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Brady HendersonESPN
SEATTLE — The trial date for former Seattle Seahawks offensive tackle Chad Wheeler in his domestic violence case has been moved to June 1, a spokesperson with the King County Prosecutor’s office told ESPN.
The trial date initially was set for April 6 after Wheeler pleaded not guilty last week to criminal charges of first-degree domestic violence assault, domestic violence unlawful imprisonment and resisting arrest. It’s not known why the trial was pushed back.
The next steps in the pretrial process are a case-setting hearing scheduled for March 18 and an omnibus hearing scheduled for May 4, according to the spokesperson, though those might also be continued.
Wheeler is accused of twice choking his ex-girlfriend into unconsciousness on Jan. 22 while experiencing what both called a “manic episode.” Wheeler’s father said during last week’s arraignment that his son was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2016. But the woman, Alleah Taylor, told “CBS This Morning” in her first public comments about the incident that she’s unsure of whether the alleged assault was related to Wheeler’s mental health.
“To be honest, I don’t know,” Taylor said an in interview that aired Wednesday. “He went and ate dinner after doing this to me. He didn’t take the same approach with the cops as he did with me.”
Taylor said in the interview that she has a concussion that she has to get regularly checked and has “bolts and a steel plate I’m going to have forever in my arm.”
First-degree domestic violence assault is a Class A felony in Washington, while domestic violence unlawful imprisonment is a Class C felony. If convicted, Wheeler could be sentenced to eight to 12 years in prison, according to prosecutors. Taylor answered “yes, yes” when asked during the “CBS This Morning” interview whether Wheeler should be sentenced to prison.
“I definitely … think that he should,” she said. “The hardest part of all this wasn’t the surgeries, it wasn’t any of that. It was getting a call from my niece and nephews. They thought they had lost me. The pain in their voice, I will never forget that. I will never forget that.”
Wheeler has been out of jail since posting bond on Jan. 26. He was ordered during his arraignment to remain in Washington on electronic home detention with a GPS-equipped ankle monitoring device as a condition of his pretrial release. Wheeler was previously ordered to have no contact with Taylor and to surrender any weapons.