Note: The author is a licensed practicing attorney with 17 years of experience in Criminal Defense and extensive experience dealing with child abuse, neglect, and the Department of Children’s Services. All legal analysis and opinion are based on open source information regarding the case and the author’s legal experiences.
The Tyreek Hill case is one of the biggest storylines from the National Football League this offseason. It has far-reaching implications for the Kansas City Chiefs, but more topically for the readers of Footballguys, it will have a huge impact on fantasy teams if Hill misses a big chunk of the season. The problem for owners drafting in the next three to four weeks is that there may not be much clarity before drafts occur. The Chiefs are hopeful for a decision before training camp, but there has been no official word that the league is marking that as a significant date on their calendar. However, typically the interview with the player is one of the final steps that the league takes so it’s reasonable to assume that the case is coming to a conclusion that will give fantasy owners clarity before the start of the season. In the meantime, here are some things to know.
The Role of Children's Services
One of the more underrated storylines in this case is the role that the Kansas Department of Children and Families (“DCF”) will play in the outcome of the case. It’s important to note that not only are they an extremely important agency, but they also possess a great deal of power. For example, consider that when criminal charges are filed and a person is found guilty (or pleads guilty) the court will often defer to, or seek the advice of, DCF in order to arrive at the proper sentence. Their opinion and role is extremely important.
But back up for a moment to the point that an allegation of abuse, neglect, or dependency is reported. DCF gets involved regardless of whether or not criminal charges get filed. The first decision they typically have to make is whether or not to remove the child from the home immediately. That decision is directly tied to the seriousness of the allegations and any observations or evidence readily at hand. The outcomes of that decision range from DCF opening no case at all, to opening a case and leaving the child in the home with minimal case plan objectives, all the way to immediate removal of the child and the imposition of an extensive case plan.
The case plan is a central pillar of any contact with DCF. It is a set of objectives that the parents or custodians must complete in order for the child to be deemed to be in a safe environment. If the child was not removed from the home based on the allegations, then a case plan can involve something as simple as “The house was dirty, we saw bugs, and the baby hadn’t been changed.” So the parent(s) can go to a parenting class, clean the house, and be done with DCF in relatively short order (these are just examples, and a non-exhaustive list of requirements that are possible). On the other end of the spectrum, if DCF determines that the allegations against the parent are serious enough that the child needs to be removed immediately, then the case plan can be extensive, more difficult, and include many different objectives that the parent must fulfill before being reunited with the child. Those requirements can include psychological assessments with follow up counseling, drug and alcohol assessments and treatment, or rigorous anger management programs that can be long and demanding. As a result, case plans and reunification attempts can sometimes last for years.
Tyreek Hill, Crystal Espinal, and the Kansas Department of Children and Families
So what does all of this have to do with Tyreek Hill and his availability for the season? A whole lot. The first thing to note is probably apparent from the last paragraph. When the allegations were reported against Hill and Espinal back in March the most telling piece of information was the immediate removal of the child from the home. From that information, it is reasonable to assume that DCF felt like there was a risk to the child remaining in the home pending further information. This is a serious issue by itself.
Further, the DCF is represented in the courts by the District Attorney, and the two of them will work together to make sure the child is in a safe place, that the parents are taking the case seriously, and to determine whether or not to file criminal charges. In this particular case, the District Attorney has alluded to the fact that they believe a crime has occurred with the minor child but that they lacked the evidence to say who was responsible. This is a key fact in the case that will have an impact on the analysis to be discussed below.
Suffice it to say, at this point, it is likely that Hill and Espinal are still involved with DCF and likely are still working their case plans. It’s important to note that Hill can work his case plan, hit his objectives, and never be charged with a crime or admit wrongdoing to DCF or the District Attorney. That crucial fact will be the crux of the case between Hill and the league.
Hill's Cooperation with the National Football League
As it stands, any conclusions that can be drawn largely center around what Hill can and should say in his interactions with the league. But there is an uncomfortable position that he finds himself in with respect to his cooperation with DCF and the police, and what information gets to Roger Goodell and his team. Namely, if Hill has something to hide with this incident, he can’t admit any wrongdoing to DCF because they’ll do what they can to keep his child away from him. Certainly, he can’t admit any wrongdoing to police either because they’ll file serious criminal charges.
Now all of this may seem rather obvious, but the conclusion is in the nuance. If the District Attorney and DCF have a suspicion that Hill was involved in what happened with the child, or that he is otherwise a violent person with respect to the child, then they can represent that to appropriate parties. Now, don’t confuse this for violating privilege. Obviously, DCF can’t simply release privileged information to anyone who asks, including Roger Goodell’s investigators. But, and this is a huge but, this dovetails neatly into Hill’s level of cooperation. If he has nothing to hide and doesn’t bear any responsibility for the injuries or neglect of the child then he can play the very powerful card that he is cooperating fully with anyone who wants information.
Goodell and his team will function like a group of police investigators, and they have lawyers on their team as well. They’ll do their best to ascertain the opinions of officials that are involved, and piece together things from any non-privileged sources. And if they want privileged information that Hill and Espinal can provide by waiving the minor child’s privilege then Hill will look all the better in the eyes of the league.
In the past, Goodell has seemed to place a premium on the player’s cooperation with the league, and more importantly, their admission of wrongdoing (i.e. Zeke and Brady). Of course, there is no official position from the league on this, but it seems to be how they operate. So for Hill here is the proverbial rock and hard place: if he’s not responsible then he can turn over whatever they need. But if he is? His attorney won’t let him admit it. At that juncture if the league gets wind of Hill having any responsibility for what happened from whatever source they have – caseworker, DCF, Detectives, District Attorney, various documents generated during the case – and they continue to get denials from Hill, that would suggest any suspension will be lengthened accordingly.
Final Prognosis
The bottom line is that as of the writing of this article there are so many moving parts it is impossible to predict what will happen, but there are several clues that allow a good starting point.
Hill just recently met with the National Football League, and in doing so it was reported that the meeting was for 8 hours and that he and his attorney turned over a large amount of evidence during the meeting. This might change things drastically. Or it could mean nothing at all.
The league could be playing the role of the mother who knows her son has been in the cookie jar. She’ll ask him whether he was in the cookie jar already knowing the answer just to see if he’ll lie. If the league has their suspicions and Hill doesn’t say what they want to hear, it could go badly. But what about all this evidence he turned over? Oddly, often in a court case, a person with something to hide will provide lots of documents that are tangential to the case, but really have no strong bearing on the outcome of the case. This would be a somewhat amateur move for Hill’s attorney to make, but the point to take away from it is this – nobody knows what he turned over, whether it’s relevant, and whether it proved he wasn’t in the cookie jar.
In the end, if the evidence he turned over was topical and exculpatory then it’s a massive boon to his chances of playing most of the season. If not, he’s back to where he was after this incident happened with a very uncertain future.
Based on the observations laid down in this article, the chances are strong that as of early July, the outcome will be one of the following hypothetical scenarios:
- Scenario 1 – There is no evidence of Hill being responsible for the child’s injuries. The league doesn’t find much in the way of opinions that Hill was involved. The evidence Hill turned over was helpful and topical. In this scenario, the suspension will be short, perhaps four games, but as low as two. There is almost no chance Hill escapes suspension because the optics in the situation are simply too poor for the league and have been since the story broke in March. That fact, coupled with Hill’s prior violent conviction would point to the two- to four-game range.
- Scenario 2 – There is no evidence of Hill being responsible for the child’s injuries. Goodell’s team concludes their investigation with the belief that Hill is still violent and may have been involved despite there being no concrete evidence. During Hill’s eight-hour meeting with the league, Hill showed signs of deceit. The evidence turned over to the league was not sufficient or topical. In this situation, it is somewhat likely that Hill will miss the entire season.
- Scenario 3 – There is evidence that Hill played a part in the child’s injuries and remains a threat to the child and/or to Espinal. This would result in him being suspended for the year, and it’s possible that the league would use an indefinite suspension whereby Hill would have to apply for reinstatement at a later date. This would require Hill to prove to the league that he’s taken steps to correct his behavior and would likely require some admission of wrongdoing or at least some contrition.
As of 3 weeks ago, the likelihood of Scenario 2 or 3 was much stronger than it stands today. The meeting with the National Football League, the cooperation narrative, and the Chiefs’ optimism point more to Scenario 1 right now. The odds of Scenario 1 are -- like anything in fantasy football -- not certain, but probably somewhere around 75% given what is available for consumption at the moment.
The problem is that there is no indication that Hill is a changed man. All one needs to do is listen to that phone call between him and Espinal to see that. It is likely that Goodell and his team, and anyone who has worked with him through this case, will see that too. That is why Scenario 2 has a very real chance of still occurring. This analyst certainly feels more confident that Hill will play most of the season today than in mid-June, but with his prior violent tendencies it is all but certain that there will be problems in the future unless there is evidence of his embracing change. Proceed accordingly.