Richard Seymour's Wife Arrested on Two Alleged Counts of 'Lynching'

Richard Seymour's wife was arrested yesterday in a bizarre -- and violent -- set of criminal circumstances. Tanya Seymour, according to wltx.com, was picked up by police because of an incident relating to a New Year's Eve party that resulted in her being charged with "two counts of second degree lynching."

Arresting Images

Tanya Seymour: The wife of Patriots star Richard Seymour was arrested by South Carolina police for second-degree lynching after an altercation at a New Year's Eve party. Click through to see other mugshots of sports figures.

Richland County Sheriff's Dept

Carl Eller: Former Vikings great Carl Eller, seen here after being arrested in April, has been convicted of assault on a police officer and refusing to take a sobriety test.

Hennepin County Sheriff's Office/AP

Rampage Jackson: The UFC star was arrested on July 15 after a 3-mile chase and multiple collisions. Jackson was hospitalized for a mental health evaluation following the arrest.

Costa Mesa Police Department, AP

Antoine Walker: The former NBA player was charged with suspicion of drunken driving in Miami Beach. Police say officers smelled alcohol and that Walker looked sleepy.

Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation Dept., AP

John Daly: The golfer was taken into custody in October by Winston-Salem, N.C., police after he was reportedly found drunk outside a Hooters restaurant. Officers said Daly "appeared extremely intoxicated and uncooperative." As a result of this and other transgressions, Daly says he's been suspended for six months from the PGA Tour.

Forsyth County Sheriff's Office, AP

Charles Barkley: The former NBA star is arrested on suspicion of DUI after police say he ran through a stop sign in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Gilbert Police Department / AP

Michael Rayfield Hodges: Police say that Hodges bit off the fingertip of an officer during a jail scuffle. Hodges also faces charges after charging into the secure area of the Tri-Cities Airport in Washington state.

Franklin County (Wash.) Corrections

Larry Johnson: Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson turned himself into police on Oct. 27, 2008 and was charged with simple assault following an incident in a nightclub, where Johnson reportedly spat his drink in a woman's face and threatened her boyfriend's life.

Kansas City Mo. Police Department/AP

Stacy Elizabeth Beshear: The 34-year-old Lakers fan was arrested on Sept. 18 after being accused of stalking NBA star Luke Walton.

Manhattan Beach Police Dept.

Thunder Collins: The former Nebraska running back was arrested on Sept. 24, nearly 24 hours after a shooting left one person dead and another seriously wounded. Collins faces first-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder and felony weapons charges.

Omaha Police Dept. / AP

The 27-year-old wife of a New England Patriots defensive lineman was arrested Thursday and charged with two counts of second degree lynching in connection to an assault at a New Year's Eve party in Richland County.

Deputies say the incident began after two victims, who told investigators that they had been invited to the party, were engaged in a verbal altercation with an unknown number of people.

Investigators say the two victims were assaulted by a group of people, sometime after 12:30 a.m. on January 1, and they told deputies the group "jumped" them.

We're obviously treading -- based solely on the charges involving the word "lynch" -- on some seriously charged racial ground here. MediaTakeOut didn't do anyone a favor, either, by referring to the incident as "some good old fashioned Southern justice" and alleging that Seymour was cheating on his wife.

Of course, the whole thing takes a different spin when you actually look at South Carolina laws (via PFT; which is also an example of why the lawyer/blogger thing works so well), lynching is a punishable crime that is much broader and more benign than you'd expect. As described in the state's Code of Laws:

"Any act of violence inflicted by a mob upon the body of another person and from which death does not result shall constitute the crime of lynching in the second degree and shall be a felony. Any person found guilty of lynching in the second degree shall be confined at hard labor in the State Penitentiary for a term not exceeding twenty years nor less than three years, at the discretion of the presiding judge."

So, really, the problem here is that South Carolina still uses the antiquated term "lynching" in the state's criminal procedure laws; eliminating that would have resulted in "assault" or some such term and wouldn't have the media nearly as riled up. There's still the issue of Mrs. Seymour attacking someone, of course, but apparently she's clear on bail now and will have to deal with the charges once the proper justice protocol runs its course.