CASTLE ROCK, Colo. -- Denver Broncos linebacker John Mobley
was convicted of drunken driving on Friday.
A Douglas County District Court jury also convicted Mobley of
driving with excessive alcohol and speeding. Jurors deliberated for
about six hours after three days of testimony.
Mobley faces between seven days and a year in jail and a fine of
$450 to $1,000 on the drunken driving charge. Sentencing was set
for July 22.
He could also be fined or suspended by the NFL.
"I believe in my own innocence and, you know, you got to take
it how it comes," Mobley said after the verdict.
Broncos spokesman Jim Saccomano declined to comment on Mobley's
future.
"It has to play out through the legal system, and that's what
it's doing at this time. So at this point we don't have a
comment," he said.
Saccomano said he did not know whether Mobley's conviction will
affect the Broncos' choices in the NFL draft, which begins
Saturday.
It was Mobley's second alcohol-related conviction. In 1999, he
was charged with DUI after a car wreck but pleaded guilty to lesser
charges of driving while impaired, driving without a license and
careless driving. He was sentenced to one year's probation and
ordered to complete 24 hours of community service.
Mobley, a former All-Pro, missed the last part of the 2003
season after bruising his spinal column in a frightening collision
with Baltimore's Jamal Lewis and teammate Kelly Herndon in late
October.
Mobley lay motionless for more than 10 minutes before moving his
hands as he was carted off the field. He did not undergo surgery.
His latest conviction stems from a Dec. 28, 2002, arrest in
Parker after he failed a roadside sobriety test. Police said he had
been driving 69 mph in a 40 mph zone.
Mobley's attorneys said he failed the roadside test because of a
concussion and other football injuries. The defense also implied
that Mobley was pulled over because of racial profiling.
Mobley testified he was pulled over at least 12 times during the
12 months before his 2002 arrest.