Josh Furman Suspended For Legal Troubles Comment Count

Brian

josh-furman[1]gremlins02%2B%25281%2529[1]

sorry this has to be the next thing

Sam Webb confirmed that Josh Furman is currently suspended from the team this morning and an alert reader passed along the likely reason as to why after a search of the Michigan courts' open database:

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If 600 East Madison sounds like a familiar address, congratulations. You have lived or currently live in South Quad. Furman is facing three charges: domestic violence, assault, and breaking and entering. He's got a trial date in two weeks. Hoke:

“Josh was suspended indefinitely from team activities as soon as we became aware of the report,” said Michigan coach Brady Hoke in a released statement. “These are serious allegations, We will allow the judicial process to run its course before making a final determination on his status with the program.”

Please refrain from using your jump to conclusions mat about the severity of these charges. Once the legal system is done with him we'll have a better picture about how serious the trouble is and how likely he is to return.

The moral of the story, as always, is never do anything after midnight.

Comments

ChiBlueBoy

April 9th, 2012 at 2:01 PM ^

B&E alone would be considered a felony (i.e., punishable by a year or more), and the other 2 likely would be as well. It's possible he could plead to lesser charges, be found innocent, be found guilty--I know nothing about the case other than what's been cited above. I would imagine, however, that if he pleads or is found guilty to a felony, playing football at UM will be the least of his concerns.

Not knowing anything about the situation, my thoughts and best wishes go to all involved for healing and health.

ChiBlueBoy

April 9th, 2012 at 2:20 PM ^

Given the other charges, someone else likely was there. B&E doesn't speak to who is (or isn't) at home. This is connected with an alleged assault and domestic violence. Could be anything from a threat that put the person in fear of bodily harm (e.g., raising a fist but not hitting) to putting someone in the hospital. In other words, we don't know how serious this is, but the crimes charged are serious and can have significant penalties.

profitgoblue

April 9th, 2012 at 2:23 PM ^

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think a lot of states have mandatory "take someone away" laws that require the police to take the threatening person away (i.e. arrest them) in domestic abuse calls where someone is bruised or otherwise injured.  Not that he isn't guilty, but it may be that Furman is innocent like his lawyer claims because no one is pressing charges or there is no aggrieved party.

 

Erik_in_Dayton

April 9th, 2012 at 2:43 PM ^

Those laws cut both ways from what I've observed.  Often the mandatory arrest gets a dangerous person out of the home and stops further abuse.  Sometimes the police feel like they have to arrest someone (seemingly), and then the prosecutors seemingly feel like they have to press charges b/c there was an arrest, and you end up with someone charged who just got into an argument. 

ish

April 9th, 2012 at 2:48 PM ^

DPS - the country's worst university police body.  everywhere else their mission is to protect students.  only at michigan do they actively seek to get them in trouble and subject them to the most stringent laws, and punishments which would be 1/10th as severe if the person did the same thing on an ann arbor street.

GoWings2008

April 9th, 2012 at 2:02 PM ^

My typical reaction to these stories is one of optimism, so I hope that it truly isn't as bad as it appears.  Hate to see kids be tried and convicted on something that is blown out of proportion, if that is in fact what happened here.  But like Brian said, lets let the process work itself out. 

/crossing fingers

CR509

April 9th, 2012 at 2:03 PM ^

Well it's never good having your name involved in these kind of situations whether your found guilty or innocent. I guess I'll leave it at that

His Dudeness

April 9th, 2012 at 3:45 PM ^

You obviously have something against me. That's fine. I probably made a dick joke about your vagina at some point or another. To be clear those were jokes about the skier and whatever else I typed. I like to make jokes on the internets. My b, crazy serious guy. I really don't hope you die. I hope you get a sense of humor to be honest. I make inappropriate jokes because I think it's funny. I told my grandma "Happy Zombie Jesus Day" yesterday. She probably hates me now, but I am ok with that because at least someone laughed (my brother).

M-Wolverine

April 9th, 2012 at 4:15 PM ^

I just have a problem with hypocrites. You can be crass, and make jokes at other's expenses, but someone does the same about your general attitude, and you turn to insults. You obviously have bigger problems than a posting board, but I'm not sure why the blog enables you any more. There's only so long you can live off of past laurels, and make excuses for current behavior. You spent a year trolling...and this line has shown you've haven't gotten much better. Personal attacks and such like this would get just about anyone else banned. But because at one time you weren't ape shit crazy, you get a pass. I hope you get a sense of humor, so you can learn what's actually funny. Because you're not. Just sad, mainly.

Erik_in_Dayton

April 9th, 2012 at 2:38 PM ^

...in the sense that the "domestic violence" crime is likely as much about the relationship between the two people as it is the act.  The alleged assault and the DV charge may come from the same act(s).  I don't mean to minimize anything that may have happened - I just want to point out that we may be talking about duplicative charges, in a sense.

Also, sh*t man, glad you didn't get hit by that car. 

Erik_in_Dayton

April 9th, 2012 at 2:53 PM ^

I decided that my Brandon Minor pic was due for retirement, so I switched to Smotrycz, whose transfer was announced about a day later.  After thinking about it and getting over the loss of Smot (who I always liked), I figure Beilein is a safe, long-term solution to the issue...I will glady reimburse anyone whose pet loses its head as a result of this, btw. 

His Dudeness

April 9th, 2012 at 2:08 PM ^

Looks like we have a bit of a PREWB thing on our hands - if only a one year showing. Hopefully this is a one time thing and we don't start down a Spartan-esque path...

Just saying if we make fun of them for it we have to grit our teeth when our guys throw beatings on the student body as well.

reshp1

April 9th, 2012 at 2:12 PM ^

Hope this is a one time thing and he learns from his mistakes. I'm glad to see the coaches stick to their guns on the discipline front though.

julesh

April 9th, 2012 at 3:27 PM ^

Hopefully that is a true account. I have certainly heard similar stories regarding domestic abuse charges. I heard one story of a guy whose girlfriend beat him up and she hurt herself while hitting him, so he took her to the hospital. He ended up being charged with abuse, which was later proved to be false, but he still had to deal with the charges.

jmdblue

April 9th, 2012 at 2:24 PM ^

Given appropriate doghouse time I can forgive about anything from these kids except the violence (ahem Sparty).....little weed or some blow...okay....Drunk off your ass...whatever......copy some answers or miss a few (weeks of) classes...yeah I get it......Problem is these kids are just too big and too strong to hit "civilians". 

reshp1

April 9th, 2012 at 3:28 PM ^

I hope the defense attorney's story is accurate (obvious huge grain of salt here), in which case it seems like a case of over-reaction by the police. I kinda wonder why the police were called at all though if that's the full story.

FgoWolve

April 9th, 2012 at 4:46 PM ^

The prosecutor will never comment on a story while it's pending, so you only get the defense's attorney's watered down version of the events. It's possible there's less to the story, but prosecutor's don't take these charges lightly. They're very serious about what and why they charge, and this Freep story says nothing about illegal entry into someone's room or any kind of domestic violence. Someone must be alleging that Furman messed up a girlfriend or someone he lives with (that's the definition of domestic violence) and that he went somewhere he wasn't supposed to without permission (the illegal entry part). We won't know these things unless a police report is leaked or until the case actually ends up in court somewhere.

 

Just for a scale of reference, if all these things are true, the law views this worse than anything Daryl Stonum did, but not quite as bad as the MSU dorm ambush.

Hoke_Floats

April 9th, 2012 at 2:34 PM ^

I put a couch from the commons in my room and I was charged with grand theft larceny

which was thrown out after I explained it to the head of the dorm system

so...hopefully furman just lost his temper and did something silly...not stupid