QB Chris Simms was thought to be the next great QB
Back in July 2010, Chris Simms, son of legendary QB Phil Simms, was arrested at a police sobriety checkpoint in Manhattan for driving while high on marijuana. When Simms was arrested at the checkpoint, he was slurring his speech, walking unsteadily, and reeked of marijuana. Simms refused to take any urine or coordination test and at one point actually passed out in front of the arresting officer.
During the opening statements of Monday’s trial in Manhattan Criminal Court, Simms’ attorney promised the jurors that Danielle, Simms’ wife, would testify at trial that Simms did not smoke and drive that night. As the defense proceeded, Danielle got cold feet and decided that the embarrassment of testifying and being in the spotlight was not worth saving her husband.
With the jurors expected to be in deliberation later today, Danielle actually hurt Simms’ case because the prosecutors can now inform the jurors that Danielle is a “missing witness” and can infer that her failure to testify would not have benefitted Simms.
Simms wife, who was pregnant at the time of the arrest, refused to testify at trial
At the time of the arrest, Danielle was eight months pregnant and sitting shotgun in his Mercedes SUV. She would have served as the principal eye-witness but her failure to testify only harmed Simms’ case. Fortunately, there were two other passengers sitting in the back seat. One passenger, his high school football pal Charlie Grantell, tried to take the blame by testifying that the marijuana was his not Simms’. Grantell further testified that Simms was displeased when he smelled pot in his vehicle and that in the 12 years they have known each other he has never seen Simms smoke marijuana. Regardless of who was smoking weed in Simms’ SUV, his defense that it wasn’t me, it was my friend’s, may not hold water, especially if his own wife refused to take the stand to offer corroborating evidence.
Simms is currently the back-up QB on the Tennessee Titans. If convicted, he could face up to one year in prison.
