Former UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones has two important court dates upcoming related to the same case after he was accused of leaving the scene of an accident back in February.
Court records show Jones is scheduled for a bench trial on Aug. 14 based on the charge of leaving the scene of an accident, which is a misdemeanor. The second bench trial is scheduled for Sept. 2, and that’s also based on a charge for leaving the scene of an accident along with a secondary charge for Use of Telephone to Terrify, Intimidate, Threaten, Harass, Annoy or Offend — another misdemeanor.
While both cases are related to the same incident, the second case was filed later, with the additional charge being brought against Jones. His attorney, Christopher Dodd, filed a motion to dismiss the second case due to the duplicate charges against the UFC heavyweight, but the judge has not yet ruled on it.
Until then, a bench trial is set for Sept. 2 with Jones expected to appear virtually alongside his attorney.
The entire situation stems from a car accident that happened back in February after police responded to a crash where a woman was found in the passenger seat, “exhibiting signs of significant intoxication and lacking clothing from the waist down.”
The woman claimed that Jones was driving her vehicle at the time of the accident and “subsequently fled the scene on foot.” Calls were placed to Jones with a police service aide stating he “appeared to be heavily intoxicated and made statements implying his capacity to employ lethal force through third parties.”
The original police report stated that the person on the phone refused to acknowledge it was Jones but when authorities got in contact with him at a later date, he claimed the person speaking to him on the call “immediately opened the conversation with unprofessional language” and that forced him to question the legitimacy of the caller’s claim to be involved with law enforcement.
That interaction is what ultimately led to the second charge being filed against Jones.
Just after that second case was filed with the additional charge, Jones’ attorney filed a motion to dismiss.
“The incidents at issue in both cases are one and the same. Mr. Jones now is forced to defend himself against two separate cases involves the exact same factual allegations,” Dodd wrote in his argument. “It is unknown why an [Albuquerque Police Department] detective and an [Albuquerque Police Department] officer who were both involved in the investigation of this case would not communicate and coordinate who would file charges but that seems to be what happened, unless the truth is that these law enforcement officers intentionally violated the same mandatory joinder rule for some improper strategic purpose.,
“Either way, the result is the same; this case should be dismissed as Mr. Jones has been impermissibly charged twice for the same underlying incident.”
Because the judge has not ruled on the motion, Jones is scheduled to appear virtually at the second bench trial scheduled on Sept. 2.
Regarded as arguably the greatest fighter of all time, Jones’ career has been marred by legal issues, including several arrests over the years. Back in June, Jones announced his retirement from the sport while also relinquishing the UFC heavyweight title, but his hiatus was short-lived after stating that he was getting back into the UFC’s anti-doping program with hopes of competing on the planned card at the White House in 2026.
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