Richard Sherman freed from King County jail after 35 1/2 hours in. Here’s what’s next
Richard Sherman is out of jail.
The former Seahawks Super Bowl champion and iconic cornerback of “Legion of Boom” fame walked out of King County Jail at 5:42 p.m. Thursday, jail records show. That was 35 hours and 34 minutes after he was booked into it by Redmond police on suspicion of burglary domestic violence at his in-laws’ home in that Seattle suburb early Wednesday.
Sherman left jail about 2-1/2 hours after King County District Court Judge Fa’amomoi Masaniai denied King County deputy prosecutor Kyle Olson’s request for $10,000 bail.
Judge Masaniai made that ruling at the first court hearing since Sherman was arrested then jailed by Redmond police officers at 6:08 a.m. Wednesday.
Sherman is scheduled to be in King County District Court at 2 p.m. Friday for a second hearing.
“The court rules indicate that I have to, on a first offense, for anything, the presumption is release, with conditions,” Judge Masaniai said, after Sherman waived his right to be present at Thursday’s first hearing. His defense attorney Cooper Offenbecher represented him.
“I see Mr. Sherman is a pillar of this community. He is a business owner. He is a husband. He is a father,” the judge said.
“I am going to release Mr. Sherman on his own promise to return to court.”
Deputy prosecutor Olson said the basis for requesting $10,000 bail, which a Prosecuting Attorney’s Office spokesman said was standard for domestic-violence cases with similar circumstances, were the state’s “concerns for community safety, concerns for Mr. Sherman’s family and Mr. Sherman himself.”
King County Superior Court records show a sealed case from early 2021 in which the King County Sheriff’s Office got an extreme risk protection order (ERPO) against Sherman. That prohibits him from possessing firearms.
In 2016, Washington’s citizens voted to make their state the nation’s fourth to enact an extreme risk protection law.
Thursday, Judge Masaniai granted the deputy prosecutor’s request for a domestic violence protection order protecting Raymond David Moss, Sherman’s father-in-law.
The judge also agreed with the state’s request that Sherman not possess any weapons and not consume any alcohol or non-prescribed drugs. The last two are common requests at first appearances, a Prosecuting Attorney’s Office spokesman said.
Masaniai ruled probable cause to proceed with the case on the four charges a deputy prosecutor presented stemming from a one-car accident just after 1 a.m. Wednesday inside an active construction zone on state Route 520, plus Sherman’s subsequent, alleged attempt at forced entry into his in-laws’ home early Wednesday. Both incidents allegedly occurred in Redmond. The four charges Sherman is now facing are all gross misdemeanors and misdemeanors: one charge of criminal trespass in the second degree for domestic violence, one charge of malicious mischief in the third degree for domestic violence, one charge of resisting arrest and one charge of driving under the influence.
That is a downgrade from what Redmond police listed as the reason to arrest and book Sherman into jail early Wednesday: suspicion of burglary domestic violence, a class B felony charge under the Revised Code of Washington.
Malicious mischief and DUI are gross misdemeanors. Criminal trespass and resisting arrest are misdemeanors.
In Washington, per RCW 9A.20.030, the maximum jail term for a gross misdemeanor is up to 364 days, a maximum fine of $5,000, or both.
Misdemeanors in Washington per the same RCW are punishable by a maximum of 90 days in jail, a maximum fine of $1,000, or both.
The fact this is Sherman’s first involvement with the criminal-justice system — which Offenbecher repeatedly emphasized in court Thursday — likely would be in the former All-Pro cornerback’s favor in any sentencing should he be found guilty or agree to a plea in the case.
Sherman’s wife Ashley was in the courtroom Thursday. She declined through Offenbecher the judge’s invitation to speak to the court during the hearing.
Some new details in the case came to light during Thursday’s hearing:
- Olson, the deputy prosecutor, said: “The facts involved in this case allege that law enforcement were dispatched to Mr. Sherman’s home (in suburban Maple Valley) in response to suicidal threats by Mr. Sherman (Tuesday night). The information indicated that he had been drinking and he was taking anti-depressants.”
- Olsen said police reported that Sherman allegedly made suicidal statements in the presence of law-enforcement officers as well — and that “he also made statements about taking a firearm from an officer.”
- Washington State Patrol troopers allege Sherman then got in his SUV and drove the approximately 30 miles from Maple Valley north to Redmond Tuesday night into early Wednesday “while under the influence.”
- The deputy prosecutor said police allege Sherman repeatedly tried to forcibly enter the front door of his in-laws’ residence in Redmond, about 2 miles from where his SUV stopped operating after it hit a barrier inside an active construction zone eastbound on Route 520. Olson said police allege Sherman’s father-in-law feared for his and his family’s safety to the point “he not only sprayed Mr. Sherman with bear mace but retrieved his own firearm, in concerns for his own safety.”
- After initially being compliant with officers arriving at the in-laws’ house, Sherman became confrontational when told he was being arrested, police allege. He “began to resist the officers by stiffening and flexing his muscles. This required officers to forcibly place him under arrest ... place him in handcuffs.”
Sherman, 33, is unsigned two weeks before NFL teams report for the start of training camp for the 2021 season.
He played the last three seasons for the San Francisco 49ers. They let his three-year, $39 million contract expire this winter. Sherman signed that deal in the spring of 2018 with San Francisco, near where he played in college for Stanford.
That was after Seattle released him rather than pay him $11 million for the 2018 season as he turned 30 years old and came back from a torn Achilles tendon.
He starred over eight seasons for Seattle. He had three All-Pro selections and played in two Super Bowls for the Seahawks as a charter member of their famed “Legion of Boom” secondary next to fellow stars Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor.
After he signed with San Francisco, Sherman kept the home he and his long-time girlfriend then wife lived in during his time with the Seahawks in the suburban King County city of Maple Valley. In 2019, days after his 49ers lost a game to the Seahawks, Sherman paid to restock the Maple Valley Food Bank.
Though Sherman is unsigned, the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell have the authority to punish him for this incident, as they do any player under the league’s personal-conduct policy.
As he’s remained a free agent, there has been chatter around the league of Sherman perhaps re-signing with Seattle this summer.
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said in May the team and Sherman have “stayed in contact.” But Carroll downplayed the possibility of Sherman returning to play for Seattle.
The Seahawks used one of their team record-low three picks on a cornerback, Tre Brown, in the 2021 NFL draft.
“He’s out there. I know he’s thinking about it. He’s looking for an opportunity — and I saw where he said there were three or four teams that he’s considering, or whatever,” Carroll said of Sherman in May.
“So, we’ll see what happens. But, he’s been a great player and he’s still got some ball left in him, I’m sure.
“But at this point, we are going to clear through this day, figure out what happens with the ‘rooks’ coming up, and we’ll see where it sits later on.”
But before that, Sherman has far more important issues than football to address.
This story was originally published July 15, 2021 at 7:10 PM.
