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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA change of plea hearing in a criminal case against former NFL quarterback Mark Sanchez has been delayed from early next month into the new year.
A Marion Superior Court hearing scheduled for Nov. 9 was rescheduled for Jan. 25 after a judge assigned to the case, Helen W. Marchal, recused herself, according to an entry Thursday in the case search website MyCase.
No reason was given for the recusal. The case had only recently been assigned to Marchal after another judge retired.
The Jan. 25 hearing will take place before Judge Angela Dow Davis, according to MyCase.
A representative of Sanchez’s attorney, James Voyles, declined to comment on the change when contacted by The Indiana Lawyer.
Sanchez’s attorneys filed paperwork last month to enter a guilty plea related to a violent altercation he had a year ago outside a downtown Indianapolis hotel with a 69-year-old truck driver.
Sanchez initially faced charges of felony battery resulting in serious bodily injury, unlawful entry to a motor vehicle and public intoxication. The charges are tied to a fight with truck driver Perry Tole that occurred at about 12:30 a.m. on Oct. 4 when Sanchez was in the city to cover an NFL game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Las Vegas Raiders.
According to the original complaint, Tole was approached by Sanchez after Tole had parked at a loading dock area outside the Westin Hotel.
During their interaction, Sanchez entered Tole’s work truck without permission, blocking Tole and preventing him from contacting his manager, according to court documents. Sanchez is accused of shoving Tole, which began an altercation that left Tole with injuries to his head, jaw and neck, and Sanchez with stab wounds.
A brief document filed in early September gave no indication to which charges Sanchez plans to plead guilty.
Sanchez also faces a civil lawsuit from Tole in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.
An entry and order from a status conference in that case filed Oct. 6 said the two sides had reached an agreement in principle. Future court dates involving discovery, conferences and a trial had been vacated.
No further updates have been filed in that case.
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