Erik Walden arrested?

[hoosier]

It is quite possible that Walden could have handled the situation better; however, the DA is not supposed to make decisions based upon whether or not Walden was completely justified in the eyes of the public. There's often a huge difference between whether someone chose the absolute best course of action and whether someone did something that would make them a criminal.

I was speculating, and not about morality vs. legal responsibilitiy, but about how her injuries might be understood in the context of legal standards for violent self-defense. At least as far as I'm aware, the legal definition of self-defense includes consideration of what non-violent alternatives one has. If he could have walked away without endangering himself, it seems logical (to my non-legal mind) that it would be harder to justify a violent response as self-defense.

And, yes, this is all speculation in the absence of any of the necessary knowledge about what actually happened.

[Patler]

Someone smack this dude upside the head. When are these guys going to learn that their women (who they are supposed to care about) are not football players on the field to be smacked around when they disagree? I hope she leaves him immediately and never speaks to him again.

I have been ruminating on this response for days, and decided I just can not let it go, it is such an odd response to the matter. Wouldn't this be an abusive response to a perceived act of abuse?

What if she continually hit him time and time again when they disagreed about something, and he finally had enough? Should he have smacked her upside the head to teach her that her man (who she is supposed to care about) might be a football players on the field, but not something to be smacked around when they disagree at home? Perhaps it is he that should leave her immediately and never speak to her again.

Perhaps Walden did to her what you urge others to do to him or other men?
Whoever is at fault, a smack upside the head is not the answer.

[Guiness]

Demonstrations in self-defense course for untrained students. Pad them up, put helmets on them and let them see why the baseball bat, golf club or night stick they keep for protection will likely be ineffective and possibly harmful to themselves. Not only do they provide their attacker with a weapon if taken away, they often end up hitting themselves with it as they lose grip or it bounces off their target. The wrist strap on an old style nightstick used improperly often causes the stick to fly around and hit the user when grip on the stick is lost. Often, it is the users head that is struck.

Just had a conversation with my girlfriend's son about something similar to this last night.

I was looking for a knife to cut something, and he went to get his jacknife, which is actually more like a folding bowie knife. Turns out he had it hidden under his bed 'in case someone broke in and he needed it'

Eleven year old brain, eh? We had a conversation about it, and I explained to him how that was much more likely to result in him, or his mother and sister getting hurt then in him being able to defend himself. That a robber would just want to get their stuff and leave, but if confronted with a weapon, things were likely to go bad, and the possibility of an injuries were much more likely then if he didn't pull a knife.

[mraynrand]

Last time I got in a streetfight with a bat, I lost the damn thing too. Bad mistake.

[Scott Campbell]

For the ladies - Dr. Drew says that size and gender don't matter.

[mraynrand]

[MJZiggy]

I have been ruminating on this response for days, and decided I just can not let it go, it is such an odd response to the matter. Wouldn't this be an abusive response to a perceived act of abuse?

What if she continually hit him time and time again when they disagreed about something, and he finally had enough? Should he have smacked her upside the head to teach her that her man (who she is supposed to care about) might be a football players on the field, but not something to be smacked around when they disagree at home? Perhaps it is he that should leave her immediately and never speak to her again.

Perhaps Walden did to her what you urge others to do to him or other men?
Whoever is at fault, a smack upside the head is not the answer.

I've read all of your suggestions as to possible causes, etc. The one detail here is that NO ONE has suggested that he did not cause the injuries. She wound up in the hospital. Her first story was that he pushed her. Her second story was that he pushed her (but she started it). When my kid hit me, I put him in time out and left the room. If she's hitting him, he should at worst commit a holding penalty and wrap her up so she can't hit him until she settles down. You don't think he's capable of that? Or be a grown up, tell her you're not taking that from her and leave the room. Or the house. My point was that there is no excuse for getting into a fight and putting someone you love into the hospital. Regardless of gender and either way you look at it, the person who ends up in the hospital is the one with the decision to make.

[Patler]

I've read all of your suggestions as to possible causes, etc. The one detail here is that NO ONE has suggested that he did not cause the injuries. She wound up in the hospital. Her first story was that he pushed her. Her second story was that he pushed her (but she started it). When my kid hit me, I put him in time out and left the room. If she's hitting him, he should at worst commit a holding penalty and wrap her up so she can't hit him until she settles down. You don't think he's capable of that? Or be a grown up, tell her you're not taking that from her and leave the room. Or the house. My point was that there is no excuse for getting into a fight and putting someone you love into the hospital. Regardless of gender and either way you look at it, the person who ends up in the hospital is the one with the decision to make.

"She wound up in the hospital"?
"putting someone you love into the hospital"?

You are exaggerating in your description, in my opinion. She went to the ER because at that time in the morning there was no place else to go. She was not hospitalized anymore than you would be if you cut your hand on a glass.

You said you read all of my suggestions as to possible causes, but you then ignore (apparently) all those where she may have caused the injury herself. If she came at him and he pushed here away in an attempt to leave, he may have done so very slightly as he stepped away, and she fell into a door frame, furniture edge, whatever. He may have attempted to avoid her, and pushed her ever so slightly, but her own momentum carried her into whatever cut her head. A slight nudge may have caused her to lose her balance.

I find it curious that HER mother appeared on HIS behalf at the initial hearing, saying that she has known him for years and that he would never harm her daughter. Maybe she has an inkling of how this happened that none of us do. Maybe she knows her daughter that well.

As far as the team is concerned, he will start this week:

http://packersnews.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20111130/PKR01/111130160/Path-looks-clear-LB-Walden-play-Sunday?odyssey

[Patler]

The one detail here is that NO ONE has suggested that he did not cause the injuries. She wound up in the hospital. Her first story was that he pushed her. Her second story was that he pushed her (but she started it). When my kid hit me, I put him in time out and left the room. If she's hitting him, he should at worst commit a holding penalty and wrap her up so she can't hit him until she settles down. You don't think he's capable of that? Or be a grown up, tell her you're not taking that from her and leave the room. Or the house. My point was that there is no excuse for getting into a fight and putting someone you love into the hospital. Regardless of gender and either way you look at it, the person who ends up in the hospital is the one with the decision to make.

Actually, no one has said that he did cause the injuries either. We have heard just one side, and all she said was that he pushed her, then that he pushed her as some response to her having gone after him in some way first. Pushing someone does not always open a cut on their forehead. I could push you 100 times and nothing might happen. But if a push you in the same slight way if you happen to be off balance, and you fall as a result......

Maybe all he was trying to do was get away from her, to let her calm down. Maybe he shoved her with all his might into a countertop. I don't know, but I sure as heck will not condemn him without something more than "He pushed me."

[mission]

I've read all of your suggestions as to possible causes, etc. The one detail here is that NO ONE has suggested that he did not cause the injuries. She wound up in the hospital. Her first story was that he pushed her. Her second story was that he pushed her (but she started it). When my kid hit me, I put him in time out and left the room. If she's hitting him, he should at worst commit a holding penalty and wrap her up so she can't hit him until she settles down. You don't think he's capable of that? Or be a grown up, tell her you're not taking that from her and leave the room. Or the house. My point was that there is no excuse for getting into a fight and putting someone you love into the hospital. Regardless of gender and either way you look at it, the person who ends up in the hospital is the one with the decision to make.

You haven't dated some of the chicks I have apparently.

When chicks are really frickn angry -- and crazy and/or drunk and/or overly emotional -- they go apeshit. I'm not saying this is what happened, but I don't doubt for a minute some of these chicks are off-the-chain because I've been there. Plus Walden is a downsouth dude from Tennessee and maybe is dating someone from a similar background. What I'm trying to be PC about here --> if she's a "hood bitch" (she'd call herself this) you better be ready to defend yourself or you could end up staying overnight at the hospital. I'm joking but I'm really not. You know?

[mraynrand]

I don't know, but I sure as heck will not condemn him without something more than "He pushed me."

"He Pushed me!!! Aaaaarrrrrrrggggggh!!!!!"

[MJZiggy]

If she just fell or it was a minor nothing that he didn't cause, why did she call the police? And what is Walden apologizing for? Why has he not denied it to anyone (you know if he had it would have leaked by now)? If he didn't do anything, when she calmed down and changed her story, why didn't she say that it wasn't he that hurt her like she originally called the report in about? I'm sorry, I just don't buy the logic that he pushed her while he was walking away trying to leave the situation. If that's what happened, great, but the red flag stays up until I hear a more plausible explanation from one of them. If he did hurt her and everyone tries to sweep it under the rug, then next time she may come out of it with much more serious injuries. This is following a pattern that happens so often. She gets hurt, reports it, then backs off her story. He apologizes and she goes back to him and what happens next? Next time it's worse.

I realize that some of you guys have dealt with fucking lunatic women, and how long did you hang around for that? If she's accusing him of something he didn't do, and getting him into this much absolute shit, don't you think he'd have broken up with her by now?

[gbgary]

I realize that some of you guys have dealt with fucking lunatic women, and how long did you hang around for that? If she's accusing him of something he didn't do, and getting him into this much absolute shit, don't you think he'd have broken up with her by now?

zig...some guys will take a load of shit from some women just as some women will take a load from some men. it's love, dependency, jealousy, power, fear...all or in part. there's no explaining it.

[Patler]

If she just fell or it was a minor nothing that he didn't cause, why did she call the police?

There are at least some inconsistencies in reports about who called the police, but even if she did call maybe it was because someone at the hospital insisted that she call? Maybe she felt boxed into a corner and did not want to embarrass herself and she mistakenly thought it would be ignored by the police as insignificant because she was not hurt badly and he is a Packer? (Some Packer wives/girlfriends expect special treatment.) Maybe because he walloped her.

And what is Walden apologizing for?

As I wrote before, maybe for himself because he clubbed her, or maybe because he feels responsible that the women he has chosen to live with has caused this huge distraction. It's easy to feel guilty for something a loved one does. If something like this happened to me, even if I was guiltless, I would feel responsible to my team, and would likely apologize.

Why has he not denied it to anyone (you know if he had it would have leaked by now)?

Geeze, how many times do we have to see this one? An innocent man for anything rarely wins the public opinion battle by proclaiming his innocence. His lawyer probably told him to say absolutely nothing. As for what he may have said to his team mates, MM seems to have a pretty tight lid on things. You really do not hear very many rumors coming out of the Packer locker room. What is said there truly does stay there.

If he didn't do anything, when she calmed down and changed her story, why didn't she say that it wasn't he that hurt her like she originally called the report in about?

Maybe she feels trapped in a lie, maybe she has admitted to investigators, maybe they have not yet interviewed her again. Investigating this might not be at the top of their list of things to do.

I'm sorry, I just don't buy the logic that he pushed her while he was walking away trying to leave the situation. If that's what happened, great, but the red flag stays up until I hear a more plausible explanation from one of them. If he did hurt her and everyone tries to sweep it under the rug, then next time she may come out of it with much more serious injuries. This is following a pattern that happens so often. She gets hurt, reports it, then backs off her story. He apologizes and she goes back to him and what happens next? Next time it's worse.

Who is trying to sweep it under the rug? All I am saying is let the investigators investigate before crucifying the guy. If he did nothing, but is labeled a wife-beater by the press and public opinion, he will never live it down in Green Bay or around the league. The court has separated them, there is no reason to hurry his flogging.

I realize that some of you guys have dealt with fucking lunatic women, and how long did you hang around for that? If she's accusing him of something he didn't do, and getting him into this much absolute shit, don't you think he'd have broken up with her by now?

Well I never have been with such a woman. I have had just one, and for more years than most of you have been alive. But, why would he stay if she is a lunatic? Maybe for the two children that they have? Maybe for their benefit? Maybe because these events are exceedingly infrequent, or maybe because it has never happened in any way shape or form before? On the other hand, maybe he stays because he enjoys beating her. But, again, the court has separated them. What's the hurry in dumping it all on him before the investigation is done?


Now, a few questions for you:

If it is as cut-and-dried as you seem to think it is, why has the DA not filed charges?

If Walden is an abuser, why did her mother appear on his behalf at the hearing?

If her mother doesn't know if he is or isn't abusing her daughter, why is she defending him in the press? Why doesn't she just say nothing, and comfort, console and support her daughter instead?

Why did the girlfriend tell her mother that she feared the children would be taken from her? Is she unwittingly admitting to culpability perhaps more significant than has been released to the public?

I think it is easy to say that her mothers actions raise a red flag about the girlfriends responsibility in this as well. In the end, I suspect there will be plenty of blame for both in this one, but maybe I will be wrong and it is all on him. However, I am willing to wait for the investigation to be completed..

[Harlan Huckleby]

I would slug a woman, but not one with glasses.