Lakers power forward Jordan Hill avoids jail over assault charge

Los Angeles Lakers power forward Jordan Hill was sentenced to one year of probation and domestic violence counseling Thursday after pleading no contest to assaulting his former girlfriend, Darlene Luna, in February.

Hill, 25, agreed to pay a $500 fine, undergo domestic-violence counseling, make a $100 donation to the Harris County Violence Fund and avoid any contact with the alleged victim, Darlene Luna. The assault charge was reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor before 339th District Criminal Judge Maria Jackson, according to a report by the Associated Press in Houston.

While high-profile lawyer Rusty Hardin helped Hill avoid jail time, he will likely face a civil suit as a result of Luna's charges. Luna is being represented by a celebrity lawyer of her own.

The moment in court Thursday featured Hill’s lawyer Rusty Hardin, who represented baseball player Roger Clemens in his perjury case, and Luna’s lawyer Gloria Allred, who represented Nicole Brown Simpson’s family during the O.J. Simpson murder trial. Allred handed Hardin a letter stating Luna’s intention to file a civil suit against Hill.

Hill, a 2009 first-round pick of the New York Knicks, is charged with assaulting Luna on Feb. 29 at his apartment in Houston while playing for the Rockets. He re-signed with the Lakers in the offseason as an option to back up center Dwight Howard and power forward Pau Gasol.

Hill expressed enthusiasm for the upcoming season on the same day of his court decision.