The Joe Mixon Punch Tape Is Coming...Court Rules It Must Be Made Public

NORMAN, Okla. – Almost two years after an OU football recruit was suspended from the team, an appeals court has ruled the surveillance footage from the assault he is accused of is public record.

“We therefore conclude the trial court erred in dismissing OAB;s petition for declaratory and injunctive relief and the matter must be returned to the trial court to further determine whether OAB’s interest—the public’s interest–in access to the record outweighs Defendants’’ reason(s) for denial of that access.”- Court of Civil Appeals ruling

Last year, a judge dismissed the case saying that since the video was shown to members of the media, the city fulfilled its duty.

However, on Monday, an appeals court ruled the video is considered public record and must be released.

Since the video was shown in court, the video must be considered court record, meaning any member of the public should have access to the video for inspection or copying purposes.

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Wow, this is bad, baddddd news for the Sooners. Thinking that the Joe Mixon situation was behind them, only to have an appeals court come out two years later and say the video needs to be made public. If there’s one thing we learned from the Ray Rice incident, it’s that the video changes everything. You can hear all the details in the world…and there have been plenty of awful details about this one:

Twelve seconds into the clip, bent over with her arms on the table in front of her, Amelia Rae Molitor motions someone closer.

Twenty-one seconds later, Molitor lay motionless on the floor of Pickleman’s Gourmet Cafe after taking a single punch to her left jaw, and Joe Mixon, the 18-year-old Oklahoma freshman running back who delivered it, walked out of the shot and into a whirlwind of uncertainty.

Mixon has been charged with acts resulting in gross injury, a misdemeanor. Molitor, a 20-year-old OU student, was not charged in the July 25 incident, which left her with fractures of her jaw, cheek bone, sinus and orbital bone.

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The restaurant — a sandwich shop and pizzeria just north of OU’s campus — stays open until 3 a.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, catering to the crowds of mainly college students emptying out of nearby bars in the early hours.

On this early Friday morning, the eatery is nearly void of activity in view of the camera as the clip starts.

None of the other tables in sight of the camera is occupied when Molitor comes up with a friend at her side and leans over facing the camera to talk to people sitting on the other side of the table.

When she motions someone over, Mixon walks into the frame near the counter.

Wearing sunglasses propped on his forehead, a lanyard around his neck and a T-shirt, Mixon appears calm as his night out celebrating his 18th birthday is two-plus hours into overtime.

After a brief discussion, Mixon looks as if he’s going to walk away, but looks like he says something as he turns. Molitor then pushes Mixon, setting off a quick series of events that were over in three seconds. Mixon reacts to the push by lunging at Molitor with a closed fist at his side. She reacts by slapping Mixon near where his jaw and neck meet on his left side.

Then the punch.

Mixon lands a devastating right hook that knocks Molitor off her feet. First she hits the table on her left ear, then falls to the ground, where she lays still.

Mixon walks out of the frame toward the front of the restaurant and is not seen again. [NewsOK]

But seeing it in live action is next level. That’s the thing that turns programs upside down and gets people fired.

Mixon did seem pretty broken up about it.

Has he had a desire to answer any non-football related questions?

“No,” he said.

Does he think that he should?

“Not here.”

At any point, does he owe that to anyone?

“No, not here.”

* Earlier he said he would describe himself as a great person. Why does he say that?

“If you get to know me, you’d know how I am,” Mixon said.

Then he asked the reporter, “Are you a great person?”

She said, “No, I wouldn’t say I’m a great person.”

Mixon: “You seem like it.”

Clown.