Retired NFL wide receiver Freddie Mitchell is currently facing up to ten years in prison after pleading guilty to tax fraud in March (you can read all about it here). Mitchell’s sentencing hearing was Thursday, which is where he tossed his own version of a 4th-and-26 Hail Mary at the federal judge, citing head trauma suffered during his NFL career contributed to mental deficiencies that affected his judgment — and, ultimately, led to criminal activity.
To help bolster his case, Mitchell’s legal team even had the judge watch PBS Frontline‘s “League Of Denial” documentary in its entirety.
Now, we must stress that we don’t have any information as to whether or not Mitchell suffers from lingering effects of blows to the head, and we certainly would never make light of anything involving the subject (in regards to Mitchell or anyone else) — but we can at least say that his defense strategy isn’t even close to the dumbest theory we’ve heard floated around regarding the effects of head trauma as it relates to illegal activity.
[WFTV]
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