There's still been no news of a potential suspension stemming from Marshon Lattimore's offseason arrest and gun charge, but the facts of the case appear to be stacking up favorably for the star Saints cornerback.
The arrest occurred in April as Lattimore sat in the passenger seat of a car during a traffic stop in his home state of Ohio. The issue stems from the gun Lattimore was carrying, which was reported stolen. But that charge is unlikely to stick, explained Audacy legal expert Amy Dash as she spoke on SportsTalk with Bobby Hebert, Kristian Garic and Mike Detillier this week.
"Receiving a stolen gun, that doesn’t mean that he actually received it from somebody. It means he was in possession of a gun that turned out to be stolen," Dash explained. "But he had a valid concealed carry permit, he has no criminal history. He could go in and legally buy a gun from any gun shop or through a private sale. And there’s really no way that he would know, if he legally bought a gun, whether the person who sold it to him had stolen it, or somebody before them had stolen it. Really anyone could find themselves in this position, especially if they do a private sale, which is totally legal in Ohio."
The issue boils down to whether prosecutors can prove that Lattimore was aware that the gun was stolen or had participated in stealing it, both of which Lattimore has denied. The 25-year-old can be seen on dashcam footage, which Dash posted along with her writeup on the case, communicating with officers through an open window and alerting them to the fact that he was carrying a gun before showing his concealed carry permit.
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Lattimore was ultimately arrested after the officers on the scene ran the gun's information, which revealed it had been stolen.
"If it was just a stolen gun, they can’t prove that he knew it was stolen, then it would be unfair to punish him because there's a good chance that he didn’t know, like he said," Dash continued. "We don’t know if he’s telling the truth, but because you can’t prove otherwise, I think it would be prejudicial to him and his image to not give him the benefit of the doubt."
Dash said the case would likely be concluded within 4 to 6 weeks, and would likely result in some form of settlement and agreement on Lattimore's part to retake his concealed carry permit courses before the charge is ultimately dropped.
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The lack of charges wouldn't rule out any potential NFL discipline, however. When asked earlier this offseason, Lattimore said he hadn't heard any news of suspension from the NFL and was preparing to play as he normally would. The Saints open their regular season on Sept. 12 against the Green Bay Packers.
"The NFL maybe for the optics reasons, maybe they would suspend him a game, but I think it would be unfair to do it," Dash said. "I really think they should let him play, unless they can prove that he knew that that gun was stolen. If there’s no criminal charge and the felony is pretty much dropped, I think the NFL needs to let him play.”