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Could This New Video of the Venus Williams Car Crash Exonerate Her?

Her legal team is looking to "update" the cause of the deadly accident.

New video released by police may throw a wrench in the lawsuit recently filed against Venus Williams over a deadly car crash she was involved in.

According to the footage released on Friday (July 7), the star tennis player had a green light to enter the intersection where the fatal collision happened, rather than a red one, which had previously been surmised. It shows her being T-boned by an elderly couple as she enters the intersection.

Authorities say the June 9 crash is still under investigation, but lawyers for Williams are expected to seize the footage and should be able to “update” who is to blame for the crash.

“That's not a complete final report - it can be updated,” Malcolm Cunningham, Venus’ lawyer, told reporters outside a courthouse in Palm Beach County, Florida, explaining that the initial police report citing his client as the party at fault isn’t final. “Venus Williams entered that intersection on a green light, her progress was impeded and she had the right by state law to get through the intersection.”

The police, who again, haven’t cleared Williams or changed the previous conclusion that she was to blame, do admit that she was lawfully allowed to be in the intersection at the time.

“Based on the evidence obtained in the ongoing investigation, it has been determined the vehicle driven by Venus Williams lawfully entered the intersection on a circular green traffic signal,” Major Paul Rogers of the PBGPD said in a statement.

Venus Williams, who is currently competing at Wimbledon, was sued for unlawfully killing 78-year-old Jerome Barson, who was a passenger in the car that collided. Barson died from the injuries sustained during the incident two weeks after it happened. The family and legal team for the deceased man are claiming the footage proves their suit is valid, explaining that Williams didn’t get out of the intersection in time, “violating the Barson’s right of way,” according to Michael Steinger, the family’s attorney.

Regardless, Williams is saddened by what happened. According to Cunningham, "She is devastated by it [and] thinks about it a lot,” adding that he hoped the accident would not “distract” the star from competing.

See the recently released footage of the accident below.

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