NFL’s Javon Walker cites ‘bad judgment’ before assault

By Cara McCoy

Thursday, April 15, 2010 | 2:38 p.m.

Former Oakland Raiders wide receiver Javon Walker testified Thursday that he no longer wears large amounts of expensive jewelry or flashes cash after being beaten and robbed in Las Vegas almost two years ago.

Walker said he was intoxicated before he was found unconscious and robbed, suffering two broken bones in his face in an apartment complex parking lot near Winnick Avenue and Koval Lane, about a block from the Las Vegas Strip.

In the second day of testimony in the case against 42-year-old Deshawn Thomas, Walker told Thomas’ attorney, Betsy Allen, that it was “bad judgment” that put him in a vehicle with two strangers before the alleged attack in June 2008.

Thomas has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, first-degree kidnapping with substantial bodily harm, battery with substantial bodily harm, battery with intent to commit a crime and conspiracy to commit robbery.

Prosecutors say Thomas and another man, 32-year-old Arfat Fadel, lured a drunken Walker into Fadel’s black Range Rover and drove the football player from the Bellagio to the area where he was beaten and robbed.

Fadel last week pleaded guilty to lesser charges and, as part of his agreement with prosecutors, will testify against Thomas.

The trial is expected to last into next week.

Thomas’ attorney, Richard Ramos, told the jury during his opening arguments Wednesday that they shouldn’t believe Fadel’s testimony, saying he had gotten a “sweetheart deal” in exchange for it.

Walker testified that expensive jewelry, casino chips, credit cards and cash were taken from him in the attack. He spent four days at a Las Vegas hospital, where he underwent surgery on his mouth. It took about nine weeks to fully recover, he said.

In her continued cross-examination Thursday, Allen suggested Walker had possibly injured his face as a result of falling down while he was drunk. Walker said he remembered falling down but would be surprised to learn that he fell on his face, citing his training as a professional football player in saying he probably would have landed on his knees.

“I break my falls. Remember, I play football so I know how to break a fall,” he told Allen.

She also questioned him about inconsistencies in his testimony in court this week, testimony before the grand jury that indicted Thomas, and statements he made to police.

Walker openly admitted to being intoxicated and having a hazy recollection of the events that took place in the evening hours of June 15, 2008, through the early morning the next day. He was found at about 7:18 a.m. after a night of partying at Body English nightclub at the Hard Rock.

He had come to Las Vegas from Arizona with a group of friends.

Thomas, an ex-felon, could face a life sentence if convicted. He’s being held in the Clark County Detention Center.