Police/Legal Blotter

[Zurp]

A lot of people are rejecting cases due to "insufficient evidence." pretty funny. ESPN probably wouldn't know that those two words fit together when they talk about tOSU.

[scooter1369]

Prosecutors from the LA District Attorney's Office have declined to file sexual assault charges against Trojan cornerback Eric Wright, citing insufficient evidence. Wright had been arrested on suspicion of rape in March during USC spring drills.

Prosecutors from the LA District Attorney's Office have declined to file sexual assault charges against Trojan cornerback Eric Wright, citing insufficient evidence. Wright had been arrested on suspicion of rape in March during USC spring drills.
"Basically, we came here today prepared to deny the allegations and commence our defense. And, for whatever reasons, the district attorney has decided not to proceed with the case, and for that we are grateful," defense attorney Carmen Trutanich told reporters outside court. "He (Wright) has been attending classes and looking forward to the time that he can rejoin his teammates.”

According to ABC news in Los Angeles, the DA's Office also decided not to charge him in connection with the drug Ecstasy, which was allegedly found in his room.

In a charge evaluation worksheet, Deputy District Attorney Christi Frey wrote that an 18-year-old fellow USC student who met Wright at a party was "intoxicated" that night. The woman alleged that he placed a blue pill that he said was ecstasy in her mouth when she left the party, and claimed that he "forcibly raped her in his apartment," according to the document.

The woman's "urine tested positive for MDMA (from ecstasy), and police found 136 pills in suspect's room that matched victim's description of the pill suspect gave her. These pills also tested positive for MDMA," Frey wrote. The case was referred to another prosecutor for possible filing of drug charges, but she, too, rejected the case due to insufficient evidence.

"A necessary witness who can establish furnishing and dominion and control of the drugs recovered is uncooperative and unwilling to testify because to do so would be injurious to their mental health," Deputy District Attorney Patricia Wilkinson wrote in her charge evaluation worksheet. "Without the testimony, there is insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the drugs belong to the defendant in light of the fact that the apartment in which they were found is occupied by the defendant and another individual," she wrote.

It is unclear at this point what the status is for Wright in terms of a potential return to the team as USC Student Affairs is still reviewing the situation.

136 X pills in his crib, chemically matching the drug in her system and matching her description of what he gave her, and no charges will be fired.....

Is this USC or Miami?

[BB73]

USC getting some bad press from SI.com.
Flying solo

Problems grow during USC off-season

Posted: Friday April 22, 2005 1:01PM - written by Arash Markazi
You know that feeling you get when a couple of members of your favorite band start coming out with solo records? They're not officially done, but everyone knows it's a matter of time before things come crashing down and they break up. I'm starting to get that same feeling about the USC football team.

First, you had half the coaching staff, including offensive coordinator Norm Chow, leave the team in the off-season. Then you had starting cornerback Eric Wright getting arrested for allegedly raping someone at a frat party attended by 10-15 other players. Although charges were dropped, it's never a good sign to have your starting cornerback sitting out of spring ball because of legal problems.

More news trickled out of 'SC last week. There was a fight between receiver Steve Smith and tight end Dominique Byrd over money Smith owed Byrd that resulted in Byrd getting a broken jaw. The scuffle took place in the players' apartment after the two were playing video games and resulted in this classic exchange that would put any Jean-Claude Van Damme script to shame.

SMITH: You know Byrd ... I really don't want to fight you.
BYRD: Nah, we've got to.

(Smith swings and breaks Byrd's jaw)

While head coach Pete Carroll has been optimistic his team can overcome the losses and turmoil, it may be easier said than done. As spring practice wrapped up last week there were serious doubts that Byrd, running back LenDale White and defensive linemen Frostee Rucker and Manuel Wright would be academically eligible to play this season and they were all listed at or near the bottom of their position lists on the end-of-spring depth chart. Carroll went so far as to say, "It's going to be a challenge to get all the guys back," and Wright has already explored the option of entering the NFL supplemental draft.

With the actual NFL draft taking place this weekend, you have to wonder if Matt Leinart wishes he would have skipped all this drama and taken the guaranteed money that would have come with being the No. 1 pick. Apparently, all Leinart needed was a promise from a team holding a top pick that he would be their guy and he would have been in New York this weekend.

• Cock Fighting -- Southern Cal isn't the only USC having problems off the field this off-season. Two South Carolina football players were arrested last Sunday and charged with marijuana possession, raising the total number of Gamecocks arrested since the end of last season to 11. This came on the heels of coach Steve Spurrier poking fun at Tennessee for having more off the field problems than his squad. Isn't that like Carrot Top poking fun at Pauley Shore for having more box office flops?

[BB73]

This sad story speaks for itself.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200....ap/index.html

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Darrell Jackson, a freshman who withdrew from classes at Missouri and left the football team in August, pleaded guilty Friday to five counts of statutory sodomy.

Jackson, 19, admitted in St. Louis County Circuit Court that he had molested a child five times from August 2000 to April 2004. The child was 8 years old when the molestation began, STLtoday.com, the Web site of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, reported.

Judge Larry Kendrick set sentencing for June 9. He allowed Jackson to remain free on bond and warned him to stay out of trouble.

Friends of the victim's family organized an effort to heighten awareness about what it calls "the quiet, hushed epidemic of child sexual abuse in our community." Campaign organizers said the media should focus on the abuse of children instead of publicizing the athleticism of defendants such as Jackson.

The quarterback from Webster Groves was considered perhaps the best player in the 2004 recruiting class from the St. Louis area.

[BB73]

Cocks' Smith enters guilty plea

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200....ap/index.html

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- Suspended South Carolina receiver David Smith has pleaded guilty to breaking into his former girlfriend's home and damaging a police car, prosecutor Donnie Myers said Wednesday.

Smith, 20, of Union was sentenced Tuesday to one year of probation and ordered to pay $550 for kicking out the window of a Cayce patrol car. He was arrested March 15 on several charges in the small town across the Congaree River from Columbia.
"I think this is a good resolution to the case," Myers said. "It should serve as an example to other young people that actions such as those committed by Smith result in consequences. These convictions will follow him the rest of his life."

Smith pleaded guilty to third-degree burglary and malicious injury to personal property. The judge suspended the five-year sentence to one year of probation as long as Smith stays out of trouble. Smith still must stand trial May 19 on a criminal domestic violence charge.

"I think it was very helpful for us to get such a good deal," said Neal Lourie, Smith's attorney. "He's ready to move on with his life. Everybody said this was completely out of character for David."

Smith's Union High School football coach, Rep. Mike Anthony, D-Union, and others came to his defense during a bond hearing just days after his arrest.

Myers said he refused to dismiss all the charges because Smith was cited in November for trespassing at the apartment complex.

Kendra Betsill, the mother of Smith's 2-year-old child, said she didn't want to press charges. "She said she was mother of his son, they still had a son to think about and she said she has had been through enough," Myers said.

According to investigators and warrants, Smith broke out a window at Betsill's apartment when she didn't answer the door. He chased another man out of the building and assaulted him before confronting Betsill. Investigators said Smith choked Betsill.

When police put Smith in a patrol car, he kicked out a window, causing hundreds of dollars in damage, Myers said.

The prosecutor said Smith has been taking anger management classes as he was ordered to do at his bond hearing.

Smith has been indefinitely suspended from the South Carolina football team, but his attorney said he hopes to play at another school next season. Smith had one catch last season -- a 5-yard touchdown pass in a 48-14 loss at Florida.

He was one of 11 current or former Gamecock football players who have been arrested on charges ranging from possession of marijuana to grand larceny since the end of last season.