Affidavits accuse two MSU football players of assault
The week of bad news won't end for Mississippi State.
Tuesday, SB Nation reported that two more MSU football players were accused of assault in an incident that caused the arrest of Elgton Jenkins last Thursday. Rocky Wilkins, who represents James Meyers, confirmed to the Clarion-Ledger that his client signed two affidavits accusing MSU football players Grant Harris and Brandon Bryant of assault.
The affidavit against Harris accuses MSU's redshirt freshman defensive lineman of felony aggravated assault. The affidavit against Bryant, a redshirt freshman safety, is for simple assault.
"Those affidavits are still outstanding," Wilkins said. "No one's been arrested on that."
Wilkins said as many as eight football players witnessed the alleged assault, including Jenkins, who was arrested last Thursday on a simple assault warrant.
"My client did not sign that affidavit," Wilkins said. "I think it's fair to say that there's quite a bit of confusion going on up in Starkville."
Mississippi State Police, who made the arrest, refused to release an incident report, claiming the investigation was still ongoing. MSU Police Chief M. Vance Rice told the Clarion-Ledger on Monday, his department needed to interview two more people.
"I've been doing this 15 years in criminal and civil cases," Wilkins said. "It's highly unusual for the court file to not be made available, especially to the press."
The alleged incident took place on Feb. 25 during one of Mississippi State's snow days. According to the affidavits, Meyers claims that Harris caused him serious bodily harm by punching him in the face. Meyers claims in the affidavits that he suffered a contusion in his right eye, a fractured nose and several fractured teeth.
In the other affidavit, Meyers claims that Bryant purposely caused him bodily harm by throwing a snowball at his face.
Mississippi State released this statement regarding the SB Nation report that included the affidavits:
"While Mississippi State University normally does not comment on legal matters, a post today on the website SB Nation merits a response.
The post, which contains factual errors that call into question the credibility of the overall post, in great measure represents only the claims and assertions of the personal injury attorney and fails on a number of levels to accurately portray the actions of the university, the MSU Police Department, the MSU Athletics Department and our students.
At this point, there exists significant confusion as to the actual facts of this incident. The university will continue to interact appropriately with law enforcement and the judicial system as these facts are sorted out in a manner that protects the rights of all MSU students.
On March 4, 2015, MSU received notification of a potential civil legal claim from a Jackson personal injury lawyer regarding activities subsequent to an apparent snowball fight among MSU students on the evening of Feb. 25, 2015.
MSU, our university police, our Athletics Department and all others in a position of authority have fully cooperated in this ongoing investigation and will continue to do so. Claims to the contrary simply are not accurate.
The university will not be drawn into a scenario of litigating this matter in the press or online and will have no additional comment on this matter at this time."
Mississippi State released this statement from MSU coach Dan Mullen on Monday, "We have very high standards and expectations for all of our student-athletes. Any time an accusation is made against one of our student-athletes, we investigate fully and not jump to any conclusions."
The fact error MSU might be referring to within SB Nation's story could be that Georgia Alexander, who signed both affidavits, is an Oktibbeha County deputy clerk. SB Nation refers to her as a judge.
Meyers' attorney believes the university's statement ignores his client, who is also an MSU student.
"I thought it was typical shoot the messenger and don't address the fact that one of their students got beaten up terribly on campus," Wilkins said. "I mean my client is a student. I would think they would be as concerned with him as they are football players."
Mississippi State begins Spring Practice today at 3:20 p.m. Mullen will address the media at 5:45 p.m.
He'll likely be asked about more than football. Three Mississippi State football players, including Dak Prescott, were allegedly attacked last week in Panama City, Florida. Prescott, Damian Williams and Torrey Dale returned to Starkville without serious injuries.
The trio has not pressed charges.
The week concluded last Friday, when River Falls Police arrested wide receiver De'Runnya Wilson in Alabama and charged him with possession of marijuana second degree and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Mississippi State had no comment on either incident in Panama City or River Falls.