Ex-NFL player Hugh Douglas faces civil suit in assault case

Former NFL player Hugh Douglas is now facing a civil lawsuit from an ex-girlfriend he was accused of assaulting, according to a press statement released by the plaintiff's lawyer.

Douglas, who was also an ESPN analyst, pleaded no contest in February to misdemeanor breach of peace in the case, during which he faced allegations that he assaulted his girlfriend at a Hartford, Conn. hotel, Crimesider reported. He received a suspended sentence of six months in prison and a two-year conditional discharge, reports the Hartford Courant.

Douglas had previously been charged with assault and strangulation on Sept. 22, 2013, the day of the alleged incident.

"The criminal justice system failed me," the plaintiff, Hope Davila, said at a press conference Monday, reports the Courant. "I am hopeful that this civil case will accomplish what the criminal case failed to do."

Davila's lawyer, Gloria Allred, reportedly said Davila opposed the plea agreement and wanted the case to go to trial.

The lawsuit reportedly alleges Douglas "assaulted Ms. Davila so brutally, she thought he was going to kill her."

"The purpose of our suit is to make Mr. Douglas accountable to Hope and allow a civil jury to hear the evidence that she would have had presented to a criminal jury," Allred said, reports the Courant.

Police say that the Bryn Mawr, Pa. resident grabbed his girlfriend by the neck and slammed her against the walls of a hallway in the Hartford Downtown Marriott last September. Douglas told authorities that the woman's neck injury was the result of rough sex, Crimesider reported.

Douglas played in the NFL for the New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles and Jacksonville Jaguars between 1995 and 2004.