Former NFL star Deion Sanders was recently awarded temporary custody of his children. A judge also ordered that his estranged wife stay at least 500 yards away from the Hall of Famer’s home.
When looking at what happened for a protective order to be issued, the incident stems back to last month when police responded to a home the couple shared for a domestic disturbance. At the time, Sanders had already filed for a divorce from his wife, but the two were still living together.
Sanders claimed that he was in the kitchen area inside his bedroom — on his side of the home — when his wife began kicking at the kitchen door and slapping him. He told officers that in response to her physical attack, he picked up her by the waist and brought her out of his bedroom. However, when he got outside of the bedroom, his wife and one of her friends both began to hit him.
After the incident, his wife was arrested. And while she was also trying to get a protective order, a judge ruled that Sanders had only been defending himself. Even in her mug shot photo where there appears to be an injury to her lip, an officer who testified in court said it looks like she got it from biting her own lip.
In this domestic disturbance, according to the judge, since Sanders did not experience any real physical pain from the incident, it was only a simple assault, which for his estranged wife would be punishable by fine.
For right now, while Sanders has temporary child custody, one has to wonder if this recent protective order will be taken into account and if he will end up being awarded permanent primary custody of his children.
Source: The Associated Press, “Deion Sanders gets temporary custody of children,” May 7, 2012
