Plaxico Burress planned to turn himself in to police yesterday morning in New York City and plead not guilty to criminal possession of a weapon, his attorney said.
Benjamin Brafman wrote in an e-mail to reporters on Sunday that he was advised the New York Giants’ star receiver will be charged after accidentally shooting himself in the right thigh.
“I do not expect that Mr Burress will make a statement,” Brafman wrote.
He met with Burress for about an hour on Sunday at the player’s home in New Jersey.
“I would ask that his fans, the Giants and the media withhold judgment in this matter until all of the facts have been disclosed,” Brafman said.
Brafman is a well-known criminal lawyer who has defended mobsters and other high-profile figures, including hip-hop impresario Sean “Diddy” Combs on a bribery and gun possession charge in 2001.
Burress shot himself at a Manhattan nightclub on Friday and was released from a hospital early on Saturday, the Giants said.
“As far as we know, he’s going to be OK,” general manager Jerry Reese said before the Super Bowl champions’ game on Sunday at the Washington Redskins.
Before the shooting, Burress already had been ruled out of the game because of an unrelated leg injury.
New York police and NFL security are investigating what happened on Friday.
Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce was interviewed by NFL security at the team’s hotel on Saturday, Reese said.
Neither Reese nor Giants president and CEO John Mara would say what Burress’ status with the team might be going forward.
“I want to wait until we find out all the facts and circumstances before we make any determination,” Mara said. “I don’t know what happened there, and until we find out exactly what happened, I’m not going to make any comment or make any decision about what his future is.”
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