar two weeks prior to the shooting, but said he did not have anything to do with the shooting.
"It's our position that Marvin Harrison was the shooter," Dixon's attorney, Robert M. Gamburg, told the Philadelphia Daily News in October.
Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham announced Tuesday that her office will not be able to proceed with criminal charges against Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Marvin Harrison in connection with a shooting in North Philadelphia last year.
Abraham said she does not believe there are credible accounts of what happened during the April 29 incident outside a business owned by Harrison.
Police detectives have long believed they had enough evidence to bring weapons charges against Harrison, a source with knowledge of the police investigation told ESPN.com. But witnesses have been less than cooperative with the authorities, sources said, and that has led to uncertainty surrounding the evidence in the case.
In May, Philadelphia police detectives told ESPN that six of the bullet casings found after the April 29 shooting on the street corner across the street from Harrison's car wash and garage came from a gun -- a rare, Belgian-made pistol -- that Harrison surrendered to police.
In interviews with police, Harrison has maintained that he was not involved in the shooting, sources say. But Pennsylvania gun laws specifically state that if Harrison's gun was discharged in the act of a crime, he could be charged -- even if he was not the shooter.
In October, one of the victims of the shooting filed a $100,000 civil suit against Harrison, claiming that he suffered "serious and permanent injuries -- and severe shock to his nerves and nervous system" as a result of the shooting. The alleged victim, Dwight Dixon, claims he was shot in the left hand. Harrison has acknowledged he was involved in a fight with Dixon at Harrison's North Philadelphia bar two weeks prior to the shooting, but said he did not have anything to do with the shooting.
"It's our position that Marvin Harrison was the shooter," Dixon's attorney, Robert M. Gamburg, told the Philadelphia Daily News in October.
