Jamar Officially Pleads Not Guilty

[tornado]

http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2007/02/23/smith_pleads_not_guilty_to_charges

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/mensbasketball/bigten/2007-02-23-illinois-smith-plea_x.htm

[bu fan 9]

Let the cover up begin.

[AB99]

Of course he pleads not guilty,
he didn't do anything wrong.
He's an innocent victim.
His lawyer will certainly ask for all the evidence to be thrown out.
His case has been biased by the publicity, they'll move the trial to Peoria.

[tornado]

Here is a comment and quote today in the Trib from Dean of Students William Riley:

"Meanwhile, the university is probing whether any other basketball players or other students knew Smith's teammate, Brian Carlwell, was hurt and failed to act, according to WBBM-Ch. 2 and Champaign TV station WCIA-Ch. 3. Dean of students William Riley told WCIA, "some of the things that have been alleged is that whoever knew about his condition or should have known about it, there's code violation for disregard or extreme disregard for students' safety."

The school also will look into reports of underage drinking, or if someone provided alcohol to those underage--which are both are against school code, Riley told the station."


...so the school "will look into"...those things?
"reports of underage drinking"?....I think it is a little more solid than "reports", since the guy slammed into a tree with a 0.176 blood level and he's underage!!
Why have they not already thoroughly looked into them?
Why, now that we're nearly two full weeks after the incident, are they NOW just getting around to saying they "will look into" these things?

The final line of the story really gave me a chuckle for the day....


"Weber added that both players attended classes this week."

I guess he doesn't expect them to most other weeks....huh??

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/mensbasketball/cs-0702240159feb24,1,212725.story?coll=cs-college-print

[MacabreMob]

I am absolutely disgusted with everything going on down at UIUC.

[bu fan 9]

Just another year at UIC.

[tornado]

If you want to read more....from the Trib's Mike Downey...

"Stench in Champaign requires fumigation"

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/cs-0702220197feb22,1,4168967.column?coll=chi-sportscolumnistfront-hed

[Mikovio]

If you want to read more....from the Trib's Mike Downey...

"Stench in Champaign requires fumigation"

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports...mnistfront-hed

Yeah, I posted that on the other board. Most of the responses (to be fair, most, but not all)?

Attack! Smear! Attack! All Chicago writers are hacks and out to get us!

What a surprise

I wonder if all the Chicago writers singing their praises in 2005 were "hacks," too. But I digress....

[tornado]

If the dirt fits, wear it...
Most of the boards for Illinois (Rivals, scout, Illiniboard) and even the PJS board have suppressed facts, deleted posts, and locked threads, even resorting to threatening and intimidating posters who are merely posting facts and links.

I guess if they act irresponsible towards the facts then they'll just quietly slip away.
Instead it all provokes even more suspicion of cover-up.

I guarantee you if one of my kids was involved in any way in a near-fatal,
reckless accident caused by underage drinking and driving while drunk,
then I can assure you I wouldn't wait nearly
TWO FULL WEEKS, and then mention that I'll be looking into it!!
God forbid that Jamar's work records at Star Trucking
(and yes, he has worked there in past summers) ever became public!!

[MacabreMob]

UIUC is acting as if some things may not have occured. This is why we haven't heard a peep out of Weber on players violating team rules. Or nothing being done about violating any University rules.

They are going to try and sell a lie. And if the lie is bought by enough people - it becomes the reality.

[tornado]

If they actually checked what hapened, and punished those who violated team rules, they wouldn't have enough players even if they suited up the water boy.

If they had to forfeit games, then for sure Weber would get the axe, so of course Weber won't do a thing unless forced to, but writers like Downey are trying to get some action done.

[bert notorius]

Where are Woodward and Bernstein when you need them? Don't hold your breath for any futher action on player discipline to come down this season. The wheels of justice turn slowly for a reason. I just can't figure out where all the hate for the University of Illinois is coming from. This is not healthy, not healthy at all...

[Mikovio]

Where are Woodward and Bernstein when you need them? Don't hold your breath for any futher action on player discipline to come down this season. The wheels of justice turn slowly for a reason. I just can't figure out where all the hate for the University of Illinois is coming from. This is not healthy, not healthy at all...

Speaking for myself, I don't "hate" UIUC. I have many ties to the school. My sister goes there, as did my grandfather and a whole lot of relatives. I've been there several times to visit friends, and I've had good times in C/U. And I think it's one of the best research institutions in America. I very much respect the school itself.

And it's silly to hate a university.

I do hate the condescending attitude of *some* of their fans towards BU and the rest of the schools in the state. I do hate the segment of fans whose M.O. seems to be, "attack and smear anybody who dares question the program." Illini fans acting in concert on this create an enormous "hype, spin and smear" machine that rationalizes everything from burglaries, to driving drunk, to leaving a teammate in a car because you thought he was dead.... They get angry when people find something wrong with something which, if it were to happen at Indiana, they would be slamming and cracking jokes about for years to come. And I do hate the fact that many of these "rationalizers" are the same people who have tried to hold Jim Les' feet to the fire on any issue they can come up with under the sun since he was chosen over former Manual head/current Illini assistant Wayne McClain.

If all Illini fans were level-headed like you, Wholi and PIF, I would have zero issues. If only the world were so perfect.

But no, I don't hate UIUC because I disagree with how some things are handled within the basketball program. Take my avatar for instance. I don't hate ISU. I hate the stunt some ISU fans pulled in 2005. This avatar serves as a reminder to them, some of which I'm convinced read this board. (And BTW, if you think any of this is bad on here, go check out the Redbird board, where they're comparing Chief Illiniwek's last dance to slavery being abolished and Al Jolson's last performance in blackface)...

[BTID]

I work in the court system and have first-hand knowledge of the process concerning DUI arrests in Illinois. Jamar Smith pleading "not guilty" to the charge is standard operating procedure for defendants, especially those who have representation whether it's on their own or appointed counsel by the court.

If a driver is arrested for suspicion of DUI, they have the option of taking the breath test or refusing to do so. If they refuse, their license is suspended for 6 months. If they blow more than .08, the suspension is 3 months. Drivers that do not take the test have a better chance of having their DUI dismissed, but the chances are still not that great if the arresting officer observes erratic driving prior to the stop. If there is suspicion of a DUI having occurred and the driver is hospitalized, the state's attorney must subpoena the hospital for results of the blood test, which can take up to 4 weeks to obtain in some instances, but usually a two week window is more common depending on the prosecutor's work load and the efficiency of the hospital involved.

Drivers have the right to a suspension hearing in the county where the offense happened, to throw out the suspension. In the past three weeks in my county, we had 4 such hearings, with 2 of the suspensions rescinded and 2 of them upheld by the judge. Most of the time, attorneys will ask for a suspension hearing, but in the end, they are never held and the driver ends up pleading guilty to the DUI charge. In some circumstances, the DUI is dismissed, but the 3 month or 6 months suspension still stands. Many drivers that plead to DUI's also get special driving permits that allow them to drive to and from work or school only during their suspension time. The Secretary of State also allows these special permits to be used if the driver must operate a vehicle as part of their job.

In the past 12 years or so, DUI laws in Illinois have gotten tougher. It used to be that the legal limit for DUI offenders was .10 (now it's .0. Also, every first-time DUI offender has the right to get court supervision in which pleading guilty to the offense will not result in having their license revoked. The supervision period carries special conditions the driver must uphold for a certain length of time. The time period for supervision varies from county to county in Illinois. Where I work, it is normally for 2 years, but I've seen it as low as 18 months. Drivers that fail to complete their supervision successfully run the risk of having that supervision revoked, in which case the Secretary of State would revoke their license for a certain period of time. Illinois drivers that are caught driving on a revoked license often are sentenced to local county jails or to the Department of Corrections if their driving record carries multiple revocations. It used to be that you could get supervision for multiple DUI offenses twice in a 10-year period. Now, drivers can only get supervision once in their lifetime.

Sorry for the long post--just thought I'd shed some light on the subject so people wouldn't think Jamar Smith was getting preferential treatment if it turns out he gets supervision on this offense. Given the reports and circumstances surrounding the incident, it would seem hard to believe the charges would get dismissed, but every traffic stop has its own backstory, and you can't lump all DUI arrests as the same.

[MacabreMob]

Where are Woodward and Bernstein when you need them? Don't hold your breath for any futher action on player discipline to come down this season. The wheels of justice turn slowly for a reason. I just can't figure out where all the hate for the University of Illinois is coming from. This is not healthy, not healthy at all...

Bert - I don't see 'all the hate'.

Maybe you are just a little over sensitive to any comment because it is your school.