By Aaron Parseghian, Neal Riley, Matt Schooley
Click here for updates on this story
DEDHAM, Massachusetts (WBZ) — A jury found former New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs not guilty of all charges on Tuesday after he was accused of assaulting his live-in chef last year. The jury reached a verdict after just over one hour of deliberations.
Diggs stood trial in Dedham, Massachusetts over the course of two days on charges of felony strangulation or suffocation and misdemeanor assault and battery.
The defense rested just before 1 p.m. after calling several witnesses. Closing arguments began about an hour later and lasted just over 30 minutes.
Judge Jeanmarie Carroll then provided instructions to the jury. Five women and one man deliberated, while one woman was chosen as an alternate and did not take part in deliberations. The jury exited the courtroom to begin deliberating at about 3:05 p.m., with a verdict reached around 4:30 p.m.
The former New England Patriots receiver, who did not testify in his own defense, was accused of attacking a live-in chef at his home on December 2. Diggs’ defense attorney said it never happened.
His accuser, Mila Adams, told her side of the story during the first day of the trial Monday. She said Diggs slapped and choked her after an argument over pay. Adams completed her testimony on Tuesday.
The only other witness called by the prosecution during the second day of trial was Dedham police officer Kenneth Ellis, who wrote the police report on Dec. 16. He testified that Adams came into the station crying that day, but said there was no documentation of any alleged injuries. He also said he left voicemails but was unable to speak with Diggs before filing charges.
The prosecution then rested and the defense called all seven of its witnesses on Tuesday before the jury got the case. Diggs’ attorney Mitchell Schuster spoke outside of court after the verdict was read.
“People have to stop targeting professional athletes and trying to extract money. They have a target on their back and it’s hard enough doing what they do. This has to stop,” Schuster said. “People should focus on real victims from domestic violence. Allegations like this do a tremendous disservice to those who are really afflicted and impacted by causes like this.”
The veteran wide receiver was emotional when the verdict was read. He did not speak outside of court and left immediately with his family.
“It’s an emotional thing to have false allegations levied at you. He’s an emotional person. But he’s a person. He’s a human being,” Schuster said. “People look at professional athletes like they don’t have feelings, they don’t have emotions, they don’t have cares. They do. And he certainly does and he’s not shy about expressing that. Our hope is that this is now behind him, that he will get signed by a team. Any team that signs him will be lucky to have him.” Before reaching its verdict, the jury came back to the courtroom after about an hour of deliberations with a question for the judge.
“What are the three criteria for assault and battery and for strangulation?” the jury asked.
Judge Carroll explained that for assault and battery, jurors must find that Diggs touched Adams, intended to touch her, and that the touching was likely to cause bodily harm.
For strangulation, the prosecution must have proven that Diggs applied pressure on Adams’ throat or neck, it was substantial, and the pressure interfered with her normal breathing.
Carroll instructed jurors that if the prosecution had not proven those items beyond a reasonable doubt, the jury should find Diggs not guilty. A short time later, jurors did just that. Earlier in the afternoon, prosecutor Drew Virtue gave a closing argument that lasted about five minutes.
He opened his argument by admitting that Adams was not an ideal witness, but asked the jurors to look past that.
“Was Ms. Adams a perfect witness? No. She was argumentative, avoidant, difficult. But does that mean you should throw away everything she said? No. I think it’d be easy for you guys to do that, but that’s not your job,” Virtue said. “You guys are the jury. It’s your job, your sacred duty, to comb over every bit of evidence you heard, to consider it, to give it the attention, the scrutiny, the weight it deserves. You don’t have to like Ms. Adams. You don’t have to like the way she testified today and yesterday. But you do have to give her and her testimony the attention it deserves.”
WBZ legal analyst Jennifer Roman said Adams’ demeanor, coupled with no physical evidence and delayed reporting to police, left the jury with not much to mull over.
“We had the suggestion by defense counsel that this was a play for money. That her team had demanded $5.5 million from Stefon Diggs, which was one of the questions she chose not to answer which I think was damaging to her,” Roman said. “I think that evasiveness was pretty clear to the jury she just wasn’t credible.” Defense attorney Andrew Kettlewell gave his closing argument first.
He began by telling jurors that the prosecution showed no medical records, photos, or testimony that proved an assault had taken place.
“You have not been provided with a single shred of credible evidence to show that any assault happened inside the house that day,” Kettlewell said.
Kettlewell went on to note that on December 11, Adams apologized to Diggs for her behavior and was trying to keep her job. But, the defense attorney said, five days later she told police that she quit her job on December 2.
“We know that was a lie,” Kettlewell said.
The defense attorney jury also reminded jurors about text messages that Adams deleted before going to file a police report.
He also tried to highlight that Adams’ behavior did not line up with someone who had just been assaulted.
“Why would a person who’s just strangled go down to the kitchen, chat on the phone, and not have a single mark on their face?” Kettlewell said. “Why would that same person cook dinner for the man who just did it? Why would the same person knock on their bedroom door and deliver two birthday presents?”
Kettlewell also asked jurors to consider how Adams acted on the stand and her demeanor.
“Take the way she answered questions into account when you line it up against the facts that you know you have,” he said.
According to Kettlewell, the way Adams demonstrated that Diggs smacked her on the right cheek while she was on the stand was a physical impossibility.
“Sometimes people miss their mark. Sometimes actors miss their script,” Kettlewell said.
Kettlewell concluded his closing argument after about 20 minutes. One of the final witnesses was Xia Charles, who owns a hair salon in Brooklyn, New York and has braided Diggs’ hair. She started working for Diggs when he played for the Buffalo Bills.
Charles would go to Diggs’ home in Dedham to do his hair, and befriended Adams when she asked for help making internet content.
The day of the alleged attack, Adams and Charles spoke over FaceTime and the chef said she was planning to stop in New York that night. Charles invited her to stay at her apartment.
Charles picked Adams up at the airport. She said she didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary and she did not see any bruising.
Diggs’ defense attorney played video from Charles’ car that showed Adams, apparently with no injuries.
Charles said the next morning they got dressed in front of each other. Again, Charles said she didn’t see any bruising or redness on Adams. According to Charles, Adams never mentioned any kind of attack.
Later in December, Charles said she went to Diggs’ house to braid his hair before a game. She finished late at night, and slept on the couch because she had a flight early in the morning.
Charles said Adams asked Diggs, “When am I gonna get my money?” Diggs responded and asked if she had talked to his accountant, Charles testified.
According to Charles, Adams said she was going to sue Diggs for money, adding that she planned to take him to the “blogs.” But Charles said Adams did not mention any assault in that conversation.
Natalia Moses, a friend of Charles, took the stand next. She was with the group in Brooklyn.
Attorneys played a video Moses took that shows Adams dancing and laughing in Charles’ room. The video was taken December 5, days after Adams alleged the attack took place.
Moses also said Adams never mentioned anything about Diggs assaulting her.
After a brief cross-examination, Moses stepped down and the defense rested. Melissa Goddard, a client manager for Diggs who works with his finances, testified earlier in the day that on December 1, she received an invoice from Adams for three weeks of services in November,
Goddard said it was incorrect because she had already been paid for two weeks and the request raised red flags.
Goddard testified that following the request, she audited Adams’ pay for the previous 18 months and determined that Diggs had overpaid her by $2,500.
When Diggs was told about the discrepancies, he said it was fine, Goddard said. Earlier, the first witness called by Diggs’ defense attorneys was Michael Perry, a digital forensics expert at Stroz Friedberg.
Perry, whose testimony was brief, was responsible for extracting text messages from Diggs’ phone.
Jeanelle Sales, who also goes by “Sunni,” was the second defense witness to take the stand Tuesday. She has been Diggs’ chief of staff since 2023.
Sales coordinates Diggs’ various appointments. She was also responsible for hiring his chefs, including Adams.
Direct questioning concluded as Diggs’ attorney highlighted that Sales was in the home the day of the alleged assault, but said she did not hear anything that would resemble an attack.
Under brief cross-examination, the prosecutor tried to show that Sales would have a financial interest in Diggs continuing to be successful.
A woman who works at Drip Bar in Foxboro providing IV therapy took the stand after Sales. She told the court she heard nothing out of the ordinary on December 2 when she came to Diggs’ home.
Massage therapist Stephanie Anastassi was also in the home that day to provide treatment for Diggs. She said she did not see any marks on Adams’ face when she saw her. Anastassi completed her testimony after less than 10 minutes. Earlier Tuesday, testimony started for the day with Adams undergoing tense cross-examination from defense lawyer Sara Silva. Adams repeatedly told Silva that she did not understand her questions about exchanging messages with Diggs’ girlfriend at the time, rapper Cardi B. Silva then asked Adams if it’s true that her lawyer demanded $5.5 million from Diggs.
“Mr. Diggs offered me $100,000 to recant my statement,” Adams responded.
Judge Jeanmarie Carroll told jurors to disregard her answer. Court then went into recess, and Carroll gave Adams a warning without the jury present.
“This is not an opportunity for you to interject your own narrative,” the judge said. “If you continue to do so, your entire testimony may be stricken.”
Court resumed and Silva asked the question again.
“You know that someone on your behalf has demanded $5.5 million from Stefon Diggs? You know that, Ms. Adams?” Silva asked.
“No. I’m sorry, I don’t know how to answer the question. I don’t understand,” Adams said.
Adams told the court Monday that she and Diggs met on Instagram, and eventually developed a sexual relationship, before she started to work for him last fall during his one season with the Patriots.
The Patriots released Diggs in March. He has not signed with another NFL team yet.
Schuster said he believes the legal case is the reason no team has signed Diggs. He hopes that will change now.
“Teams have been reluctant to sign him with these false charges hanging over his head. Now that he has been exonerated and his truth has been heard, his position that this never occurred and he’s been falsely accused – he’s been vindicated,” Diggs said. “I believe a team will reach out and sign him imminently. And they’re going to be lucky to get him.”
Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
