On Monday, a Brazilian judge ruled against Ryan Lochte’s lawyer’s request to terminate proceedings in his case. The decision was then forwarded to the prosecutor, who had 15 days to get the case back to court.
Today, USA Today reported that an appellate court has ruled in favor of continuing the criminal case against Lochte.
The Rio de Janeiro prosecutor’s office is asking that the case continue on its merits while an appellate court decides whether or not the charges will stand.
Ostrow said an appellate court would decide whether the charges should have been brought while prosecutors are asking the court to allow the case to continue on the merits. Lochte’s attorneys will attempt to stay that case pending ruling from the appellate court, he said.
“I’m disappointed that they’re trying to take another shot at it,” Lochte’s, Jeff Ostrow, told USA Today. “I think they should just let it die because they lost and because he didn’t do anything wrong. But for whatever reason, they want to try to save face and continue this charade, let them do what they gotta do, and we’ll continue to fight it because we believe we’re right.”
Lochte, along with Jimmy Feigen, Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz,was involved in a gas station vandalism incident that resulted in a false robbery report during the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in August. In an interview with NBC, Lochte alleged the swimmers had been robbed at gunpoint when returning from a party in Rio. It was later confirmed that Lochte’s story had been fabricated.
Initially, Lochte was charged with falsely communicating a crime report to authorities, but it was concluded that the NBC interview didn’t constitute a false report. Additionally, because police sought an official report from Lochte (rather than him coming to them, for example), the original court determined that he could not be charged with the false report crime.
At this point, no timeline for the proceedings is clear.
If Brazil were a person, it would be deemed a narcissistic personality. They are hypersensitive to any sort of insult, real or perceived, and they obviously took Lochte’s tall tale to heart. Look at their collective national reaction to losing the World Cup in 2014: it was insanity.
Back in 2007, when Swimming World used to hold that “popular vote” for swimmer of the year, the Brazilians voted en masse for Thiago Pereira, so he won. (Pereira had an excellent meet at the Pan Am Games that year, but that was also the year Phelps won five individual golds and set four individual WRs at the world championships in Melbourne).
I’ve liked most of the Brazilians I’ve met… Read more »
Excellent observation. if we were a person, we would be narcissistic for sure. Think of an inverse situation? Brazilians vandalizing the United States? They were disrespectful and have to pay for it.
Pay for what? For a poster? This is the Prosecutors office I have a problem with. Brazilians are cool. If a bunch of Brazilian athletes were partying in the US, most of us would simply join their party, not pull out a gun and extort money from them.
lol…right, in the US police just let people report false crimes.
Hey, Scott. In order to report false crimes in the US, you’ve gotta file a police report!!! You and I can go at it all day, but the facts are the facts, and like I always say, “The facts don’t care what you think”. Peace, out, Jay.
Lock him up!
The photo of Ryan here is appropriate & well-selected – almost like the swimming pool equivalent of jaw on the floor. Really, the Brazilian government needs to get over it. They will spend far more than what they could recoup in fines, & doesn’t it seem doubtful the USA would allow him to be extradited? Spend the money from this “prosecution” (is that spelled right? maybe persecution?) on helping the people of Brazil.
But his emails…
JEAH
Whoop-dee-freakin’-doo! They must not have enough to do in the Brazilian courts. The boys were out after the Olympics, and they did not vandalize a bathroom (as is clarified in the USA Today story). Rather the lav was locled, so they peed behind a gas station and pulled a poster from a wall. They were then strong-armed at gunpoint for a small amt of money (~$50-100) by off duty policemen moonlighting as security guards. Ryan tweeted it to his mom, and the story gained momentum as a robbery at gunpoint, which actually is not far from the truth, given the fact that the officers were not acting in their official capacity. Certainly “on the spot” fines are not normal justice… Read more »
Amen Jay!!!
I guess you are fine with his behaviour? Some people are not. Either way, your excuses for the actions of a senior Olympic team member seem sad.
I am not cool with the behavior. I said it wasn’t the crime they made it out to be. He served his team punishment (suspension) for his embarrassing conduct. I still like Ryan Lochte. He has been good for the sport, overall.
Bring him to Justice.
Well, it is Indictment Weekend.
Good one! First laugh of the day.
Glad to see that the global sense of humour failure has its limits. Bring the Goober to Justice ??
Oh what?
Why?..
No kidding. Get over it.
Maybe because he broke the law?
What specific laws?