It was just last November that Renee Thomas and Angela Keathley, the Carolina Panthers cheerleaders, were arrested after their little bathroom escapade. In January and March, Keathley and Thomas, respectively, pled out to avoid jailtime and agree not to make money off the case. (Hence, no Playboy spreads, sorry.)
Well, now the story can be told: A source close to the investigation tells us that our humble little site was dangerously close to being mentioned in official court documents. Witness.
So when the State began to prepare for trial, they searched for old internet articles relating to the arrest. The Defendant was charged with using a false ID, and the result of that use having ill effects on a third party. When the blonde got arrested and used her friend's ID, that friend's name was dragged through the mud on numerous blogs and newspaper articles, until the Defendant's real name came out. One of the articles that were prepared and marked as exhibits for trial? Deadspin's initial reporting of the incident, which linked to the newspaper articles that gave out the fake name given by the Defendant. Unfortunately, the Monday of Jury Selection, Miss Thomas chose to take the deal first offered by the bosses, which she initially refused, because she didn't like the "You can't make money off this" clause.
So, now that they've both pled out, and Miss Thomas is doing her Pre-Trial Intervention program, it's safe to let the cat out of the bag: Deadspin almost got mentioned in a criminal proceeding.
We can't think of anything that would have made our father more proud of us.
The Whole System Is Out Of Order [Deadspin]