Mbakwe rumors = felony battery charges

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Not good. I hope it wasn't him. We'll see. I think we should all take a wait and see approach before flying off the handle.

Hope all works out!
 

This is going to be interesting, there's obviously physical evidence pointing to a crime- we'll see if he's the person who did it. Not a good situation for all parties.
 


This may be very wishful thinking, but I just looked at the bio pictures of the players from the roster and many of them looked very similar. I know it sounds ridiculous, but just look at how many of the players have the same hair and goatee, not to mention those small, not great quality pics makes many of the players with similar hair, facial hair, and complexion look alike. Wouldn't be the first time someone incorrectly picks someone out by their picture. (Although the gf's comment on facebook isn't very promising).

Just trying to stay positive with how many football players we lose to random crap like this and what not. Plus it sounds like Trevor is a beast. I guess worst case scenario is more pt for Royce.
 


I Knew This Was Coming...

Had some inside info here. The chances of this NOT being Mbakwe is very very slim unless the attorney can creately manufacture enough doubt. We don't need this. Seen all I ever want to see of this stuff at the U.
 

underground629 said:
This may be very wishful thinking, but I just looked at the bio pictures of the players from the roster and many of them looked very similar. I know it sounds ridiculous, but just look at how many of the players have the same hair and goatee, not to mention those small, not great quality pics makes many of the players with similar hair, facial hair, and complexion look alike. Wouldn't be the first time someone incorrectly picks someone out by their picture. (Although the gf's comment on facebook isn't very promising).

Just trying to stay positive with how many football players we lose to random crap like this and what not. Plus it sounds like Trevor is a beast. I guess worst case scenario is more pt for Royce.
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Forgot to add for convenience... http://www.mdc.edu/athletics/mensbasketball_bios.asp
Seriously though, a lot of them look pretty damn similar since like 6 of them have almost the same hair, goatee, and skin color. Plus... 3 in the morning, probably pretty dark out, probably didn't have a great look at the guy, who knows how accurate her picking one of them out is.
 

If he actually did that...get the hell off the team.

Hopefully its mistaken identity...

not good though, not good at all.
 

C'mon now! Trevor told everyone there was nothing to the rumors and there were no issues for him to overcome. It slipped his mind about the alleged felony and possible impending criminal prosecution. That could happen to anyone.
 



as I said before Facts34 usually has his facts dead on. he was right that there was something brewing. hopefully the facts34 come out in Trevor's favor and it is a case of mistaken identity.
 

There seems to be a whole lot of rush to judgment on this board! Tubby would have kicked him off in a heartbeat if he knew that this was true. And this happened in April. Why hasn't he been arrested thus far? Obviously the cops must not be too sure themselves. I think we need to see how this plays out before rushing to judge him.
 

KyGopherfan said:
There seems to be a whole lot of rush to judgment on this board! Tubby would have kicked him off in a heartbeat if he knew that this was true. And this happened in April. Why hasn't he been arrested thus far? Obviously the cops must not be too sure themselves. I think we need to see how this plays out before rushing to judge him.
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From the Pioneer Press article:

"After retaining an attorney, the report said, Mbakwe flew back to Miami to surrender. The St. Paul native was arrested April 28, the report said, but made no statements while invoking his rights."
 

Now everyone on this board may understand why those who had heard the rumors were unwilling to give the details out on this board. Look how people jump on the giy even though he is far from convicted.
 




Just my opinion, but I find it troubling that Maturi was not aware of this situation. Tubby told him there "is an issue", but this is a pretty serious one, don't ya think? If I were the AD, I would want to be aware of the possibility of an incoming recruit being accused of a felonious offense.
 

TCF=UnitedWeStand said:
Just my opinion, but I find it troubling that Maturi was not aware of this situation. Tubby told him there "is an issue", but this is a pretty serious one, don't ya think? If I were the AD, I would want to be aware of the possibility of an incoming recruit being accused of a felonious offense.
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It's pretty obvious that Trevor and everyone else close to the basketball program were thinking (or just hoping) that this thing would go away. Assuming they believed charges would never be filed and this would never become public knowledge, they likely wanted to limit the number of people that knew about the "incident" in the first place.
 

ChemEGopher said:
It's pretty obvious that Trevor and everyone else close to the basketball program were thinking (or just hoping) that this thing would go away. Assuming they believed charges would never be filed and this would never become public knowledge, they likely wanted to limit the number of people that knew about the "incident" in the first place.
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If this is the case, I'm not sure I agree with Tubby's decision to try and keep this under the rug (not saying this was indeed Tubby's intent; merely responding to ChemEGopher's assumption above).
 

"I find it troubling that Maturi was not aware of this situation."

I second that. If it's true Maturi wasn't made aware of the charges, that's something he absolutely should have been clued in on.

Most importantly, let's hope the girl is OK.
 

Maturi never knows what is going on or how to talk with the media. Too bad he couldn't trot out his infamous "no comment" for this instead of revealing he's not communicating with his coach.

I hope the truth is served in this situation.
 

It doesn't sound to me that Maturi wasn't communicating with his coach, rather the other way around. Based upon Maturi's quotes, he was told there was an issue, but not what the issue was. Granted he could have and probably should have pressed for more specifics, but nevertheless I would think it be Tubby's responsibility (given his, what 25 plus years of coaching college basketball?) to make him aware of the potential of this incident (weather Mbakwe was involved or not) developing into a news story (as it now has) and casting an unfavorable light on the U of M athletic department.

I imagine we will all learn more about what's going on now in the next week or two as more and more people will be looking into this.
 

Lets hope it is a case of mistaken identity...everyone in the legal system will tell you that a victims eye witness testimony is the lease accurate (trauma and fear changes the way we remember things)...that is why most presecutors wont go after someone without other physical evidence or corroborating witnesses.

That being said...even if ultimately this goes away...it could ruin his season if it doesn't go away quickly.
 

My Take

This is an unfortunate situation. Hopefully, this young man did not do what is alleged AND (assuming something did occur as is alleged by the woman) the person who is responsible is caught and held accountable.

As an attorney who works in criminal law, I have had first hand experience of a person accused who was not the right person (unfortunately or fortunately as the case may be, it doesn't happen all that often). One case in particular was a young hispanic man, probably around that age of Trevor accused of forcible rape. The victim in the case described to the police the assailant and picked my client out of a year book. She had indicated that this person had knocked on the door, she looked out, thought she recognized him as a friend of her brother's (my client did have an association with her brother), she answered the door, he asked if the brother was home, told he wasn't and this person forced his way into the house, threw her on the couch, got on top of her, was face to face with her, and he raped her. My client was arrested and there was a drive by with the victim, who again identified him as the person who did this to her.

By the end of the trial, not only was there a question of whether this actually occurred (there was some evidence that this young lady may have thought she was pregnant and needed an explanation, sad I know), but it was clear that, if it did in fact occur, it wasn't my client.

Positive IDs by a victim are a very powerful thing when it comes to deciding to charge and prosecute, especially if there is no apparent motive for the victim to be lying. However, it certainly doesn't mean that the vicitm is correct. There is a big difference between having enough evidence to charge and prosecute and being able to meet the State's burden of beyond a reasonable doubt. Sounds like Trevor got good advice and did not talk to the police (law enforcement's number 1 tool in getting a conviction). BTW, just because he didn't want to talk means nothing in regards to whether he actually committed the crime. I can't count the number of times I have had to deal with statements taken out context.

Looks like he will have his day in court. So I guess we will have to just wait and see. I trust that Tubby looked into the situation carefully and was convinced that Trevor was not the one responsible.
 

The incident took place over a thousand miles away, so I can't fault Tubby or Maturi if they were in the dark on this matter. It happened in April and who knows when Trevor decided to inform them about it.

Sounds like a terribly violent act and this young woman's well-being should be the top concern, not the upcoming season. Clem really lost me when he wanted to control this stuff by trying to keep women quiet by allowing him to serve as the justice system. I have higher expectations for Tubby.

I hope that Trevor is not the guy, not just for the Gophers- but for the 18 month old and young woman counting on him. It would be a shame if he threw an education and basketball career away and winds-up offering cologne and perfume samples on Nicolette.
 

This happened in April and still no charges? I'm no expert but I have to think that a random assault case isn't high on the priority list for Miami police. I have to wonder how hard they're actually pursuing this thing at this point as in my experience if they don't get a good lead or press charges within a few weeks of a reported crime of this caliber they probably never will.
 

ok never mind I just saw that he's been charged
 

MLF89 - Thanks for the intelligent, informative, and thoughtful post. The whole story is unfortunate. For now, though, none of us know how this will shake out. On one hand, charges were brought meaning some prosecutor thinks s/he has enough evidence to convict Trevor. On the other hand, we've heard nothing from Trevor's side and probably won't until trial.

On the positive side, what we know is that Tubby supposedly knows some details about the issue and decided to keep Trevor around. Tubby could have easily said thanks but no thanks when he learned of this issue so many months ago. Evidently, Trevor (or his attorney) convinced Tubby that this issue would be resolved favorably. This info suggests to me that Trevor may have a pretty strong defense (an alibi perhaps?).
 


underground629 said:
Forgot to add for convenience... http://www.mdc.edu/athletics/mensbasketball_bios.asp
Seriously though, a lot of them look pretty damn similar since like 6 of them have almost the same hair, goatee, and skin color. Plus... 3 in the morning, probably pretty dark out, probably didn't have a great look at the guy, who knows how accurate her picking one of them out is.
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Favorite TV Show: Law and Order.

Oh, the irony lol
 

MLF89 - Question for you regarding trial. Is it possible/likely that Trevor's attorney might attempt to dismiss the entire case prior to trial via an evidentiary hearing or motion to dismiss? If Trevor does in fact have a strong alibi or some other clear cut defense (what else might that be?), would a defense attorney typically bring that to light prior to trial in an attempt to avoid trial or would a defense attorney typically hold on to that info for trial, so as not to show his/her cards?

Also, has plea bargaining (typically) already been attempted at this point. If so, I image the defense attorney most likely indicated or even told the prosecutor the strength of Trevor's case.
 

This is the downside of having a power coach. Tubby does not report to Maturi, it's the other way around.

Whether Trevor is guilty or not, this is a big enough issue that the AD should have been fully briefed.
 

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