Mbakwe Legal Issues Finally Resolved

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scher215

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I know GW had touched on this before, that these were still pending, but it looks like as of this morning everything is resolved.

Mbakwe had already plead guilty to the Facebook incident and received probation and a fine.

Today, according to Marcus at the PP, he plead "no contest" today in Miami.

From the article:

University of Minnesota senior forward Trevor Mbakwe pleaded no contest and was found guilty this morning in his assault case in Miami, which put an end to the three-year-long legal matter that cost him the 2009-2010 season. In entering the no-contest plea, Mbakwe did not admit guilt or challenge the facts the prosecutor presented. Mbakwe, who flew from Minnesota on Wednesday night to appear in court today, recieved a one-year stay of adjudication and one year of probation. The prosecution requested a guilty plea, but the judge accepted the no contest plea, which was approved by the victim, according to Miami-Dade Country State Attorney's Office spokesperson Terry Chavez. ... Mbakwe's probation from the Miami incident is concurrent with his case in St. Paul.
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I'm not sure I see why but Marcus Fuller tweeted that:

This should definitely help the Gophers trying to get a sixth year for him but how much I really don't know yet.
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Why could this help Trevor with his 6th year?
 

Blizzard said:
Why could this help Trevor with his 6th year?
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I'm assuming he is thinking that if he was found guilty he would be in jail and thus unable to play. Also, if that case was still open I'm not sure the NCAA would stick there neck out for someone who could potentially be charged.

Does the NCAA take character into account when they make these decisions?
 


If he does get a 6th year, maybe Mbakwe will shop himself around to other programs like he did a few years ago.

Funny how people conveniently forget he did that.
 


Art Vandelay said:
If he does get a 6th year, maybe Mbakwe will shop himself around to other programs like he did a few years ago.

Funny how people conveniently forget he did that.
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People conveniently forget about it because virtually anyone in his shoes would've done the same. Hell, Maturi flat-out told him to explore transfer options because neither were sure he'd ever be able to play here. Why on Earth would he not explore his options? Of course, subtleties like that don't fit into Artie's perfect little black-and-white boxes where anything and everything related to the Gophers is terrible and all Gophers fans are suckers for being fans of the school and its teams.
 

dpodoll68 said:
People conveniently forget about it because virtually anyone in his shoes would've done the same. Hell, Maturi flat-out told him to explore transfer options because neither were sure he'd ever be able to play here. Why on Earth would he not explore his options? Of course, subtleties like that don't fit into Artie's perfect little black-and-white boxes where anything and everything related to the Gophers is terrible and all Gophers fans are suckers for being fans of the school and its teams.
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Yep. Uh-huh....
 





Why do I feel a no-contest plea is somewhat similar to kissing your sister?

If Mbakwe is innocent, this sucks.

If Mbakwe is guilty, this sucks.
 

Playing at another school is not an option.

You must understand the Five-Year Rule and the specifics of what is being done in such a request. It's not a request by a student-athlete. There is zero chance he plays elsewhere.

By the way, when you plead no contest in Florida the court essentially finds you guilty. It's very common in that state (not available in Minnesota). The defendant in such cases is generally saying, "go ahead and find me guilty, I am not going to argue.. but, I'm not saying I did it or didn't do it.. but, go ahead, say I'm guilty."

The plea is what I fully expected and the likelihood of a 6th year remains at 2%, tops. To have this 'out of the way', so to speak, though, will help him move on to a professional career... just because it was an outstanding legal issue that could have gone a few different ways.
 

By the way, when you plead no contest in Florida the court essentially finds you guilty. It's very common in that state (not available in Minnesota). The defendant in such cases is generally saying, "go ahead and find me guilty, I am not going to argue.. but, I'm not saying I did it or didn't do it.. but, go ahead, say I'm guilty."
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Not sure what it means, but in California it was very common to plead No Contest to a lot of things , don't ask me how I know this :) Its a way for two sides to agree to disagree and avoid costly legal fights. It also prevents it from coming back to bite you later..case closed. I
 

Rouser said:
Not sure what it means, but in California it was very common to plead No Contest to a lot of things , don't ask me how I know this :) Its a way for two sides to agree to disagree and avoid costly legal fights. It also prevents it from coming back to bite you later..case closed. I
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Strange that you would admit that you don't know what it means, then proceed to try and explain what it means.

No other way to spin it. The court says he's guilty.

Here's a case in today's news in Florida about some guys that plead no contest yesterday...

I'm not comparing the cases AT ALL. My point is that in Florida 'no contest' is acceptance of the court finding you guilty.
 



Stan said:
Pretty standard response from Art when he's proven wrong, as he often is.
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How am I wrong? Are you saying Mbakwe didn't flirt with the idea of going to Memphis?

If I'm often wrong, please provide the several examples you're referring to.
 

Art Vandelay said:
How am I wrong? Are you saying Mbakwe didn't flirt with the idea of going to Memphis?

If I'm often wrong, please provide the several examples you're referring to.
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You weren't wrong on that point. You were were wrong in stating he would (or even had the option to) look at different schools for a potential 6th year. You were wrong when you said "conveniently forget", implying that it was some sort of bad thing that everyone should be holding over his head. No one forgot, no one cares, it wasn't a big deal because he was actually encouraged to look at potential transfer destinations. Of course, you left out all of those inconvenient truths, didn't you?
 

Gopher Warrior said:
I'm not comparing the cases AT ALL. My point is that in Florida 'no contest' is acceptance of the court finding you guilty.
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Huh? There is nothing in that article that makes that point. It's just a disgusting story with the same plea.

The court didn't even find Mbakwe guilty, they withheld adjudication.
The Florida statute provides the court with the ability to withhold adjudication after the imposition of a probation sentence without imposing upon the defendant a conviction and the collateral consequences that accompany a conviction.​
​
 


dpodoll68 said:
You weren't wrong on that point. You were were wrong in stating he would (or even had the option to) look at different schools for a potential 6th year. You were wrong when you said "conveniently forget", implying that it was some sort of bad thing that everyone should be holding over his head. No one forgot, no one cares, it wasn't a big deal because he was actually encouraged to look at potential transfer destinations. Of course, you left out all of those inconvenient truths, didn't you?
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1) The 6th year transfer comment was sarcastic, or "tongue in cheek" if you will....

2) Who encouraged him to look at potential transfer destinations? Tubby? Maturi? or was it just his handlers, friends, and lawyer?

3) Yes, "conveniently forget" or whatever you want to call it. Nobody cares because he is an All-Big Ten performer for the local team. If it were Jordan Taylor this board would've been in a tizzy. Just pointing it out - not necessarily condemning those who think that way.
 

Art Vandelay said:
1) The 6th year transfer comment was sarcastic, or "tongue in cheek" if you will....

2) Who encouraged him to look at potential transfer destinations? Tubby? Maturi? or was it just his handlers, friends, and lawyer?

3) Yes, "conveniently forget" or whatever you want to call it. Nobody cares because he is an All-Big Ten performer for the local team. If it were Jordan Taylor this board would've been in a tizzy. Just pointing it out - not necessarily condemning those who think that way.
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Correct. But not all on here are homers. Some are fair and give honest assessments.
 

Gopher Warrior said:
Playing at another school is not an option.

The plea is what I fully expected and the likelihood of a 6th year remains at 2%, tops.
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GW, you've said this several times ... why do you think he has virtually no chance? My understanding is the NCAA has some discretion. Here you have a guy who's only played 1 year, basically, of D1 basketball -- mostly for reasons out of his control.

First year he gets hurt, and then his COACH decides to use a year of eligibility with some meaningless minutes. Then that same coach leaves the program, leading to the JC transfer. Then he sat out a year at MN for reasons we're all familiar with. Then FINALLY in his 4th year he gets to play. Then in his 5th year he gets hurt again right at the beginning of the season.

I don't know about his grades/progress toward degree, but if he's done his schoolwork I think there's a pretty good case here on the equities. I realize it doesn't neatly fit into a "box" the NCAA could check in order to grant the 5th year, but again, my understanding is that there's some discretion to take into account the OVERALL circumstances. No?
 

Wow. I guess this is a wee bit off-topic, but looking at Trevor's bio on a season-to-season basis really puts things into perspective. You could argue that Trevor hasn't even played two full seasons (101 minutes his frosh season, 201 this season before his injury, 958 in his only full season).

I'm sure that's not news to most of you, but I can't believe he's trying for a sixth year of eligibility when I look at it that way. What a shame.
 

WanderingGopher said:
GW, you've said this several times ... why do you think he has virtually no chance? My understanding is the NCAA has some discretion. Here you have a guy who's only played 1 year, basically, of D1 basketball -- mostly for reasons out of his control.

First year he gets hurt, and then his COACH decides to use a year of eligibility with some meaningless minutes. Then that same coach leaves the program, leading to the JC transfer. Then he sat out a year at MN for reasons we're all familiar with. Then FINALLY in his 4th year he gets to play. Then in his 5th year he gets hurt again right at the beginning of the season.

I don't know about his grades/progress toward degree, but if he's done his schoolwork I think there's a pretty good case here on the equities. I realize it doesn't neatly fit into a "box" the NCAA could check in order to grant the 5th year, but again, my understanding is that there's some discretion to take into account the OVERALL circumstances. No?
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I don't exactly agree with your characterizations of the circumstances (coach deciding to play him, leaving because coach leaves, etc), but those aren't really important. What you must do is consider what (if Minnesota even actually pursues a waiver) the line of reasoning the U would try to use. There is only one year (his first on campus at the U) that the U could try to get sympathy for... I'll send you a PM.
 

Gopher Warrior said:
I don't exactly agree with your characterizations of the circumstances (coach deciding to play him, leaving because coach leaves, etc), but those aren't really important. What you must do is consider what (if Minnesota even actually pursues a waiver) the line of reasoning the U would try to use. There is only one year (his first on campus at the U) that the U could try to get sympathy for... I'll send you a PM.
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What's your twitter account again? <s style="font-size: 19px; font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(204, 204, 204); ">@</s>PizdamenMPLS ?
 

Art Vandelay said:
The 6th year transfer comment was sarcastic, or "tongue in cheek" if you will....
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When I am sarcastic, it is intended to be humorous and/or is in defense of a Gopher player or coach. When you are sarcastic, it is snide, vindictive, and prosecutory of Gopher players and coaches. Why is that?

Art Vandelay said:
Who encouraged him to look at potential transfer destinations? Tubby? Maturi? or was it just his handlers, friends, and lawyer?
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http://msn.foxsports.com/collegebasketball/story/Gophers-Mbakwe-eyes-transfer-46665637

Maturi granted him a scholarship release so he could explore transfer destinations. Obviously, Tubby didn't encourage it because he never thought Trevor should've been suspended in the first place. For someone who needlessly and moronically injected this non-story into the conversation, you sure don't remember what actually happened at the time.

Art Vandelay said:
Nobody cares because he is an All-Big Ten performer for the local team.
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Nobody cared at the time because it was a non-story. Nobody cares now because it was a non-story. Let me clarify - it was a non-story to the people who aren't idiots.
 

dpodoll68 said:
When I am sarcastic, it is intended to be humorous and/or is in defense of a Gopher player or coach. When you are sarcastic, it is snide, vindictive, and prosecutory of Gopher players and coaches. Why is that?



http://msn.foxsports.com/collegebasketball/story/Gophers-Mbakwe-eyes-transfer-46665637

Maturi granted him a scholarship release so he could explore transfer destinations. Obviously, Tubby didn't encourage it because he never thought Trevor should've been suspended in the first place. For someone who needlessly and moronically injected this non-story into the conversation, you sure don't remember what actually happened at the time.



Nobody cared at the time because it was a non-story. Nobody cares now because it was a non-story. Let me clarify - it was a non-story to the people who aren't idiots.
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There's a difference between a player requesting a release and getting one (which happens at almost every school almost every year)........and an AD or coach who voluntarily offers such a release. It's not like Maturi called Mbakwe into his office and said "You know Trevor, you're getting a raw deal here at Minnesota. How 'bout I grant you a release to transfer anywhere you want. I hear Josh Pastner is going to be at your Howard Pulley game tonight..."
 

What you allow, you encourage. If granting a player a scholarship release is not implicitly encouraging him to go elsewhere, what is it?

Nice job ignoring the question I posed above, by the way. You never fail to disappoint.
 

dpodoll68 said:
What you allow, you encourage. If granting a player a scholarship release is not implicitly encouraging him to go elsewhere, what is it?

Nice job ignoring the question I posed above, by the way. You never fail to disappoint.
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Which question?
 

dpodoll68 said:
What you allow, you encourage. If granting a player a scholarship release is not implicitly encouraging him to go elsewhere, what is it?
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It's giving someone the opportunity to explore whether or not the grass may be greener elsewhere, in their view. I'm not sure he was 'granted a scholarship release'.. I would think he was given a permission to contact. (I realize there are a ton of stories out there that use the term 'granted a scholarship release', but there are also people out there who will tell you Justin Morneau had the neck in his nerve removed. Being correct is a lost art in this world.)

My general thought is that if someone doesn't want to be in your program, then you wouldn't want him. However, this was a unique situation and if a player came to me as the AD in a somewhat* similar situation and said, "hey, I would like to be able to look around and talk to other programs.. I need to see what other possibilities there are.. I haven't made a decision to leave for certain, but I would like your permission to check things out"... I would tend to say, "go for it, here is your permission to contact".

Oh well. The plea has been entered and the DNA has been collected for the database. Time to move forward.
 


Mbakwe needs a better lawyer IMO.
Pleading no contest in a case where the prosecution had no chance to prove him guilty leads me to think the legal team got lazy and just wanted to end it.
 

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