A judge Tuesday found an ex-Pittsburgh Steeler not guilty of assaulting his girlfriend during a May dispute over mashed potatoes at the linebacker’s Sewickley-area home.
Devin Bush, Jr., 27, of Bell Acres was accused of injuring Shkurte Leka, also 27, after she started filming an argument between them on her iPhone.
The May 4 conflict started over how Bush was transferring mashed potatoes into a container in the couple’s kitchen.
Leka testified that Bush chased her through the home they shared, then pinned her to a massage table as he tried to wrestle the cellphone from her hands. She suffered cuts and abrasions to her right wrist and a toe.
Bush, however, maintained he was trying to leave the home for “a breather” as the fight escalated. He stressed there was no physical contact but admitted to smashing Leka’s phone.
Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Bruce Beemer ruled that Bush was not guilty of simple assault or harassment. He said prosecutors Tuesday failed to prove Bush had the intent to harm or injure Leka, the mother of the couple’s 3-year-old daughter.
“We are relieved and pleased with the verdict,” attorney Robert Del Greco Jr., who represented Bush, told TribLive after the roughly 90-minute nonjury trial in a Downtown Pittsburgh courtroom.
“I think Devin Bush testified cogently and convincingly regarding his abject lack of intent of harm or injure anyone,” Del Greco added.
Del Greco and Alleheny County Deputy District Attorney Nichole Onda sparred over word choices during the bench trial.
Onda said the defendant “smashed” Leka’s phone and that Bush’s girlfriend was hanging onto the device “for dear life.”
Del Greco stressed that Leka was “electronically recording (Bush’s) oral communications” without consent. He repeatedly referred to Leka’s attempt to record Bush as “unlawful wiretapping.”
Prosecutors played the nearly 5-minute-long 911 call Leka made after the argument from a neighbor’s home. Del Greco questioned two character witnesses — including Bush’s father, a retired NFL safety — on his client’s behalf.
The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Bush in the first round of the 2019 NFL draft. He left the club after the 2022 season and currently plays for the Cleveland Browns.
