Jon Jones, the former UFC light heavyweight champion and one of the most dominant, yet controversial, figures in mixed martial arts, has found himself grappling with a different kind of opponent: the legal system. Following a February car accident in New Mexico, Jones was already facing a charge of leaving the scene. However, the legal saga recently took a perplexing turn with the filing of *new* charges, including one that bizarrely duplicates an existing count.
The incident in question dates back to February 21. According to initial reports, police responded to a two-vehicle crash. Inside one of the vehicles, a woman was found showing signs of significant intoxication and reportedly lacking clothing from the waist down. She identified Jon Jones as the driver of her vehicle, claiming he fled the scene on foot after the collision.
The situation escalated when the woman placed a call to Jones, and a police service aide reportedly spoke with him. The aide described Jones as seemingly heavily intoxicated and claimed he made statements implying he could employ lethal force through others. A responding officer, Andrew Romero, also spoke with someone on the phone who made similar vague “allusions to violence” and seemed hesitant to confirm their identity as Jon Jones, according to the reports.
Jones later provided his own account to police, stating the woman called him, handed the phone to someone claiming to be an officer, but that the caller immediately used “unprofessional language,” leading Jones to doubt their legitimacy. An investigation involving subpoenaed phone records reportedly showed Jones calling the woman 13 times after the accident and a gap in his location data coinciding with the accident time.
This background led to the initial misdemeanor charge for leaving the scene, to which Jones has pleaded not guilty, with a bench trial currently set for August 14.
However, the plot thickened dramatically on June 30. A *second* criminal complaint was filed against Jones by Officer Romero. This new filing included not only the same charge of leaving the scene of an accident but also a new charge: Use of Telephone to Terrify, Intimidate, Threaten, Harass, Annoy or Offend. Yes, you read that right – the *same* leaving the scene charge appeared again in a separate case file.
This peculiar legal move promptly drew a sharp response from Jones` attorney, Christopher Dodd. On July 9, Dodd filed a motion to dismiss the *second* case, citing a violation of the mandatory joinder rule. In simple terms, this rule generally requires all charges stemming from the same incident to be filed together in a single case.
“Mr. Jones is already facing prosecution in a separate case for the same factual allegations,” Dodd argued in the filing. He stressed that forcing Jones to defend against two separate cases involving the exact same underlying facts was improper. The motion highlighted the strange nature of the duplicate charge, questioning whether it was a simple communication breakdown between investigating officers or, more cynically speculated, filed this way for some “improper strategic purpose.” Either way, the attorney contends, the result is the same: an impermissible charging of the same offense twice, warranting dismissal of the second case.
As of now, the motion to dismiss is pending before Judge Brittany Maldonado, and the second criminal complaint remains active. While Jones recently hinted at a potential comeback after a brief “retirement,” his immediate future remains entangled in this evolving and rather unusual legal situation in New Mexico.
