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Attorney: Marshall not at fault for club incident

Brandon Marshall is off to a dubious start as a Bear.

The superstar wide receiver, who was acquired from the Dolphins on Tuesday for a pair of third-round draft choices, will be arriving with even more baggage than originally believed — and there was already a boatload of it.

Last weekend, Marshall is accused of punching a woman in the face at a New York nightclub, an incident that Bears general manager Phil Emery addressed with a 30-word statement Wednesday morning.

“Both the Bears and Dolphins were aware of what occurred over the weekend,” Emery's statement read. “We decided to move forward with the trade. We have high expectations for Brandon as a Bear.”

The altercation occurred at a New York club where Marshall's wife, Michi Nogami-Marshall, was hit in the head with a bottle during a melee that neither of the Marshalls were involved in, according to Marshall's attorney Harvey Steinberg.

Marshall took his wife to the hospital for treatment and later, according to the New York Post, a woman named Christin Myles filed a police report saying that Marshall struck her in the left eye.

Steinberg later released a statement that read:

“On March 12, 2012 Brandon Marshall was the keynote speaker at a charitable event in New York. After the event was over he, his wife and close friends attended a function at a local club. While at the function a fight broke out NOT involving Mr. Marshall or his friends. While attempting to leave to avoid the melee Mrs. Marshall was struck in the face by a thrown bottle. She suffered serious injury.

“While attempting to leave and take his wife to the hospital, the mayhem continued outside. Finally Mr. Marshall was able to take his wife to the hospital where she was treated for serious injuries. Mr. Marshall is hoping to assist authorities in regards to this matter.”

Last summer, Marshall revealed that he was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder at Boston's McLean Hospital after several domestic incidents with his wife and other alcohol- and anger-related problems. He is currently in treatment for the illness and is filming a documentary about his struggle.

That diagnosis came three months after Marshall was stabbed in the stomach by his wife and hospitalized for two days. Marshall also with a group of Broncos players involved in a dispute at a nightclub that resulted in defensive back Darrent Williams being fatally shot in the neck on Jan. 1, 2007.

When Marshall was suspended for one game by the NFL in 2008 for his off-field transgressions, then-teammate Jay Cutler, who he has been reunited with on the Bears, said: “Brandon is not a bad guy at all. He's a good guy; he means well. It's just he's been in some sticky situations, some things he probably shouldn't get into. I think it definitely hit home with this. I don't expect Brandon to be in any more situations like that for the rest of his career and probably for the rest of his life.”

Images: New Bear Brandon Marshall

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