Jury begins deliberating in assault trial of former Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs

BOSTON (AP/Boston 25) — A jury is deliberating in the assault trial of former New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs, after both sides wrapped up witness testimony on the second day of the trial. The case centers on a Dec. 2 encounter at Diggs’ home in Dedham , where Jamila Adams , a former live-in personal chef who is known as Mila, testified he slapped and choked her during an argument.

Diggs has pleaded not guilty to a felony strangulation charge and a misdemeanor assault and battery charge , and his attorneys say the alleged assault never happened. The case has also turned on questions about Adams’ credibility and whether the dispute was about money or an alleged assault. Defense attorneys pointed to financial demands she made and testimony from friends and employees who said she did not appear injured in the days after the encounter, while prosecutors argued the case rests on her account of what happened inside the home.

Defense attorney Andrew Kettlewell told jurors during closing arguments that prosecutors had not presented “a single shred of credible evidence” that an assault occurred. “There was no assault, no strangulation, no incident at all on that day or any other day,” he said. Assistant District Attorney Drew Virtue urged jurors to weigh Adams’ testimony carefully and not to disregard it because she was not “a perfect witness.

” “She was argumentative, avoidant, difficult. But does that mean you should throw away everything she said? No,” he said, adding that jurors should give her testimony “the attention, the scrutiny, the weight it deserves.