A jury found former New England Patriots receiver Stefon Diggs not guilty Tuesday of assaulting his personal chef, Jamila Adams, in an encounter prosecutors said took place Dec. 2 at Diggs’ home in Dedham.
The case hinged on Adams’ account. She told jurors Diggs “smacked me with an open hand” and then wrapped an arm around her neck, leaving her struggling to breathe. Adams said she met Diggs in 2022 on Instagram, later lived in his home during the football season and prepared all of his meals while being paid about $2,000 a week; she testified she believed she had not been fully compensated after being sent home.
Prosecutors framed the trial around that private Dec. 2 encounter inside the home. Assistant District Attorney Drew Virtue told the jury Adams’ relationship with Diggs had been many things — "a sometimes lover, a boss, landlord," — and argued her account deserved "the attention, the scrutiny, the weight it deserves." Virtue also painted the setting as one shaped by Diggs’ celebrity: "He was an athlete, a celebrity, financially powerful, surrounded by people that were all on his payroll that liked him," and he pressed jurors to weigh Adams’ statements rather than dismiss them because of her behavior: "She was argumentative, avoidant, difficult. But does that mean you should throw away everything she said? No,"
Defense attorneys denied the assault ever happened. Andrew Kettlewell told jurors in closing that prosecutors had not presented "a single shred of credible evidence" and urged them to see the case as a disputed personal and financial relationship rather than a criminal attack. Kettlewell accused Adams of using accusations as leverage "and humiliate and to punish" Diggs and said, plainly, "There was no assault, no strangulation, no incident at all on that day or any other day,"
The trial also featured arguments over money and motive. Defense lawyers said Adams made a $19,000 demand and that her attorney later sought $5.5 million; Adams testified that Diggs had offered her $100,000 to recant a statement to police, though the judge struck that remark from the record. Prosecutors, for their part, maintained their case was built on Adams’ first‑hand account of what occurred rather than on financial disputes.
Courtroom exchanges underscored the difficulty jurors faced in sorting credibility. Under cross‑examination, Adams at times answered narrowly — "I can't speak on that," "I don't understand the question," "I don't know how to answer the question" — and the defense seized on those moments to question her recollection and motive.
The verdict resolves the criminal case: Diggs, a four‑time Pro Bowl selection who played for the Patriots, was acquitted Tuesday. But it leaves the competing narratives intact — Adams’ vivid description of a private chokehold and slap and Diggs’ categorical denial — and it leaves open how the episode will be judged outside the courtroom.
The most consequential unanswered question now is whether the not‑guilty verdict will settle the dispute between the two accounts or simply transfer the conflict into public view, where reputations and relationships continue to be tried on different terms; for many who followed the case, the moment that mattered — what happened in that Dedham home on Dec. 2 — remains contested even after the jury’s decision.
