Grand jury refuses to indict JSU basketball players


BLUEBENGAL

BLUEBENGAL

Senior Member
Feb. 20, 2002


Grand jury refuses to indict JSU basketball players

The Clarion-Ledger


A Hinds County grand jury has refused to indict seven Jackson State University basketball players and a former player accused of sexually assaulting a female student at a campus dormitory in November.

After the grand jury returned "no bills" in each case, Hinds County Circuit Judge Tomie Green on Wednesday signed orders rescinding the bonds the men had been under after they were released from jail.

Hinds County District Attorney Faye Peterson said she couldn't discuss grand jury actions until the required six months set by law.

Jackson State University President Ronald Mason said, "The legal system did what it is supposed to," if the evidence wasn't there for an indictment.

http://www.clarionledger.com/news/0202/20/jsu.html
 



JSU GET THEIR MEN BACK!!!!!!!

ESPN article

Grand Jury doesn't indict Jackson St. players

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Associated Press


JACKSON, Miss. -- A grand jury refused to indict seven members of the Jackson State basketball team and a former player on charges of sexually assaulting a female student, the Hinds County sheriff's office said.


Sheriff's department spokesman Steve Pickett said his office was notified of the grand jury's decision Wednesday.


All eight had been free on bond pending the grand jury action.


Authorities had charged Damien Smith, 19, and Cedric Gilbert, 22, a former basketball player, with rape and sexual battery. Reginald Taylor, 20, John Chandler, 19, and Jerome Bracey, 18, had been charged with rape.


Brian Nichols, 22, Robin Lucas, 20, and Richard Bradley, 23, were charged with sexual battery.


The players were suspended from the team and then from school in November after a female student accused them of forcing her to have sex in a campus dormitory.


Jackson State coach Andy Stoglin said he was relieved for the players and their families.


"This was such a devastating thing to the families," he said.


Stoglin said Bradley, Taylor, Nichols and Lucas will be allowed to play against Mississippi Valley State at home on Saturday.


Bradley was the team's leading scorer and rebounder last season.


Chandler, Smith and Bracey have transferred to junior colleges, Stoglin said, and could return to Jackson State next season.


The Tigers got off to a 2-11 start, including a 10-game losing streak, without the suspended players.


Jackson State has improved since Southwestern Athletic Conference play began and are 7-16 overall and 6-8 in the league.


In January, the university reinstated the players academically, allowing them to return to school and work out with the team on a limited basis.


According to an affidavit, the incident occurred Nov. 9. In the affidavit, the victim said she had consensual sex with one of the men and then was forced to have sex with the others.
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Congrats JSU. I'm actually happy for y'all.:tup:
 
When a grand jury won't indict you, you are either the most powerful person on the planet and they are scared to mess with you, OR the charge was absolutely the most bogus of charges (hint hint hint).

Now these boys done lost an entire year because some heifer got "trained", willingly, and lied.
 
They still broke rules... they werent suppose to have a girl in their dorm room. IF they was playing for Pettaway they would have been kicked off the team just for having the female in the room when she wasnt suppose to be. Petttaway kicked of a GREAT JUCO point guard that was starting for AAMU for getting caught with a girl in his room. You have to teach discipline somwhere.
 
Originally posted by DAHILL
They still broke rules... they werent suppose to have a girl in their dorm room. IF they was playing for Pettaway they would have been kicked off the team just for having the female in the room when she wasnt suppose to be. Petttaway kicked of a GREAT JUCO point guard that was starting for AAMU for getting caught with a girl in his room. You have to teach discipline somwhere.
Click to expand...
Brandon Reed is all I need to say about A&M and discipline.

But, you're right. They broke the rules and shoulda been punished. Kicked off the team would be extreme for that, IMO. The school kicked them out for the remainder of the semester. They got no credit. They shoulda been allowed to play for the 2nd semester. Just my opinion. I said time and again that they wouldn't get convicted for this. And believing that, I didn't think they shoulda been stopped from playing.

Back to the court . . .

Richard Bradley, the leading scorer and rebounder from last year, and Brian Nichols are expected to start against Valley Saturday night. I know a few games we would have won with Bradley. Alcorn (both games), Valley, Bama State, UAPB. Oh well.:(
 
Originally posted by Robber
I know a few games we would have won with Bradley. Alcorn (both games), Valley, Bama State, UAPB. Oh well.
Click to expand...
You're sounding like TP! :rolleyes:

Anyway, those scrubs still have to come to Montgomery. And yall won't have the "half a team" excuse anymore.
LOL
 
Brandon Reed was dealing with Cooper. Pettaway would have been a whole different story. Cooper punished Reed in other ways, but he was punished and his scholarship was taken away.

Hell I want them to play. I am tired of hearing TP's "half a team excuse". The next excuse I will hear is "they were not in their usuall rhythem" SMH
 
Bad move by JSU. What do they stand to gain by this? Is having a long shot at winning the SWAC Tournament worth the backlash that will come from this decision?

Matter of fact its a slap in the face of those players who have work their butt off to make JSU competitive.
 
Originally posted by Robber

Brandon Reed is all I need to say about A&M and discipline.
Click to expand...

_________________________

rubber..........
I can see how you would equate theft of credit card with the Possible Multiple Violations of a female and her body!!!!!
:confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:


Brandon never return to the AAMU Football Team for practice or play!!! And there are no guarantees of his return in the future??? He is in school and is doing very well in his studies and seems to be staying out of trouble.
 
Scraw,

Possible my ass. Them boys didn't do a thing but run a train on that girl. She willingly participated. When a grand jury won't indict you, ain't NO EVIDENCE to support a charge. Note, I said support a charge, let alone get a conviction. Brandon Reed is a convict. No "possible" about it.

Ice Man,

What backlash should JSU avoid by letting INNOCENT boys play ball??? If I were coach, they woulda been playing a long time ago.

mighty hornet,

I base my conclusion on the games that I watched. It was obvious in those games that the missing players would have been the difference for us. Notice I didn't put all the losses on there. Nor will I say that it means that we will win in Bama.

DAHILL,

You know doggone well that those boys have been out for so long that it's only natural for them to be rusty and out of rythm.
 



Dahill,

You are just hoping that they will be out of rhythm. I don't know that. I won't know that. All I know is that Valley is about to get whooped and IF this team can play to their potential, you BAMAS need to be skerd!!!....cause ya'll ain't good at all.
 
Originally posted by Robber
Scraw,

Possible my ass. Them boys didn't do a thing but run a train on that girl. She willingly participated. When a grand jury won't indict you, ain't NO EVIDENCE to support a charge. Note, I said support a charge, let alone get a conviction. Brandon Reed is a convict. No "possible" about it.

Ice Man,

What backlash should JSU avoid by letting INNOCENT boys play ball??? If I were coach, they woulda been playing a long time ago.

mighty hornet,

I base my conclusion on the games that I watched. It was obvious in those games that the missing players would have been the difference for us. Notice I didn't put all the losses on there. Nor will I say that it means that we will win in Bama.

DAHILL,

You know doggone well that those boys have been out for so long that it's only natural for them to be rusty and out of rythm.
Click to expand...

So Robber is that your EXCUSE already... The article stated they have been practicing with the team this semester.... WHY WOULD THEY BE RUSTY?
 
Shame and backlash? What the hell are you talking about Ice Man. Why would a coach or school keep his kids from playing...after no charges were brought against them? That is called a lawsuit waiting to happen. I think JSU tried to do the right thing in holding the players out until the case went to grand jury, and to me that was harsh enough within itself because it treated the players as guilty until proven innocent and that in itself goes against the code of the legal system.

These boys got caught up in a situation that I, as well as manyt other college students, could have easily been in. A woman has consentual sex with a group of guys. It happens with typical college students, greeks, and athletes as well.

And it is a sad day that a 2-time "convicted" thief is held in higher regard that others who have done no crime bigger than having bad judegement.
 
If they broke school rules, the punishment should be commensurate with the infraction. Girls in the dorm...
... well, most of us just weren't caught. ;-)
... but I digress.

It appears that they broke no laws. I'm happy to hear that. I would hate to see brothas screw up their roles in the educational system and reasigned to the penal system. I hope these young men can keep their futures on track.
 
The Grand Jury obviously felt that there was not enuff evidence to convict these young men. As a matter of fact, they decided that this shouldn't have even been brought to trail.

I hate this had to happen to the young lady and to the young men. However, I have to base my opinion on the decision made by those folk in the know about the circumstances and details of what happened. Obviously, she went into the dorm room voluntarily. It was a lack of good judgement and principle to pull a train on this girl, but who are we to say that she didn't welcome it or be a willing participant. Maybe she got embarassed when the word hit the street and decided to scream rape.

I always hate to hear these type of incidents happening. It happens far too much on college campus. I personally never engaged in such an activity, but I did have the opportunity. You would be surprised at the willingness of some of the females to participate in these group sex encounters.
 
Suge/Robber,

Just because the grand jury didn't bring charges against these guys doesn't mean nothing happen. Rape is a hard thing to prove. Bringing those guys back says they did nothing wrong. Don't think this is going to go away because of a article in the newspaper. Any coach worried about the future of his program would distance himself from those who allowed themselves to end up in that position. There were other on the team who were smart enough not to get caught up in that mess. Those guys didn't think about JSU basketball, it was all about them.

I wouldn't be surprise if this divides the campus. Before you can rule out backlash wait until these guys hit the court, watch enrollment, and recruiting.

Suge, if you and any other student could be caught up in a mess like this, please check yourself. These boys created the situation, they didn't get caught up.
 
ICE MAN, seriously, I just think that you are scared of JSU. The grand jury wouldn't let this go to trial, because lack of evidence/proof. What should their punishment be now that they are cleared of charges? Well, let's look at what they are guilty for:
  • Female in dorm
  • Disobeying coaches rules
Now seeing that they got kicked out of school. Got reinstated, no credits for that semester though. Not allowed to play ball until situation was handled properly (by law), looked at badly on campus wherever they went most likely. Especially by women. What other punishment should they get besides a sex offender plaque outside their dorm room doors?
 
Originally posted by Ice Man
Suge/Robber,

Just because the grand jury didn't bring charges against these guys doesn't mean nothing happen. Rape is a hard thing to prove. Bringing those guys back says they did nothing wrong. I wouldn't be surprise if this divides the campus.

Before you can rule out backlash wait until these guys hit the court, watch enrollment, and recruiting.

Suge, if you and any other student could be caught up in a mess like this, please check yourself. These boys created the situation, they didn't get caught up.
Click to expand...

You are right, bringing them back is saying they did nothing wrong, and according to the LAW! They didn't do anything wrong? And I ask you, what did they do wrong? They had sex with a girl in a dorm room. The only rule it appears they broke was the rule about having a girl in the dorm room! And if that is the case, she broke the rule too. What else did they do? In our society, rape may be a hard thing to prove as you say, but also in our society the victim is always given the benefit of a doubt. I maybe would buy your argument is this had gone to a jury trial. But there wasn't enough eveidence to even get it to that point.......but these dudes are wrong and schould not be allowed to play basketball?

And what college did you attend? Because maybe you didn't participate if a "train" was rolling....but I am dayum sure that you know someone that did. Hell I have seen cases where the women themselves introduce the idea...........so what, any man who particpates needs to check himslef? Man please! I have heard a woman say with my own ears. "Is that it, where are the rest of your boys!"....but according to you. The men created that situation too right? You better wake up and see what is really going on. I'm not saying running trains is right or wrong...but I am just saying that it happens! But according to you it is always "created" by the men.

And as far as recruitment and enrollment go......if this was going to be a factor, then kids wouldn't go to college in the first place. I don't see enrollment slacking at Nebraska. You may not want to admit it to yourself, but this goes on everyday on somones campus. I say these dudes got "caught up" because this girl decided that she wanted to say they raped her. If they had sex with her, and she was a willing participant, what else would you call it besides getting caught up?

You say the rest of the players were smart enough to not engage in this situation. My friend I thing you assume too much.
 
Originally posted by Suge


And it is a sad day that a 2-time "convicted" thief is held in higher regard that others who have done no crime bigger than having bad judegement.
Click to expand...


What the hell are you squawking about? Reed was not convicted of a damned thing. He WAS DISMISSED from the team. And as Strawdog stated, he has not returned, AND WON'T. No one is excusing what he did, because he was wrong, but if these players were fool enough to bring a girl into the dormitory without permission, well, let's just say they were leaving themselves open to this kind of thing. Hopefully, for the sake of these guys, they ARE innocent. But don't even attempt to equate Reed's case to this one. How do you come by the asessment that he's a hardened criminal, and these fellas, who have been accused of rape made a mistake in judgement? Give me a ****ing break! Ask any young woman what would she rather have happen to her...have her credit card swiped, or have her dignity stripped from her sexually?
 
SWAC,

First of all this has nothing to do with Alcorn vs JSU. Man how could you even go there. These boys life was at stake. If they didn't do it I'm glad they got off.

Suge,

Were all of JSU players accused of this? No, and that is a fact not an assumption. No my friend you're the one assuming. You're assuming nothing happen because of the grand jury decision. Coach Stoglin had the nerve to say that one of them is a great leader. Give me a break! I know its not fair, but athletes are held at a higher standard than your regular students, so they must be aware of what they do at all times because it is not only a reflection on them, but the school too.

No, I never took part in one because I didn't need my boys to set anything up for me. I was able to handle my own business.

Don't compare what happen at JSU to one of the PWCs. They got the cash to do damage control, JSU doesn't. Man we have enough hurdles to overcome than to have players who would hurt our programs for some trim and sloppy seconds, thirds, etc.
 
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