UT Alumni pull some strings....
Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 7:27 am
August 2, 2005
Prosecutors drop, reduce charges against pair of Vols
# Charge against Mayo dismissed while charge against Ayers reduced
The Associated Press
KNOXVILLE — Prosecutors dropped an aggravated assault charge against one Tennessee player and reduced the charge against another Monday in a case stemming from a fight at a campus party.
Tennessee defensive end Robert Ayers and linebacker Jerod Mayo, who redshirted last season as freshmen, were charged with hitting fellow student Shadiyah Murphy in March when several fights broke out between football players and members of Omega Psi Phi fraternity.
The charge against Mayo was dismissed after a witness would not cooperate with prosecutors. Assistant District Attorney General Willie Harper asked Knox County General Sessions Judge Tony Stansberry to dismiss the charge on the grounds of failure to prosecute.
The charge against Ayers was reduced to misdemeanor assault. He pleaded guilty to the lesser charge and was placed on judicial diversion, which means he has nearly 12 months to pay court costs and make restitution to the victim. After that time, the charge can be erased from his record. The amount of restitution has not yet been determined, but it will be no more than $3,000.
Aggravated assault is a felony, and sentences could vary from 3 to 15 years in prison.
Ayers has been suspended from the team. Coach Phillip Fulmer announced on Monday that Ayers will rejoin the team but will have to sit out the first two games of the season, complete community service and anger management counseling and abide by a curfew during the fall semester.
Ayers also was disciplined by the university. He was suspended from summer school and placed on indefinite probation, Fulmer said.
Mayo was not suspended from the team. Fulmer has said he believed Mayo was misidentified.
"I was glad to see Jerod Mayo cleared of any issues," Fulmer said in a statement.
Ayers told police he hit Murphy twice. The witness, former Tennessee player Thomas Stallworth, told police he saw Mayo hit Murphy in the jaw.
Stallworth did not appear in court, and Harper said his testimony was critical to the case against Mayo.
"The state can't go forward," Harper told the judge.
Ayers' attorney Wade Davies said he and his client were happy with the outcome.
Ayers and Mayo are among the 13 Tennessee players who have been either cited or arrested on charges ranging from assault to underage drinking since February 2004.
Prosecutors drop, reduce charges against pair of Vols
# Charge against Mayo dismissed while charge against Ayers reduced
The Associated Press
KNOXVILLE — Prosecutors dropped an aggravated assault charge against one Tennessee player and reduced the charge against another Monday in a case stemming from a fight at a campus party.
Tennessee defensive end Robert Ayers and linebacker Jerod Mayo, who redshirted last season as freshmen, were charged with hitting fellow student Shadiyah Murphy in March when several fights broke out between football players and members of Omega Psi Phi fraternity.
The charge against Mayo was dismissed after a witness would not cooperate with prosecutors. Assistant District Attorney General Willie Harper asked Knox County General Sessions Judge Tony Stansberry to dismiss the charge on the grounds of failure to prosecute.
The charge against Ayers was reduced to misdemeanor assault. He pleaded guilty to the lesser charge and was placed on judicial diversion, which means he has nearly 12 months to pay court costs and make restitution to the victim. After that time, the charge can be erased from his record. The amount of restitution has not yet been determined, but it will be no more than $3,000.
Aggravated assault is a felony, and sentences could vary from 3 to 15 years in prison.
Ayers has been suspended from the team. Coach Phillip Fulmer announced on Monday that Ayers will rejoin the team but will have to sit out the first two games of the season, complete community service and anger management counseling and abide by a curfew during the fall semester.
Ayers also was disciplined by the university. He was suspended from summer school and placed on indefinite probation, Fulmer said.
Mayo was not suspended from the team. Fulmer has said he believed Mayo was misidentified.
"I was glad to see Jerod Mayo cleared of any issues," Fulmer said in a statement.
Ayers told police he hit Murphy twice. The witness, former Tennessee player Thomas Stallworth, told police he saw Mayo hit Murphy in the jaw.
Stallworth did not appear in court, and Harper said his testimony was critical to the case against Mayo.
"The state can't go forward," Harper told the judge.
Ayers' attorney Wade Davies said he and his client were happy with the outcome.
Ayers and Mayo are among the 13 Tennessee players who have been either cited or arrested on charges ranging from assault to underage drinking since February 2004.