AANews: Lewan Assault Case Gets Clearer
The Ann Arbor News FOIA'd AAPD documents and security footage of the Taylor Lewan incident outside the Brown Jug after the Ohio State game. Read for yourself, but rather predictably, Taylor doesn't come off looking too great here.
All I can say is I'm very thankful that the media/everyone didn't analyze every action my friends and I did when we were in college...
Yes, clearly his brother instigated the whole event. Not the drunk OSU fan in downtown Ann Arbor taunting everyone with a damn megaphone, after The Game. SMH, man.
Lewan did not start the taunting nor the violence. He stepped in after something had already started. It sounds like he threw one punch, knocked the guy down, and got his party into the bar. It sounds like that is the consistent story (except Taylor is calling it a push, which I'm not buying).
These OSU fans were very drunk (falling down drunk), had a megaphone, trying to taunt Michigan fans. They are far from innocent in this.
I'm suprised you would not jump in to help your brother against people like this. Even if your brother was wrong for taking the bait, I would expect you to jump in to break it up, and that is what Lewan did.
Give him a hard time for twisting a head during the game, or for other incidents, but, to me, this is only being brought through because he is who he is, not because of what he did.
I'm definitely not trying to argue for violence but just playing devils advocate like most here are more or less doing. I think what WolvinLA is stating is that too many people lack common sense these days, or probably ignore it, which is silly and irresponsible. I think there's something to taking responsibility for your actions, again, something many don't do and would rather blame others for, and sometimes there are/can/should be punishments for said actions.
I agree with much of what you state yet also somewhat feel that a little common sense beat into somebody for being wreckless (nothing a few stitches can't fix) may make the world not so terrible in the long run!
I didn't say it was bullying. Obviously smaller people can be bullies too, and obviously Taylor wasn't bullying him.
I said the tactic, 'I'm bigger than you, so I can punch you because I don't like you', is one used by elementary bullies; just because the guy was talking smack (or more importantly, just because he's a Buckeye), that doesn't give Taylor (or anybody) the right to punch him in the face
I don't see how the assault case "gets clearer", if anything it's even more confused. At least five different versions of events, two distinct versions from the alleged victim. It seems probable that Taylor threw at least one punch at a drunk involved in a fight with his brother. Despicable behavior for a senior team captain, but not much of a case.
The only thing that seems clearer is the reason why Lewan hasn't settled yet. The prosecution has a very shaky case. Nobody is going to believe the uber-drunk victims and Dileo's account doesn't really align with anyone elses, and she there's a possibility she's using this as some sort of revenge (not saying she is, but if you're a juror, you have to take that possibility into account).
Well, that makes it clear as mud. Each person seemingly has a different version of events. Not sure how they get a conviction out of this. It all seems to rest on Miss Dileo's version of events, and whether a jury would view it as credible.
and he will plead guilty to jay walking. The question may be more if the drunk OSU fan wants to file a civil suit but I don't see a real sympathetic jury being found in Ann Arbor.
I believe I could be impartial.
*Cough* Electric bleachers for drunk Ohio State fans *Cough*.
Sign me up.
Seems to me that article is intentionally misleading. Police wouldn't haved charged Lewan without enough evidence to get a conviction.
As others have said, you can't just hit someone in the face because they say something you disagree with. And it sounds like Lewan's brother was the one who started the incident to begin with.
People get charged all the time now for political reasons so it doesn't look like favoritism.
Not sure what you read that changed your opinion of him...basically jumped into a fight he didn't start and punched someone in the face....
A couple other things. 1 - interesting how the guys from Ohio aren't sure who punched them, until they find out Lewan was there. Of course Lewan was due to be making millions of dollars in about half a year at the time. And all of a sudden now the Ohio guys are sure and change their stories.
2 - lots of people on here seem to be acting like being involved in a fight where punches are thrown is a very severe crime. There were not many fights where I went to school, but there were some. And when there were, black eyes were exchanged and then people went on their way. Cops weren't called, jail wasn't discussed, and high horses were left in the stable.
I'm not defending Lewan here, but come on. If fights resulted in regular arrests, jails in college towns all over the country would be packed each weekend.
are serious. All it takes is to knock someone out and they hit their head on concrete and pass away from the trauma. Boom, you're looking at prison and you are pretty much f'd..
Not sure what your first point has to do with anything. They now know it was Lewan and other witnesses confirmed it. Doesn't matter if they didn't know who he was at the time or not.
Second, if you fight at a bar or near a bar that's in a busy section of town- you're probably going to get arrested. Especially now when everyone has a cell phone. Maybe that wasn't the case when you were in school.
to hit the guy (assuming he did it, which it would seem that he did).
That being said, the case against him is incredibly weak. 2 guys blitzed out of their minds (troublemakers to boot) and a vengeful ex-girlfriend? Not exactly reliable sources.
I predict this will end up being a whole lot of hot nothing. He might end up with a minor slap on the wrist. Can't see it being anything significant. I am not saying he was right to do it, I'm just saying I don't see much of a case here for any kind of significant punishment.
Now that I think about it, I'd rather Lewan did something similar to Urbs after the game as opposed to this random Ohio fan. Urbs is a product of the devil and has it coming to him.
You cant see Lewan much on that video. Sounds like the Ohio guy on the megaphone deserved an ass whipping.
- The biggest one for me is the involvement of a family member. It seems to me that protecting someone, or their honor, or fighting for them or with them, or letting them begin a fight and then finishing it for them, is often a factor. I would bet that if Lewan's brother wasn't around, Lewan walks away.
- The whole thing seems much ado about not very much. My guess is that law enforcement deals with stuff like this all the time. The major difference here is the involvement of a celebrity. Which segues into . . .
- With celebrity comes scrutiny. Anyone in the public eye gets in trouble for things many of us do. Exhibit A: Marcus Hall flipping the bird. I don't excuse what he did, but what made it worse was that it was on TV, and then he was well known.
- Alcohol regularly goes with stupidity. Exhibit B: Glasgow DUI & Volleyball player/captain Alexa Dannemiller hangin' out the window. What were they thinking? Oh . . . it was the alcohol.
- I'd rather the facts come out. The idea that someone speaking the truth or serving as a witness is a snitch really bothers me. This, rather than the initial event, is the thing I most dislike about this incident. Let justice run its course. I despise intimidation of witnesses, or witnesses just keeping their mouths shut, because they're on the same side as the offenders/criminals/defendents. My suspicion is that in a situation like this, there is multiple blame to go around. If a full, thorough, and honest accounting of the facts had come out in November, this matter might be done with already.
It's super bizarre. Your #5 is not happening. I don't think facts will ever come out. They were all loaded and stories have all been changed. (But without reading the article, you are spot on besides 5)
Sounds like the Prosecutor charged this one because they didn't want to look like they were ignoring it, and now they are stuck because he won't plea out. This is a defense dream. I'm not a TL fan, but this sounds sketchy (from this article).
In the old-media era, incidents involving players on the team wouldn't draw nearly the attention as they do now. Just to pick one thing at random, Joe Cocozzo punched somebody's lights out in 1991 and got into trouble because of it, but you weren't able to get much more information about what exactly happened.
Lewan may or may not be a jerk, but this incident doesn't strike me as particularly vicious or brutal, and certainly wasn't premeditated. Should he have punched the guy? No, and he will pay some sort of legal price for it.
What the OSU fan did is the equivalent of climbing down into the lion pit at the zoo and taunting the animals. No sympathy from me.
That wasn't the case, surprisingly.
If the guy was walking around with a mega phone taunting opposing fans while drunk he's lucky he didn't get shot (and no, I wouldn't be okay with him getting shot).
A punch to the face is almost a good ending in that situation, as it could have ended much much worse. What a moron.
That's not to say Lewan was justified in punching him. But, man, I understand. Sometimes people need a quick punch to the face (e.g. the Phelps family [this should be obvious, but I'm not talking about Michael Phelps here]).
All that being said, you gotta live with your actions after the fact, but I very much doubt I would have been able to stop myself from entering the fray if I saw my brother in trouble, regardless of who started what.
Did you actually read the article?
OSU guy is a complete douche. I would have punched his sorry ass. He was extremely drunk and being an ass. I don't know why AAPD didn't arrest him.
From the article:
"Ryan Munsch, the 28-year-old Arlington, Ohio man who was sent to the hospital, told University of Michigan Hospital doctors he had about eight beers and 14 ounces of liquor from 9:30 a.m. Nov. 30 until the alleged incident just after midnight on Dec. 1....
Munsch had been walking around with a megaphone on the night of Nov. 30 and Dec. 1. He taunted U-M fans on the street and inside the Brown Jug about 20 to 30 minutes before the fight, according to police."
I'm gueeing the guy drank even more than what he had said he did. His one friend could barely stand up. They couldn't remember what happened a half hour after the incident when they were interviewed, yet magically remember what happened later when they sobered up and found out who the incident was with?
I understand Lewan was wrong for punching a guy, but to me, there were very drunk OSU fans looking for trouble and finally found it with lewan's brother, who was also drunk. Lewan stepped in, punched the one guy, and broke it up and separated the group. There seems to be no additional kicks, punches, or anything else from Lewan. One, to help break up the incident.
It sounds like the OSU guys are lucky they didn't get a drunk and dissorderly conduct charge or something.
All I know is, when I was in middle school, I was bothering my much bigger (at the time) older brother and he slugged me in the stomach. My mom came in, said "were you bothering him?" I nodded as I was curled up in a ball, then "are you going to do it again?" and I decided no I would not. Sometimes these are just lessons that need to be learned.
I can't believe people keep bringing this up. It's a non story.
1. OSU fan being an idiot
2. Drunk Mich fan confronts him.
3. Altercation results
4. Older brother sticks up for his little brother in a fight while guys are drunk. Most guys would do the same in that situation.
Other than Lewan being a top NFL prospect this is zero news and happens every Saturday in the fall across all different campuses.
Anyone walking around a rivals campus with a megaphone is hoping for a confrontation. He got what he wanted he should be happy.
If that video is making things clearer I'd hate to see what they looked like before
I could be wrong, but I believe that other-defense is not a legal defense in the state of Michigan. MGoLawyers?
Google says it is in Michigan.
It is. Deadly force is even codified. The rest is common law.
Jimmy from South Park said it best:
Legalities aside, I don't get the moral outrage from some people. I understand pacifism and non-violence, but.. COME ON. Sometimes the only lesson for someone like this is a swift blow of physical justice. This guy needed to learn his lesson. Just sucks the man who delivered was a high-profile Michigan athlete or else we'd all be laughing about it.
I think this incident can be best summed up as "being in college".