Adrian Peterson court date delayed

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HOUSTON -- Prosecutors again agreed to push back the court date for Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson to face a misdemeanor resisting arrest charge.

A pretrial hearing was originally scheduled for July 13, and it was initially moved to Monday. Attorney Rusty Hardin said hearings would now be held Sept. 27 and Nov. 15 before Judge Natalie Fleming.

Prosecutors need more time to review evidence and conduct interviews about the July 7 incident in which Peterson was arrested outside a Houston night club, Hardin said.

Dressed in a gray suit with a blue polka-dot tie, Peterson chatted with defendants and signed autographs in the courtroom Monday morning as Hardin talked with attorneys and Fleming. Peterson did not speak to reporters outside the courtroom before he and Hardin boarded an elevator.

Peterson, a four-time Pro Bowl selection, is on the Vikings' physically unable to perform list as he continues to rehabilitate his surgically repaired left knee.

He was briefly hospitalized last week after he had an allergic reaction to eating jambalaya in the team cafeteria. He said before entering the courtroom that he felt fine, but was still awaiting blood tests to determine why he got sick.

The Palestine, Texas, native was handcuffed and briefly jailed after a confrontation with an off-duty police officer outside the club, then released on $1,000 bond.

Police said Peterson shoved the officer, who was working security and asked Peterson and his companions to leave the club, which was closed. Peterson said July 13 that he "didn't push, shove, touch anything to anyone that night, especially an officer."

Hardin, who successfully defended Roger Clemens in his recent perjury case, also adamantly disputes the police's version of the incident. He wanted to change the court date to give prosecutors more time.

Last season, Peterson ran for 970 yards and 12 touchdowns before tearing the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his left knee Dec. 24. The injury-shortened season broke a streak of four straight with at least 1,200 yards rushing.

The former Oklahoma star was drafted seventh overall by Minnesota in 2007.

Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press

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