Darren Collison accepts plea deal in domestic violence case

After months of uncertainty regarding Darren Collison’s domestic violence case, the UCLA product pleaded guilty to a one count of misdemeanor domestic violence today.

This case dates back to May 30^th of 2016, when Collison was arrested at his home in Granite Bay, Ca, and according to his latest statement, it appears as if the 29-year-old point guard has taken this mistake and will try to learn from it.

“Words cannot describe the feelings and regret that I have been experiencing the last few months,” Collison said in a statement. “My family and I found ourselves in such an unfamiliar situation and it has been a difficult few months. This is far from who I am as a person and not something I am proud of. I take full responsibility for my actions. I have apologized to my beautiful wife that I have known and loved since high school. I appreciate and am thankful for the love and understanding from my family, friends and supporters. Now it is time to put this behind us and move forward.

According to reports, Collison accepted a plea agreement with the Placer County District Attorney. The plea agreement consists of a 20-day jail sentence; however Collison will not serve jail time but will serve in an Alternative Sentencing Program, which consists of community service projects.

Additionally, Collison is required to complete a 52-week “Batterer Treatment” class and is placed under 3 years of informal probation.

The Kings released the following statement: “Domestic violence is a serious issue across our nation and one that runs contrary to our organization’s values. We’re disappointed by Darren’s behavior and today he accepted full responsibility for his actions. He is committed to using this incident to help raise awareness through education of this critical issue in the community. We’re working with Darren and the NBA on the appropriate next steps.”

Only time will tell if he actually learns from this mistake but Collison made the initial move of taking responsibility for his actions and that is a sign of moving in the right direction. Now we have to wait and see how the NBA approaches this situation.