Barnett Pleads Not Guilty

[Joemailman]

Deleted

[hoosier]

By GREG A. BEDARD
gbedard@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Dec. 11, 2007
According to a report included in the criminal complaint, at least three witnesses corroborated the version of the events put forth by the victim in the case, Amanda Geiger.

Geiger, the sister of Ashley Geiger, Barnett's girlfriend, stated that Barnett knocked her and her sister's drinks out of their hands at 11:50 p.m. on June 16 inside the Wet Bar at 344 W. College Ave., and then threw Ashley's cell phone against the wall so hard that it broke and left a "small gouge" in a wall. Pictures were supplied of both.

After the Geigers went to another nightclub and then returned, Barnett "suddenly and without provocation" threw his drink in Amanda Geiger's face. She retaliated by throwing a beer in a plastic cup at Barnett. Amanda then said that Barnett "used both his hands to push her to the floor."

"It was like a tackle, but he didn't go down with me," Amanda told Appleton Police Department investigator John Schira.

Amanda stated it was "a very hard push and that she probably struck a table or chair on her way to the ground."

Barnett then "immediately ran out of the front door" with an unidentified Packers teammate.

Amanda later told Schira that she had been contacted by Berk and was told "it might be good for her not to talk to the police." But Amanda said she did not feel threatened.

When asked what she wanted done in the case, Amanda "said she didn't want Mr. Barnett to go to prison or anything, but she felt as though he needed to be held accountable for his actions."

Amanda then reiterated that Barnett "definitively" meant to push her.

Barnett said he didn't want his situation to take away from the Packers' 11-2 season, but thought it had been a "little bit" of a distraction.

"But luckily I have a lot of people around me now that are very positive and keep me faced in the right direction," he said. "In a way I'm glad that this situation has happened. It's really opened my eyes to a lot of things, how to carry myself and how to handle things. So in a way I'm blessed for this situation happening and in a way it's unfortunate. But you have to move on and grown."

According to JSO the girl Barnett allegedly pushed is his girlfriend's sister. I remember reading earlier a report that suggested he got a little rough with a groupie who was getting a little too pushy with his privacy. I never saw anything till now suggesting this was more like a family squabble.