Kansas City Chiefs’ Rashee Rice faces charges in Dallas hit-and-run. What may happen next?

Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice could be facing discipline — both from the NFL and the criminal justice system — after he was charged in a Dallas hit-and-run, but experts say the road toward those resolutions is just beginning.

Police have said Rice and SMU cornerback Theodore “Teddy” Knox are the suspected drivers of two speeding high-end sports cars that caused a multivehicle crash March 30 on North Central Expressway. At least seven people were injured.

Rice, 23, and Knox, 21, each face a count of aggravated assault, a count of collision involving serious bodily injury and six counts of collision involving injury, police have said.

Some attorneys not involved in the case say whether Rice compensates the victims is one of several factors in deciding what punishment he could ultimately face. His charges carry maximum penalties of five years or more in prison. Several of the attorneys interviewed by The Dallas Morning News said a plea deal could be possible, but noted they had not seen all the evidence.

The News spoke to a current prosecutor, a defense attorney and two former prosecutors who are now practicing defense attorneys about the charges brought by police and how “hit and run” cases work, with one lawyer wondering if the men’s status as football players had an effect on which charges were levied.

According to the attorneys, motorists can face a collision involving injury charge if they are involved in a “hit-and-run” and leave the scene. The aggravated assault charge is the most serious, they said. It is not as common, but it is possible for motorists involved in a collision to face the charge, three attorneys said.

Aggravated assault is a second-degree felony punishable by two to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. Under certain circumstances, it becomes a first-degree felony.

Why these charges?

While the charges are listed as “collision involving injury,” that doesn’t mean it’s illegal to get into a crash that involves injury or death, said Ryan Calvert, an adjunct professor at Baylor Law.

He said it is a crime to leave the scene. Rice and four other men were seen on video walking away after the collision. Police have said the men didn’t stop to see if anyone needed medical attention or provide any of their information.

Officials said Rice admitted to driving one of the cars involved. Rice’s attorney, state Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, has said at a news conference that the former Richland High School star was not trying to run or hide from anyone but didn’t offer any explanation for why Rice left the scene.

Defense attorney and former prosecutor Heath Harris said he believed if Rice and Knox left their information, there is a strong possibility they could have avoided many, if not all, of the criminal charges.

“Most of them are just civil [matters],” Harris said of crashes. “Every now and then, for whatever reason, law enforcement chooses to file on people.”

Harris said he is concerned about “prosecution vs. persecution” for Knox and Rice based on them being football players. He said the men leaving the crash without providing information could cause authorities to “send a message” to the public about what people should do in a similar situation.

“Now, rather than taking the normal course of action, we’re persecuting these kids, and that ain’t right,” Harris said. “Now, it leads to all this speculation: What if they were drinking? What if they were high?”

He questioned whether Texas laws around speeding and reckless driving are applied evenly. Harris said numerous crashes each day across the state could involve speeding or reckless driving and asked whether all of them involve criminal charges, even if someone leaves the scene.

“This case was conducted as all cases are conducted, thorough and fair, as that is what all victims deserve, and what our city demands,” Dallas police Chief Eddie García said in an April 10 statement.

Aggravated assault charge

Attorneys told The News there may be a misconception that an aggravated assault must be intentional, but the charge may also be applicable if someone is being reckless under certain circumstances, adding that a vehicle could be considered a deadly weapon, which can be a condition of the charge.

Footage provided to The News from another motorist shows a Lamborghini Urus and Chevrolet Corvette trying to pass cars in the left lane before slamming into a white Hyundai Accent and colliding with multiple vehicles across several lanes of traffic.

Police allege Rice was driving the Urus at 119 mph in the seconds before he lost control and triggered the chain-reaction crash. Knox, believed to have been driving the Corvette, is also accused of speeding, according to an arrest-warrant affidavit.

Defense attorney Scott Palmer said in a written statement that the aggravated assault charge is usually reserved for the more serious situations where recklessness “can be almost presumed from the driving facts, usually caught on video.”

The case, Palmer said, appeared to have the “right facts to support this charge” but there’s still a question of whether a grand jury would choose to indict for it.

Process just beginning

In the days after the crash, arrest warrants were issued for Rice and Knox — who later turned themselves in to authorities — and arrest-warrant affidavits obtained by The News revealed several details in the case.

Attorneys told The News the affidavits typically do not include all of the information.

The documents are typically a “bare bones recitation of fact,” said Calvert, who is also the first assistant district attorney for McLennan County. It’s not a full police report, he said, and is “by no means” the extent of information that prosecutors will have when making decisions.

Palmer said an affidavit is usually just enough information for a judge to understand what happened and “base a decision” to set a reasonable bond.

With Rice and Knox each facing eight criminal accusations, attorneys told The News there could be a long process for determining their guilt or innocence. A judge or jury could decide based on several factors in the cases, Palmer said. He said it’s difficult to say what would be typical in the prosecution of the charges.

The Dallas County District Attorney’s office could seek indictment for different charges than the ones filed by police. A grand jury could decide to reduce some of the charges or not go forward with them, attorneys said.

The District Attorney’s office said it does not comment on pending cases.

Calvert said any time there is a potential crime, prosecutors are tasked with looking at all of the evidence tied to a particular event and see what crimes best fit, are the easiest to prove and provide an appropriate level of punishment.

“In criminal law, every case is truly unique,” Calvert said. “There’s no such thing as ‘we always do this’ or ‘we always do that,’ you have to look at and evaluate the unique facts of each individual scenario.”

What could Rashee Rice’s punishment look like?

Calvert said the outcome of Rice’s and Knox’s cases, and a possible plea agreement, will depend on the facts and evidence, whether the person has a criminal or behavioral history, and sometimes what the victims want.

Calvert said he’s certain a plea offer will be made, but it’s unclear what those offers will consist of.

“None of us are in a position to say because it depends on a lot of different factors,” he said.

The vast majority of criminal cases end in a guilty plea rather than a trial, Calvert said.

Aggravated assault has a “huge” range of punishment, spanning from two years’ probation to 20 years in prison, Calvert said. The severity of injuries is also considered.

“It would be unusual, in a situation like this, for somebody to get a sentence at or near the top of that range,” Calvert said. “I’m not saying it can’t happen, but I’m saying that doesn’t happen very often.”

‘A lot of balls in the air’

Former prosecutor Toby Shook said attorneys could reach out to victims’ civil lawyers and negotiate compensation. If successful, the lawyers could obtain “affidavits of non-prosecution,” in which a victim says they have no interest in cooperating with the charges, Shook said.

”That can help when going to the DA to try to get a reduced deal, or dismissal or no-bill with the grand jury,” said Shook, now a defense attorney. “It’s certainly not a guarantee, but the law allows victims to be compensated.”

Calvert said affidavits of non-prosecution are common in some types of cases, but the decision to go forward with the charges is up to a prosecutor.

“A lot of times people say the victim dropped charges,” Calvert said. “The victim of a crime can’t drop charges because the victim isn’t the one bringing the charges in the first place. The state is.”

Compensation could have some impact on what plea offer is made, Calvert said, but it doesn’t mean a prosecutor would allow someone to “buy their way out of criminal accountability.”

While prosecutors drop cases for all sorts of reasons, solely financial compensation would be inappropriate, Calvert said.

Shook said for Rice and Knox, “you’ve got a lot of balls in the air.” He said the two football players are dealing with victims who have civil attorneys, the DA office, police who have a public interest in deterring people from driving recklessly, and potential discipline related to the teams or leagues they play for.

Shook said he believed all of the issues with law enforcement, civil litigation and potential sports discipline were connected and could impact each other.

“His attorney has to be very careful to try to come up with a solution that’ll get him favorable resolution in all three of those areas,” Shook said.