No Charges Filed Against Tom Cable

No criminal charges will be filed against Raiders head coach Tom Cable for his role in an altercation that fractured the jaw of Oakland assistant Randy Hanson, Napa, Calif., district attorney Gary Lieberstein announced Wednesday.

"We have concluded that the facts and evidence developed do not warrant criminal charges brought against Tom Cable in regards to an incident which occurred on August 5, 2009 in a hotel room at the Oakland Raiders' training camp in Napa," Lieberstein said in a press release.

Liberstein's announcement came after a more than two-month-long investigation.

"Our decision is based on a full review of the evidence," Lieberstein said during a press conference outside the DA's office on Thursday afternoon. "We had an outstanding and very complete investigation done by the Napa police department which, quite frankly was not done until late [Wednesday] afternoon, when the alleged victim, Randy Hanson was asked back to give a follow-up interview to explain many inconsistencies that had occurred during a number of statements he'd given over the course of this investigation.

"Our time table ... is whatever time we need to make a fair and just decision."

Hanson's attorney, John McGuinn, told FanHouse in response to the lack of charges, " As we have said all along, whether he [Lieberstein] files or not, it makes no difference to us. We have our civil case and we will proceed accordingly."

Later, on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, McGuinn said that the civil case is "on the horizon," and assured everyone would soon find out Cable is "not a nice guy."

McGuinn recently told FanHouse that the evidence before Lieberstein presented a "textbook felony assault case" against Cable. Hanson told police that Cable attacked him during a coaches' meeting at Oakland's training camp headquarters at the Marriott-Napa Valley. According to Hanson, Cable body slammed him into a small table, then smashed his face against a wall and finally grabbed his neck while shouting "I'm going to kill you!" before other Raiders coaches were able to break the scuffle up.

Hanson went to Queen of the Valley Hospital the next day for X-rays, which revealed an injured jaw. After initially declining to take part in an investigation, Hanson changed his mind, hired a lawyer and turned those X-rays over to police. The Napa police department announced on Aug. 21 that it would reopen the case, then handed their findings over to Lieberstein's office.

The DA's release questioned much of McGuinn's -- and Hanson's -- account: "Based on our review, it appears that during a discussion amongst coaches and Mr. Cable regarding Mr. Hanson's future with the Oakland Raiders, Mr. Cable became angry and rushed toward Mr. Hanson. At that juncture, one of the other coaches in the room stepped in between the two and Mr. Cable bumped into him, which in turn caused that coach to bump into Mr. Hanson's chair in which he was leaning back, with his feet upon the table. As a result of the force, Mr. Hanson fell over, at which time he most likely fractured his jaw. This conclusion is supported by the statements of independent witnesses present in the room, including and especially the coach who bumped into Mr. Hanson's chair. The same witnesses did state that after Mr. Hanson was on the ground, Mr. Cable grabbed him by the shirt . The witnesses also made it clear, however, that at no time during this incident did Mr. Cable strike Mr. Hanson."

In addition, according to the release, Hanson's initial reluctance to discuss the incident with police made it impossible for any physical evidence to be processed from the Marriott room where the disagreement occurred.

"It should be further noted that within the past week and a half, Mr. Hanson showed up unannounced at the police department and made a statement to the effect that since the Raiders had not given him what he asked for, he would now fully cooperate with the prosecution," Lieberstein said.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said at the league's fall meetings that he was following the Cable investigation, but would wait for case to conclude. "What are the facts?" Goodell asked at the time. "There's a legal and criminal process going on to determine what are the facts."

Lieberstein's decision to not press charges lessens the chance that Cable will not face punishment from the NFL.

"We will review the decision announced earlier [Thursday] by the Napa District Attorney and the facts developed in the underlying investigation. Following that review, we will take appropriate action, if any, under our policies," the NFL said in a statement.

When asked Thursday if he'd been contacted by the league, Cable told reporters, "I don't have any comment."