Kings D Slava Voynov's lawyer on arrest: 'There was no crime here'
The lawyer for Los Angeles Kings defenseman Slava Voynov told Ken Campbell of The Hockey News that he does not believe his client will be formally charged on allegations of domestic violence. Voynov was arrested early Monday morning on suspicion of domestic violence, but has not yet been formally charged by police according to reports. The alleged incident is still under investigation.
“It's clear to me there was no crime here.”
Craig Renetzky, a criminal lawyer who is representing Voynov in the matter, said the language barrier, both on the part of Voynov and the alleged victim, has created a misunderstanding and that the victim's injuries that caused her to be hospitalized were the result of an accident. Voynov was arrested early Monday morning at a Los Angeles area hospital after staff at the hospital notified police of a possible domestic abuse case. Voynov was immediately suspended indefinitely by the NHL, but has yet to be charged with anything pending a police investigation.
“I can't go into complete details, but Mr. Voynov never hit the woman. This is really just a pure accident and we're going to provide them with some additional evidence we hope they'll present to the District Attorney's office. And if they do, based on my experience, they don't have a case.”
Renetzky also told THN that he hopes the NHL looks at new evidence and lifts the indefinite suspension handed down to Voynov in the wake of his arrest.
Obviously anything coming from the attorney of the accused is going to be taken with a grain of salt at this point, but it is also important to remember that Voynov has not been formally charged. Additionally, this is the first that has been heard of Voynov's version of the alleged incident.
The 24-year-old defenseman was arrested early Monday morning and was released on $50,000 bond a few hours later. According to police, Voynov was arrested at a local hospital where the alleged victim was being treated for injuries the police believed to be from a domestic violence incident.
What Renetzky says is plausible, considering that Voynov, a native Russian, speaks very little English and a misunderstanding could happen. According to Renetzky, the victim is also Russian.
The league is conducting its own investigation of the incident while Voynov remains suspended with pay and continues to count against his team's salary cap. Both the Kings and the NHLPA have supported the NHL's decision to this point.
The court of public opinion may have already made its mind up about Voynov, but there is still a lot to be learned about the events of early Monday morning.
