Violated protective order
The July 2015 King County Sheriff’s incident report obtained by the Daily News says Molly Brown called police after Josh Brown drove past her car as she pulled away from her home in Woodinville, Wash. Molly Brown had obtained a temporary protective order that barred the Giants player from coming within 500 feet of her residence.
Brown was arrested for violating the protective order, a misdemeanor. However King County prosecutors said the case was never referred to their office and no charges were filed. The protective order was placed against Josh Brown on May 27, 2015, five days after he was arrested for domestic violence assault. No charges were filed as a result of that arrest, but Molly Brown told police that Josh Brown had been physically violent with her on more than 20 occasions. Molly Brown appeared nervous when she spoke to deputies, according to the incident report. She told the deputies that although she had changed the home’s locks, her ex-husband could still enter through the garage with an electronic code. “I think he’s been driving by, seeing like whose car is in the driveway, what I’m doing, if the babysitter’s here or not,” Molly Brown told deputies. “He’s not supposed to be doing that.” Mara finally broke his silence on the subject six days after the Daily News first reported that Molly Brown accused Josh Brown of being physically violent toward her — including at least once when she was pregnant.
“Based on the facts and circumstances that we were aware of at that time, we were comfortable with our decision to re-sign him,” Mara said Wednesday. “Nothing has happened in the meantime to make us question that decision.
“A lot of times there’s a tendency to try to make these cases black and white. They are very rarely black and white. You very rarely have a Ray Rice video,” Mara added. “There are allegations made, you try to sort through the facts, you try to make an informed decision. That’s what we did.”
Despite a “baseline suspension” of six games for domestic violence in the league’s personal conduct policy, Brown only received a one-game ban. The policy does allow flexibility for “both aggravating and mitigating circumstances.”
The league said that Molly Brown’s refusal to speak with league investigators limited its investigation. The NFL also said it was rebuffed in its requests for more information from local law enforcement.
— With Michael O’Keeffe and Christian Red