A prosecutor in Texas wants Adrian Peterson arrested and his bond revoked after the NFL star allegedly admitted to smoking marijuana while out on bail on a felony child abuse charge.
Montgomery County District Attorney Brett Ligon sent a motion to the 9th District Court to set aside the NFL star’s bail, saying Peterson told an employee of a company that does drug testing that he “smoked a little weed.”
Peterson posted $15,000 bail on September 12. Ligon said Peterson’s reported admission before giving a urine sample on Wednesday amounts to grounds for revocation of the bond.
One of Peterson’s attorneys, Rusty Hardin, said he had no comment on the latest development in the case, which is tentatively scheduled to go to trial on December 1.
In his motion, Ligon said Texas law allows a judge to “order the accused to be rearrested, and require the accused to give another bond.”
It is unclear when a judge will rule on Ligon’s request. There also is a motion from Ligon for Judge Kelly Case to recuse himself. A hearing was set for November.
Peterson — who in 2011 signed a seven-year contract worth more than $100 million and is considered one of the NFL’s best running backs, if not the best — left the Minnesota Vikings last month after the team deactivated, then activated and deactivated him again after accusations that he whipped his 4-year-old son with a “switch,” or slender tree branch.
The Vikings didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.
Authorities have not divulged details of the case against Peterson, but photos obtained by TMZ allegedly show Peterson’s son’s leg covered in marks, some of which appeared to have broken the skin. Peterson turned himself in and was released on a $15,000 bond.
According to Texas law, people can be convicted of injury to a child if they cause bodily or mental injury “intentionally, knowingly, recklessly or with criminal negligence” or cause such harm by omission. The crime is punishable by up to two years in a state jail and a $1,000 fine.
Hardin has said his client never meant to harm the boy and was simply doling out discipline much like “he experienced as a child growing up in East Texas.” Peterson likewise defended himself, saying he is “not a perfect parent, but I am, without a doubt, not a child abuser.”
