PJ Hairston Court Date Moved
The court case against Charlotte Hornets guard PJ Hairston was scheduled for an initial meeting on Friday, August 8, but a continuance was granted until September 12, 2014.
PJ Hairston was cited for assault-and-battery against a rising Northern Durham High School senior Kentrel Barkley back on July 6, soon after draft night. Barkley claims that Hairston punched him in the face twice unprovoked during a big up basketball game in Durham.
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Hairston’s attorney William Thomas II was the only member of Hairston’s legal team in court on Friday. Thomas said not to read anything into this as this court date was only an initial appearance to determine if Hairston had an attorney or would need a public defender. Thomas’ presence should have answered those questions.
The concerning thing about this ‘delay’ in the Hairston case is that the longer the delay goes on, the closer to training camp and the basketball season we get. Hairston and the Hornets would love to have finished dealing with the consequences of this in order to get Hairston back to learning Hornets basketball.
As of now, there is a change that the case won’t start until October 3. There is a chance that mediation could end it sooner, but that October 3 date would mean that Hairston’s court appearances would continue to be a distraction for the Hornets into the near future.
Also, the best people to help Hairston grow up faster are his teammates. The best thing for PJ and society would be for PJ to spend as much time around Al Jefferson, Marvin Williams, and Kemba Walker as possible. That is not going to happen if the man he sees most is William Thomas II and whatever judge is assigned the case.
Just in case it got lost somewhere, punching people in the face is wrong. If proven, it deserves punishment. The issue is how long is Hairston haunted by this and how soon he can accept his mistake and move past it.
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