Jurors deliberate verdict in Stefon Diggs assault trial in Mass.

Mitch Schuster, one of Diggs’s defense attorneys, said the verdict affirmed what the defense argued throughout the case.

“Any experienced trial lawyer will tell you there’s never a sure thing . . . but we definitely felt very confident in our case,” Schuster said.

Diggs, 32, who pleaded not guilty to the charges in February, did not speak to reporters. Schuster said Diggs is “emotional, but he’s happy.”

“He’s happy that he’s been vindicated,” Schuster said. “No one, whether you’re a professional athlete or a business person, wants to be falsely accused. It hurts, especially [with] a serious issue like domestic violence.”

During closing arguments Tuesday, defense attorney Andrew Kettlewell told jurors there was no evidence an assault occurred.

“There was no assault, no strangulation, no incident at all,” Kettlewell said.

Kettlewell told jurors that Jamila Adams, 41, who was Diggs’s personal chef during the last football season and lived in his Dedham home, was an inconsistent witness. He claimed she fabricated the allegations to discredit Diggs.

Adams testified Monday that Diggs came into her bedroom in the house on Dec. 2 and “smacked me with an open hand” before wrapping his arm around her neck.

“He began to choke me,” Adams said Monday. “I tried to hit him back but I couldn’t.”

But the evidence, Kettlewell said, shows Adams “made this accusation as a means of trying to leverage, and humiliate, and to punish Stefon Diggs.”

He also told jurors the case rested largely on Adams’s account, calling it “internally inconsistent” and unsupported by physical evidence.

Adams quickly left the courtroom after closing arguments.

Prosecutor Drew Virtue urged jurors to convict Diggs, arguing Adams was credible even if she was not a “perfect witness.” He said Adams indicated she cried privately after the alleged assault and started packing before others in the house saw her.

Virtue suggested Adams tried to appear in good spirits in their presence since they all knew him longer than her and were on his payroll.

“When you put that all in consideration, her behavior does make sense,” he said.

David Linton, a spokesperson for Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey’s office, said prosecutors respect the jury’s decision.

“The Norfolk District Attorney’s Office is grateful to the jury for its service and the important role they play in the criminal justice system,” Linton said in an email.

Wearing a suit and tie, Diggs sipped a can of Red Bull while conferring with his lawyers, as well as his agent, Adisa Bakari, who sat in the first row of the gallery directly behind the defense team.

Adams’s timeline and communications with Diggs in recent months began to fall apart during her cross examination, Kettlewell argued. He cited one exchange Tuesday morning when Adams declined to answer when asked if her attorney had recently issued a $5.5 million monetary demand to Diggs.

“She gave you multiple excuses” for her non-response, Kettlewell said.

The prosecution also could not provide photos or point to any medical records to verify Adams’s alleged injuries, Kettlewell argued.

“You have not been provided with a single shred of credible evidence to determine that the assault actually occurred,” Kettlewell told the jury.

Over three hours on Tuesday, Diggs’s defense team called seven witnesses, including several women who work for Diggs and were at the house during the time of the alleged assault.

The staff members, which included Diggs’s personal assistant, Jenelle Sales, testified that they saw Adams at the house on Dec. 2, the day of the alleged assault, and did not observe anything unusual about her appearance or behavior.

Diggs’s hairstylist, Xia Charles, and her friend Natalia Moses, testified that they were with Adams in New York City in the days following the alleged assault. Moses said Adams on Dec. 3 appeared “bubbly” and showed no signs of bruising, while video shown to jurors captured Adams laughing and dancing with friends in New York.

Other witnesses said Adams continued interacting normally with Diggs after Dec. 2, including cooking for him and returning to the house about a week later on Dec. 9.

Adams first reported the alleged assault to Dedham police on Dec. 16, prosecutors said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Virtue called Dedham police Officer Kenneth Ellis to the stand. Ellis, who took Adams’s report on the alleged assault, testified that no photographs of any injuries were taken, and that he saw none on Adams when she came to the station.

Judge Jeanmarie Carroll instructed jurors that they could only convict if prosecutors proved the charges beyond a reasonable doubt — meaning to a “moral certainty” — and that even a strong probability of guilt was not enough.

Jurors ultimately found that burden had not been met, acquitting Diggs on all counts.

Diggs signed a three-year, $69 million contract with the Patriots last year, but the team released him in March. He remains unsigned.

Click here to read article