Austin Watson arrested for domestic assault

[Mortiest Morty]

Isn't he married with a baby? The woman still hasn't been identified as his wife I don't think. Not that that's any kind of legal issue, just a curious one.

BTW, legal question, is bail of $4,500 kind of low for an offense like this? I could be wrong but it just seems like that's low.

No, it isn't low for a non-felony charge. Actually seems pretty high for a misdemeanor charge if I'm not mistaken.

 

[JustaFinnishGuy]

No, it isn't low for a non-felony charge. Actually seems pretty high for a misdemeanor charge if I'm not mistaken.

Yeah that's a hefty bail. But I don't know how they construct the bails. I'd guess based on income on some kind of formula?

 

[Drake744]

..Disappointing. But I'll still play the devil's advocate for him.
If there are some type of severity levels in domestic violence, I don't think 'shoving' is high up there. Based on the article I can't really construct a highly dangerous situation for Watson's SO.

Not OK to do something like this in the 1st place but seems like a 'tame' case of violence.
'Red marks on her chest'- what? Some handprints or bleeding wounds? I don't really follow.

Well.. We didn't lose someone like Hoffman or Voynov due to bull**** like this though.

Yeah.....I mean.... it's a tread lightly situation. Pointing out the fact that shoving isn't as violent as something like punching doesn't make you an insensitive person, but it's also a group of crimes that will be dealt with in a serious manner, regardless of the severity. Now, what I will say is..... what if this happened in a room with walls and shelves and whatnot? You can hurt and damage someone by shoving them depending on the scenario, but it just so happened to be in a car where there's not much room for it to escalate.

 

[JustaFinnishGuy]

Yeah.....I mean.... it's a tread lightly situation. Pointing out the fact that shoving isn't as violent as something like punching doesn't make you an insensitive person, but it's also a group of crimes that will be dealt with in a serious manner, regardless of the severity. Now, what I will say is..... what if this happened in a room with walls and shelves and whatnot? You can hurt and damage someone by shoving them depending on the scenario, but it just so happened to be in a car where there's not much room for it to escalate.

So.. deducted from this there wasn't anything serious?

 

[Mortiest Morty]

So.. deducted from this there wasn't anything serious?

Depends on what you think is and isn't serious. To me it is very serious to put your hands on a woman in any physical and unwelcome way just because of a verbal disagreement. To me it is serious to continue to push a woman that is trapped inside a car with you and cowering and covering her face begging you to stop. If these details are the full story, then it's serious enough to me, I have zero tolerance for this sort of behavior.

 

[Drake744]

So.. deducted from this there wasn't anything serious?

I fall into the "don't put your hands on a woman" crowd, but this wasn't a reasoning I was expecting......

the driver, later identified as Watson, he said that he and his girlfriend, who was the passenger, were having an argument about her drinking and not being able to attend a wedding

Still, if he turned violent unprovoked that's a huge problem. If she was out of control (how drunk do you have to be to be unable to attend a wedding?) she may have been a belligerent and hostile. We don't know her. It could've been something he's seen from her before, who knows..... and by the way if she just had a baby can you really drink much? Thought you still weren't really supposed to for awhile. I don't have kids so I'm lost on that

 

[JustaFinnishGuy]

Depends on what you think is and isn't serious. To me it is very serious to put your hands on a woman in any physical and unwelcome way just because of a verbal disagreement. To me it is serious to continue to push a woman that is trapped inside a car with you and cowering and covering her face begging you to stop. If these details are the full story, then it's serious enough to me, I have zero tolerance for this sort of behavior.

We'll wait and see. I won't play a judge on this case, just trying to level out the consensus which seemed like he's on the level of Voynov as soon as I read the reactions.

 

[TheOriginalJez]

Waiting for the pitchforks to come out before any details......

Literally just left a Preds facebook group because of this. Some people going unconditional support, some people all out pitchforks. Both are ridiculous positions. If he is guilty and convicted of the worst then throw him to the dogs, he should not be out on the ice earning millions if he's that level of scum. Defending him unconditionally just cos he's worked his ass of for the preds is equally ridiculous.

I hope there's nothing to this, it's blown out of proportion and he's not an ass. What the f***'s the point in judging either way until we know for sure?

 

[PredsV82]

Isn't he married with a baby? The woman still hasn't been identified as his wife I don't think. Not that that's any kind of legal issue, just a curious one.

BTW, legal question, is bail of $4,500 kind of low for an offense like this? I could be wrong but it just seems like that's low.

No its actually astronomically high(not that Watson cant afford it). Most cases like this, especially without serious injury, get ROR or like 500 or 1000.

Not sure if the judge took his job into account or what.

 

[PredsV82]

I fall into the "don't put your hands on a woman" crowd, but this wasn't a reasoning I was expecting......

the driver, later identified as Watson, he said that he and his girlfriend, who was the passenger, were having an argument about her drinking and not being able to attend a wedding

Still, if he turned violent unprovoked that's a huge problem. If she was out of control (how drunk do you have to be to be unable to attend a wedding?) she may have been a belligerent and hostile. We don't know her. It could've been something he's seen from her before, who knows..... and by the way if she just had a baby can you really drink much? Thought you still weren't really supposed to for awhile. I don't have kids so I'm lost on that

Ok, at the risk of being accused of being an enabler, if the woman was drinking and Watson was not it's entirely possible that she was aggressive toward him initially. If she's up in his face screaming I'm not going to fault him for pushing her back out of his face. Admittedly that doesnt jive with the report of the victim covering up defensively, but let's just wait for all the facts to come out.

 

[JustaFinnishGuy]

Just saw this on the mainboards, quoting just because how accurately it describes my stance.

All domestic violence charges should be taken seriously. And as some have said when more details come to light it all comes down to the severity of the act. You can get domestic violence charges on the act of yelling a lot in an argument by means of verbal abuse. Maybe him and his significant other just had a very loud heated argument. Or maybe he threw her down a set of stairs. Or something in between those severities. We do not know yet. But no matter what details come to light or how minor to major the actual act was two things should always remain present in cases like this. One, an accused is innocent until proven guilty. Two, all assault cases should be treated with the same level of importance right out of the gate.

While we live in a highly judgemental society that is only exaggerated such by modern social media. We should all actively reserve our judgements as best as we are personally able till all the details of the case come to light and if a judgement or dismissal happen.

 

[BigFatCat999]

Oh what the f***, not WTF but a full what the actual f***.

 

[HABitual]

Meanwhile, people who live in poverty are issused bonds much larger than they could afford.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

...
Well.. We didn't lose someone like Hoffman or Voynov due to bull**** like this though.

Indeed. Wait and see is the only reasonable course of action. We don't know - and may never know - the full details and context of the altercation. The courts will decide, they have witnesses, they have the parties involved, it shouldn't be difficult for them to determine what went on and address it accordingly. Maybe all we'll get is the final outcome - charges dismissed vs. conviction. Probably we will just have to take that outcome at face value and judge Watson accordingly.

But in the worst case, as much as he has played his role very well for the team the last say 1.5 seasons... he's still a bottom-6 support player and it wouldn't likely affect the team much if it turned out he did have to be jettisoned.

 

[BigFatCat999]

I've taken WAY too many law courses in my time and I'm at the point of Let the courts and lawyers handle it. I just wonder if there is a morals clause?

Also this is the league that used Bobby 'I beat the shit out of my wife' Hull to celebrate the cup.

Why do we root for this leauge again?

Also he was part of the domestic abuse campaign for the Preds, embarrassing.

 

[AdmiralsFan24]

My dad didn't teach me a lot but one of the things he did teach me is to never, ever put your hands on a woman. If Watson did this, I hope the Preds get rid of him.

 

[Drake744]

My dad didn't teach me a lot but one of the things he did teach me is to never, ever put your hands on a woman. If Watson did this, I hope the Preds get rid of him.

Well I'm pretty sure he admitted to doing it. Whether or not he was provoked, who knows? Even if he was, I still don't know how many people would care.

 

[predfan24]

He got arrested...

Whatever plausible scenarios exist for a false or mistaken arrest or self-defence plea or anything like that... those can't be the most likely scenarios. So I'm at least eyeing that pitchfork I keep hanging over the fireplace... sigh...

https://ywcanashville.com/about/new...redators-and-allstate-purple-purse-to-help-en

When I was very young I put myself in a precarious position and was arrested and charged with a crime (not domestic violence) I didn't commit. After proving in court that I didn't commit that crime the charge was thrown away.

Obviously, if this is true I am fine with whatever they decide to do with Watson. That being said in this day and age where we get information so quick online through news sources and social media the pitchfork mob mentality is insane. Don't feed into it.

 

[Mortiest Morty]

When I was very young I put myself in a precarious position and was arrested and charged with a crime (not domestic violence) I didn't commit. After proving in court that I didn't commit that crime the charge was thrown away.

Obviously, if this is true I am fine with whatever they decide to do with Watson. That being said in this day and age where we get information so quick online through news sources and social media the pitchfork mob mentality is insane. Don't feed into it.

That's a nice little anecdote, but the report says he admitted to pushing her and that the officer witnessed him shoving her while she covered her face and pleaded for him to stop. He DID commit the crime, the only unknowns are the surrounding circumstances. Unless she was physically attacking him and that's why he pushed her away, I don't see how this isn't a big problem.

 

[Drake744]

That's a nice little anecdote, but the report says he admitted to pushing her and that the officer witnessed him shoving her while she covered her face and pleaded for him to stop. He DID commit the crime, the only unknowns are the surrounding circumstances. Unless she was physically attacking him and that's why he pushed her away, I don't see how this isn't a big problem.

Unless the officer saw her attacking him in some way, how can they go about proving that?

 

[Mortiest Morty]

Unless the officer saw her attacking him in some way, how can they go about proving that?

I don't think she did anyway. The officer didn't mention anything about it and I imagine that would have been the first thing out of Watson's mouth when asked what happened, yet there's no mention of it, only an argument. Even if it were the case, you don't continue to push someone while they're begging you to stop and in a complete defensive posture protecting their face. Just based on the things the officer said he witnessed himself, I have a pretty big problem with his actions no matter the explanation.

 

[predfan24]

That's a nice little anecdote, but the report says he admitted to pushing her and that the officer witnessed him shoving her while she covered her face and pleaded for him to stop. He DID commit the crime, the only unknowns are the surrounding circumstances. Unless she was physically attacking him and that's why he pushed her away, I don't see how this isn't a big problem.

Edit:

I see now the report on Vingan's twitter where Watson told the officer they were arguing over her being drunk and missing a wedding. Then, Watson admitted to pushing his wife. If these reports are true and Watson initiated physical contact and tried to intimidate then I 100% agree he is at fault.

 

[Drake744]

I don't think she did anyway. The officer didn't mention anything about it and I imagine that would have been the first thing out of Watson's mouth when asked what happened, yet there's no mention of it, only an argument. Even if it were the case, you don't continue to push someone while they're begging you to stop and in a complete defensive posture protecting their face. Just based on the things the officer said he witnessed himself, I have a pretty big problem with his actions no matter the explanation.

Yeah that's true that it would likely be mentioned in the report. I don't want me questioning things to be misconstrued as looking for reasons to defend him, I just like to know facts. Not that there are many to get into at this point.

 

[Adz]

Unless the officer saw her attacking him in some way, how can they go about proving that?

It was at a convenience store/gas station so there may be surveillance cameras.

I find it strange that the police/media waited for 4 days to make this known. Seems like someone would have leaked it in the past 3 days. If they were holding it so that they could announce on the same day as Pekka and PK were potentially getting a major NHL award and take away from their being honored, that's most unkind.

As for Austin, I have known of women who were hurt and men who were entrapped by their spouse...so I'll just wait for the hearing (or video) to form a decision.

 

[The Ugly Truth]

My dad didn't teach me a lot but one of the things he did teach me is to never, ever put your hands on a woman. If Watson did this, I hope the Preds get rid of him.

There is a double standard in play - respect goes *both ways* and women should not be abusive to men either. Always best to walk away if things escalate towards that level.

I think everyone should wait until all the facts are known before casting stones from our glass houses.