According to reports, Davonte Pack, best friend of Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant, was arrested and booked Wednesday morning at the Shelby County Jail. Pack is accused of punching teenager, Joshua Holloway, and was charged with misdemeanor assault.
Pack is a co-defendant with Morant in a civil case involving the alleged assault of Holloway at Morant’s home last summer during a pickup basketball game.
Morant And Pack Are Co-Defendants In Civil Case Against Teenager Who Was Pummeled
Last summer at Morant’s residence in Eads, Tennessee, Holloway was present for a pickup game. During a check ball, Holloway allegedly threw the basketball and it hit Morant in the face.
According to Holloway, Morant approached him and asked another individual standing close by “Should I do it to him?”
That’s when Morant allegedly punched the Holloway knocking him to the ground, and allegedly continued to strike the teen multiple times. Holloway also alleges that Pack jumped in and began hitting him as well.
Morant’s Legal Team To Use Stand Your Ground Law
At the time Morant said the punches were in self-defense, as he claims Holloway deliberately threw the ball at his face and approached as though he wanted to fight.
Morant’s legal team is seeking to use Tennessee’s “stand your ground” self-defense statues as a novel defense from liability in his civil case. If Morant’s legal team can establish certain criteria he is protected from both criminal and civil liability. The condition that must be met is that Morant felt threatened at his home and had no choice but to react in the manner he did.
In a deposition related to the lawsuit this past May In a May, Pack admitted to striking Holloway but added that he “did not feel threatened at the time he struck Holloway in the head area knocking him to the ground.”
Pack is scheduled to be arraigned on the morning of July 20.
Multiple people have been deposed as a result of the civil case, including Morant’s mother and father. But the All-NBA guard has not.
The civil case is still pending and Morant is suspended from the team and will miss the first 25 games of the coming season as a result of this incident and others involving guns that show a serious lack of maturity from the young All-Star.
