Update– 6:12 PM ET
Rice and his now-wife, Janay Rice (neé Palmer), testified separately to former U.S. District Judge Barbara Jones. There was a gag order on the hearing, but a verdict is expected in "a matter of days."
The hearing isn't a criminal case, but Jones was jointly chosen as a third-party arbitrator by the National Football League (NFL) and the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) to hear testimony under oath.
On Wednesday, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell reportedly testified for "over two hours" about what he knew about the elevator video, and when he knew it.
This week's hearing is to determine if Ray Rice was punished unfairly (and twice) after TMZ released the video of him punching his then-fianceé and dragging her unconscious body out of the elevator.
Ray Rice (and other sources) have maintained that Rice was upfront about his actions to the league and Goodell from the get-go. Initially, Rice was suspended only two games, a soft punishment that was widely met with criticism.
When TMZ released the elevator video after Week 1 of the NFL season, Goodell determined the video had changed his perception of the incident and suspended Rice indefinitely. The Ravens dropped him from his contract on the same day.
Proving false Goodell's insistence that the elevator video showed a different situation than the one painted for him by Ray Rice and Ravens officials is central to the NFLPA's argument for reinstating Rice. This would call into question much larger issues involving the league's handling of Ray Rice's punishment, and that of other players who have committed similar offenses.
Since the video's release, the NFL has taken large steps to not only create a standard policy for punishing those charged with domestic violence (first offense: six game suspension; second offense: lifetime ban).
They have also created a panel of advisors for matters of domestic violence. While the league's bungling of the Ray and Janay Rice incident was astronomical, the league's response has not been without merit.