Ex-NFL star pleads not guilty to attempted murder charge

A lawyer working on the behalf of Antonio Brown has filed a not guilty plea on an attempted murder charge, court records show.

Brown has been indited in relation to a shooting that took place in Miami back in May. ESPN reports that Brown was released from custody in Essex County, New Jersey on Tuesday morning and transferred to Florida.

Mark Eiglarsh, Brown’s lawyer, confirmed that the not guilty plea has been filed and that he expects Brown to be in a Miami courtroom later this week for his bail hearing. If he is found guilty, the charge of second-degree attempted murder carries a maximum 15-year prison sentence.

The incident took place at a celebrity boxing match on May 16. Brown is accused of snatching a firearm from a security guard and firing twice at Zul-Qarnain Kwame Nantambu. The two men had been in a fistfight earlier in the evening; Nantambu has claimed that one of the bullets grazed his neck.

Brown does not appear to be contesting the claim that he fired the weapon. However his legal team is maintaining that he did so in self-defense. Eiglarsh explained: “The actions he was forced to take were solely in self-defense against the alleged victim’s violent behavior. Brown was attacked that night and acted within his legal right to protect himself."

Brown played in the NFL for 12 years, most notably spending nine season with the Pittsburgh Steelers, making seven Pro Bowl appearances with the team. He finished his career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with whom he won the only Super Bowl of his career.

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