No charges against Raiders coach

<p>NAPA — After practice Thursday afternoon, someone asked Raiders coach Tom Cable if he was worried about the imminent decision coming from Napa County District Attorney Gary Lieberstein.</p><p>“No, I trust in what's right,” Cable replied.</p><p>About an hour later, at an impromptu-looking press conference on a shady, red-brick sidewalk outside the Napa County DA's office, Lieberstein rewarded that trust. The district attorney announced that he would not pursue criminal charges against Cable, who was accused of breaking the jaw of former assistant Randy Hanson.</p><p>“It is our conclusion based on all the statements that that was not the result of any intended act by Mr. Cable — that under the law we have to prove that act is willful, and we do not believe that we would be able to sustain that standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt in front of a jury,” Lieberstein said. “And our job is not to just throw things up in front of a jury and see what happens.”</p><p>In Hanson's version of events, an enraged Cable knocked Hanson out of his chair during a meeting at the Napa Valley Marriott Hotel (where the Raiders stay during training camp) on Aug. 5, broke his jaw and yelled, “I'm going to (bleeping) kill you!”</p><p>Thursday, Lieberstein said that Hanson's testimony proved much less credible than that of the other three men in the room at the time — Raiders assistant coaches John Marshall, Willie Brown and Lionel Washington — who corroborated a much tamer tale.</p><p>According to those men, all of whom were interviewed by the Napa Police Department — Cable, through his attorney, declined to speak to the police — the coach became angry during the meeting in a hotel room and rushed at Hanson. Washington jumped between the two men, Cable bumped Washington, and Washington bumped Hanson, who was rocking back in his chair with his feet on a table. Hanson tumbled over, most likely breaking his jaw.</p><p>Once Hanson was on the ground, Cable grabbed him by the collar. But the witnesses said the head coach lectured Hanson rather than gravely threatening him.</p><p>Hanson's first mistake was refusing to cooperate with the police investigation from the start. He waited several weeks before offering to provide details; by then, police were unable to process the alleged crime scene for physical evidence.</p><p>More troubling, Hanson's story seemed to change over time. When he went public with details of the incident to Yahoo Sports on Oct. 11, some of the facts were inconsistent with statements he had earlier made to the police. The Napa County DA brought in Hanson for a follow-up interview on Wednesday, and he failed to clear up those inconsistencies.</p><p>In essence, Lieberstein wasn't comfortable calling for a trial that would require the time and money of Napa County citizens. No blows or punches were thrown, no verbal threats were made.</p><p>“One could say in a textbook manner that a battery had occurred,” Lieberstein said. “What I would just submit to you is it would probably be more akin to one of you jostling for position, bumping into each other and asking us to prosecute.”</p><p>In dropping the case, Lieberstein left himself open to a couple of potential accusations. One is that he came under pressure from the Raiders and/or members of the community.</p><p>“It's hard for me to know what motivates the DA, but I told the police, look, I know you guys don't want to prosecute,” Hanson's attorney, John McGuinn, told Comcast SportsNet. “You have the Raider training camp here. You've had it for many years. You'd like to keep it. There's perhaps a concern that they will not return if they prosecute. ... I mean, this man's jaw is broken, there's no question about that. And people's jaws don't get broken accidentally. </p><p>“That has absolutely nothing to do with my decision,” Lieberstein said of the Napa-Raiders connection. “If you look at the door, my title is District Attorney of Napa County. I'm not president of the chamber of commerce of Napa.”</p><p>Perhaps more significant was the notion that Marshall, Brown and Washington would line up behind their boss and collectively spin a story that protected him.</p><p>“You can certainly say, OK, they all work for the Raiders, they're on the payroll and they're gonna tout the party line,” Lieberstein said. “And I will tell you that each one of them, when they spoke of what happened, we felt were very candid, were very credible. And in front of a jury would be extremely credible. And if for any reason they weren't telling us the whole of what happened, there's no way you would ever establish that.”</p><p>Raiders general counsel Jeff Birren declined to comment.</p><p>Cable isn't entirely out of his legal thicket. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell could still sanction the coach if he felt Cable violated the league's personal code of conduct.</p><p>“We will review the decision announced earlier today by the Napa District Attorney and the facts developed in the underlying investigation,” the league wrote and delivered through a spokesman. “Following that review, we will take appropriate action, if any, under our policies.”</p><p>And, of course, Hanson still could pursue a civil case against the man he says attacked him.</p><p>“It's on the horizon,” McGuinn said. “There's no immediacy, because there's plenty of time.”</p><p>For now, Cable is free to break down film, teach his players and game-plan this week's opponent, the Jets. He insists his focus has never wavered from those tasks.</p><p>You can reach Staff Writer Phil Barber at 521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com.</p>