Brace yourselves, because we know that this news will just shock you.
So, remember Nick Gordon’s arrest for domestic assault and kidnapping? Many eyes were already on him for Bobbi Kristina Brown’s suspicious death, but this arrest raised even more suspicions — and horrified people on its own merits.
Well, it came time for Nick Gordon to enter a plea. …
According to a report from RadarOnline, Nick Gordon has entered a plea of not guilty to the charges.
That isn’t really a surprise.
Generally, guilty pleas only happen when either they’re in the defendant’s best interests.
You know, if they got a good deal.
Or for people of little means whose overworked public defenders simply don’t have the time or resources to help them.
Nick Gordon, facing serious charges, doesn’t fit either of those categories.
He has to know that investigators looking into Bobbi Kristina’s death consider Nick Gordon’s domestic violence arrest as evidence for a potential future criminal trial for Bobbi Kristina’s death.
Laura Leal, Nick’s ex-girlfriend who accused him of domestic assault, has even spoken about it.
Nick Gordon’s ex saw horrifying parallels to Bobbi Kristina‘s story, in terms of how she felt that he isolated her from others and controlled her.
Laura Leal described how Nick Gordon allegedly lashed out with violence and then apologized, and how he made her feel that she was at fault.
Which is just, you know, classic for cases of partner-abuse.
The final incident, as Laura Leal describes it, was of Nick Gordon holding her down on the bed and punching her repeatedly.
She describes how her face was bloody and how she was at the risk of losing consciousness.
Fearing that she was about to die, Laura says that she managed to get hold of a candlestick and strike Nick in the head with it.
She then made a run for it, pounding on the bedroom door of Nick Gordon’s mother — elsewhere in the house — to wake her up and beg her way inside.
It was apparently Nick Gordon’s mother who protected Laura Leal from her son’s violent wrath, allowing Laura to get away and contact authorities.
Before and during their relationship, Laura Leal had dismissed stories of Nick Gordon having something to do with Bobbi Kristina’s death, and stories of him having been abusive towards her.
That changed after that final assault.
After his arrest, she saw their relationship and Nick Gordon himself in a new light.
In the end, Laura says that she felt that she could have ended up like Bobbi Kristina if she hadn’t gotten away.
In addition to entering his plea of not guilty, Nick Gordon has gone ahead and requested a jury trial.
Generally speaking, it isn’t uncommon for abusers to believe that they will be able to charm jurors as easily as they charmed their victims in the first place.
Unfortunately, so much of our society teaches us to ignore or blame victims.
If we look at other famous men who’ve met with serious accusations, we see a pattern.
OJ Simpson was famously acquitted for murdering two people.
Even after evidence of Johnny Depp’s abuse of Amber Heard continues to grow, the actor doesn’t seem to find any trouble getting work.
He even has countless fans who still vigorously defend him and attack Amber Heard at any mention of the accusations.
And, most recently, Bill Cosby’s rape trial ended with a deadlock, because two people just refused to budge there at the end.
Cosby will be tried again, and likely more times in other districts, but everything is stacked against the victims — and abusers know it.
In this rare case, Nick Gordon’s celebrity status might work against him, however.
Nick Gordon is mostly just famous for his ties to Whitney Houston and Bobbi Kristina.
In fact, infamous is a better word for Nick Gordon.
Getting Nick Gordon a jury that won’t convict may be predicated upon finding a jury that’s never heard of him.
Plus his legal team will almost certainly push to forbid any mention of Bobbi Kristina or her death.
And any implications of his involvement.
Then, you know, there will be the evidence and Laura Leal’s testimony, from police, from any medics or doctors who treated Laura.
Part of us wonders if Nick Gordon’s mother might be persuaded to testify for the prosecution.
(Let us dream, okay?)
Even if he avoids a conviction for this, he may skate by only to face charges in Bobbi Kristina’s death.