Ex-stamp Reynolds granted bail
Former Calgary Stampeders star running back Joffrey Reynolds has been granted bail on charges of breaching probation.
Reynolds, 33, who is serving a 90day jail sentence on weekends and is on house arrest during the week, was arrested earlier this month.
He was charged with seven counts of breaching his release conditions associated with a conviction for assaulting his ex-girlfriend. After police knocked on his door twice in two days without finding him last May, they charged Reynolds with failing to remain at his home and not having a land line telephone without call-forwarding features, as well as five counts of failing to answer the phone.
But it was later confirmed Reynolds was at a job interview the first time police knocked on his shared Bankview apartment door, and the home was without a land line due to phone company delays during the flood, defence lawyer Bjorn Harsanyi told the judge Friday.
Reynolds went to the probation office in the courthouse the same day to clear things up, Harsanyi said.
In releasing Reynolds on his own recognizance and $5,000 bail, provincial court Judge Harry van Harten reminded Reynolds that he’s under heavy scrutiny.
“Don’t mess it up, because there may not be a next time,” he said.
Court also heard that the Canadian Football League allstar and 2008 Grey Cup champ has had a job offer to work as a personal trainer at a local fitness club.
The “adverse publicity” following Reynolds’ high-profile case has been tough on the American-born former football star, his lawyer said.
“You can imagine finding work is not the easiest thing to do,” Harsanyi said.
The Texas native, who was still in Canada on an expired work visa when the assaults occurred, remains subject to deportation to the United States after his sentence is completed.
The judge found Reynolds guilty Feb. 25 of assaulting his former girlfriend when he kicked her in the back of the leg following an argument during a party at Black Betty’s bar. Reynolds was also found guilty of unlawfully being in her Eau Claire residence and assaulting her causing bodily harm the next morning.