Reports emerged Monday that a meeting between Baton Rouge police detectives and four members of the LSU football program, originally scheduled for Monday morning and pushed back to Tuesday, would not take place after all.
Based on at least one report, however, the meeting is back on.
The Baton Rouge Advocate is reporting that the four players — quarterback Jordan Jefferson, offensive tackle Chris Davenport, linebacker Josh Johns and wide receiver Jarvis Landry – will meet with detectives Tuesday as planned. Per the request of the BRPD’s chief, the location and the time of the meeting is not being disclosed.
The Advocate also notes, by way of BRPD spokesperson Don Stone, “[i]nvestigators concluded through their investigation that both simple battery and second-degree battery charges will be filed when the investigation is completed and arrests are possible.” The latter charge is a felony which carries a maximum five-year prison term while the former is a misdemeanor.
The four players are persons of interest in connection to a bar brawl that occurred very early last Friday morning. The brawl allegedly started after one of the four victims honked his truck horn to clear room in the parking lot of an off-campus bar, with the fight allegedly including one of the victims being kicked in the head by LSU’s starting quarterback.
The four are all represented by the same attorney. Nathan Fisher had previously been representing the players pro bono, but the school determined a fee should be involved in order to avoid additional NCAA scrutiny.
“Our compliance staff talked today,” LSU spokesman Herb Vincent said, “and they were not comfortable with that. He’s representing them and he’s going to have to bill them. The method of payment is still to be determined.”
A good attorney willing to work pro bono, now required to bill the players to avoid possible NCAA sanctions. We think all NCAA member schools need a compliance “staff” rather than a compliance “officer.”
Legally speaking, Attorney Fisher should be able to have both charges reduced because this is a first offense for all 4. No player will be facing jail time, probably community service and a cost of court type fine. There won’t be a trial.
None of that legality will affect Coach Les Miles who will suspend the 4 players at least for the first game v. Oregon. The rest of the team will continue to receive discipline, extra duty and work, etc.
If Zach is ready and performs well v. Oregon, one would hope he would now be the starting QB and if JJ is still with the team after Oregon, he may well spell Zach from time to time and in special situations.
Wonder if the lawyer will get paid in signed uni’s? I’m sure they won’t be game worn now, though…. Just sayin.
bigirishphan: sometimes this NCAA compliance stuff gets us so frustrated…thanks for the humor, we need all we can get…
…with this situation and the horror of the murdered and dismembered precious 7 yr. old and now a precious young boy was raped by a 51 year old child rapist predator pervert and we have our telephone ringing off the hook and trying to help many grieving and traumatized folks.
We’re thinking about telephoning Fisher to see he will do some pro bono work for these children. Hope to meet with the mayor and police chief of this small south Louisiana town today where all these horror has happened so see if something can be done to help prevent such things in the future.
If he has a heart, he will or find someone that can. Prayers with all of you down south…
bigirishphan: Thank you for your kindness. Now to put on our finest clothes to meet with the town leaders. Thank you for your prayers….they are especially appreciated and needed.
hey “southernpatriots”, still hoping for a Gator win when October 8th rolls around
but obviously this is far more serious than that; prayers with you, especially regarding the children; very admirable that you feel convicted to help them when they need it most; let the Lord guide you, He never disappoints…
PS. look up Proverbs 16:3 please; very applicable in your situation right now…
“Our compliance staff talked today,” LSU spokesman Herb Vincent said, “and they were not comfortable with that. He’s representing them and he’s going to have to bill them. The method of payment is still to be determined.”
Hilarious! Come on, LSU is just like every semi-pro football team in the NCAA. There is a long line of groupies and publicity seekers that would not only pick up the tab for legal counsel, but would pay off the prosecutor and judge to acquire a favorable outcome.
Do you really think LSU will suspend these THUGS,they all should go to prision! The SEC is know forWIN NO MATTER WHAT IT TAKES!! “O”GO DUCKS”
florida727: Thank you. Thank you for the scripture. It provided great comfort. October 8th seems so far from now. Meeting with the mayor at 1 pm and the police chief at 3 pm of this little town in South Louisiana. Only now am learning that Neighborhood Watch is not administered by law enforcement but is a private initiative which law enforcement is happy to work with, so after all this we will be speaking with NW.
Well meaning Ducks fans made many statements that all they knew only wished the best for LSU, remembering the trauma they went through with their own QB, etc.
All Oregon fans:
note …..thepar46 and his comments.
Maybe that will open your eyes to the kind of Oregon fan postings we have seen on various related stories since this story broke.
at what point do we as civil citizens who think rationally, insist that any and all athletic programs with any “criminal offenses” IMMEDIATELY be:
suspended from any and all events for a minimum of 2 years
lose all scholarships for the number of “student/athletes”
immediate permanent expulsion of any persons in the athletic program
3 year immediate suspension including pay of head coach and any others involved ( not just not allowed to practice-ha!)
5 year termination of College bowl games of any description, including renamed or new ones
you can see why I would not be hired in any college athletic director position
It’s time for college football to quit the phony student athlete nonsense and raise the requirements for admittance for academics and character. Don’t tell me that we are giving some thug a chance, he needs to earn that chance.
They don’t call LSU the “Fighting Tigers” for nothing! I agree that if these guys are first offenders (and I’m quite sure they are), there won’t even be a criminal trial. Community service is the likely result of any “guilty” plea from a plea bargain. However, the victims are free to sue for damages up to a year from the date of the incident. If JJ really did what they say he did, he needs to try as hard as he can to get drafted so he’ll have enough coin to pay the Piper. The end result? A banner year for our senior QB!
We are posting this for the great folks at:
southernpatriots
who are presently heading south to the little town so traumatized by the recent horror to children and are meeting with the mayor and chief of police and then working to get Neighborhood Watch began there..
This is southernpatriots post:
Despite the statement by the attorney Fisher that his clients (JJ and the other 3 LSU players) would not be meeting with the Baton Rouge City Police they are meeting with the State Police at this time. WBRZ reports:
“LSU players meeting with police about bar fight
BATON ROUGE- LSU starting quarterback Jordan Jefferson and three of his teammates are meeting with investigators this morning at Louisiana State Police Headquarters.
Police have asked Jefferson, along with offensive lineman Chris Davenport, defensive lineman Josh Johns and receiver Jarvis Landry, to offer their recollection of a fight that happened at a bar early Friday morning.
Four people were injured in the scuffle, none of them players, and one person’s injuries were serious enough that two players could face felony battery charges, Sgt. Don Stone with BRPD said.
Stone said two other players could be charged with misdemeanor simple battery. He declined to say which two players could face the more serious charges.”
Suspensions at least for the first game v. Oregon are forthcoming. Great discipline already being implemented for the remaining team members.
@ thepar46
Obviously, I am not a Tigers fan (still ticked off about the last time OSU played LSU). I’m wondering why someone who roots for a team that has its own hands dirty would trash LSU. How much did Oregon pay for a bogus scouting report? Seems to me that having some thugs on your team isn’t any worse than a coach conspiring with a scouting service. In addition, I doubt that Kelly used his own money. Somebody at the school must have written the check (taxpayer money – sounds like fraud to me).
brutusbuckeye2011: I was at the last game that LSU played OSU. I didn’t see anything wrong….smile.
Don’t feel bad…ya’ll returned the favor to Arkansas and they have been an aggravation to us for the past 3 or 4 years. Hopefully, this year the coaches and team won’t be looking past our last game, now only to compete successfully in our first game!
Thank you for your posting. We need more thoughtful postings from the heart like yours.
So, if you’re being prevented from leaving a parking lot by a crowd and “diss” someone by honking, getting kicked in the head results in merely a “misdemeanor” charge. Just some kids blowing off steam? Punishable by “Community Service”? Not from where I sit. The thug should do at least SOME jail time. If he wasn’t a football hero there would be no question but that he would be behind bars.
Four more trnsfers to the [[_]].