Brazilian judge Juliana Leal de Melo rejected a request to drop a case against Ryan Lochte for filing a false robbery report during the Olympics in August. The decision was announced Monday, and prosecutors have 15 days to return the case to court.
Lochte and swimmers Jimmy Feigen, Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz were involved in a verbal altercation with off-duty police officers after the taxi the four were riding in stopped at a gas station during the morning hours of August 14, shortly after the Olympic swimming competition had concluded. Lochte originally told his mother and later reporters that the four had been robbed at gunpoint, but investigations proved that to be false.
Lochte’s lawyers had filed for the case to be dismissed. According to a rough translation from Globo, they argued that Lochte had practiced “atypical conduct… since it would not have reported the occurrence of crime to the police, which would have started the office of investigations, from news published in the media.”
“I note that, as he sat under Brazilian law the possibility of investigative action of the police authority be triggered by the media news published. The criminis notitia serves so that the police authority start the research process. and once gathered sufficient evidence can be triggered criminal action,” said the judge in her decision.
Lochte and the other three swimmers were each issued sanctions as punishment for their behavior that night.
Read more from Globo here.
Gah! I think the man has paid his dues. Sheesh.
What a waste of time
These Brazilian officials are making fools of themselves.
I take exception to SW stating that it has been shown that the swimmers were not robbed at gunpoint. It is certainly true that the story originally told is inaccurate, but I’d like SW to answer this question. With video evidence of the security guard holding weapons in the general direction of the swimmers and the fact that money was given to them by Lochte, what exactly would you call this. As was pointed out in the investigative piece by USA Today and an original statement by Brazilian authorities, the guards didn’t have the right to point their weapons or take money.
Of course they were robbed. But they were told by the american authorities to take the blame for this problem.
Brazilian Judge whatever your name is. I have one question if you can have the guts to answer. Who died and made YOU God? He has admitted his stupid mistake. He’s a professional swimmer and He lost his endorsements. Obama invited all the medalists to the White House except him. Obama gave all medalists $100,000. Except him. You’re a jerk. Grrr…
i agree, shameful that SW community doesnt back him.
Enough of this already Brazil. Get over yourselves.
Rio authorities really have a very weak case against him. I suspect they’ll try to drag it out as long as they can, though. They’ve kind of backed themselves into a corner by lying about the bathroom, editing the video surveillance, and dismissing the security guards actions as robbery. Lochte and company shouldn’t have peed in the bushes out back or knocked the sign off it’s attachments, but those are extremely minor offenses and didn’t warrant the security guards threatening the swimmers lives with loaded guns and then escalating the situation into a probable armed robbery. The security guards should have calmly asked them about the sign, and if Lochte and the others decided to leave anyway, the security guards and store manager should have simply filed a report and let the authorities take care of it from there. No need to threaten to kill people over a sign knocked off it’s attachments.
We don’t hear much about what is happening to the ones that commited the crime! Namely the gun wielding of duty police demanding money! We only hear about how the victim of the crime is still being chased and punished!
Yep the Brazilians milking this for all its worth! Get threatened by gun wielding off duty police officers working as security guards you hand over some money to get away and somehow the victim becomes the persecuted!! Why? Because of out of control media coverage exagerating everything, the Brazilian authorities using this as an excuse to cause an outcry and american officials not standing up and defending the victims of a crime. Instead they make the victims suffer more just to save face and placate the Brazilians