Fed investigation at MSU is, in fact, related to basketball player incident
There has been some discussion about whether the federal investigation at MSU was started the way the investigation at UM started. In other words, was it initiated by a complaint about the alleged assault by basketball players in 2010 similar to how it was initiated at UM by a complaint about the assault by Gibbons?
The RCMB (I know, I know) has been quick to point out that MSU's investigation is merely housekeeping and has nothing to do with the specific incident involving the basketball players. Turns out, that's not true.
By the way, the names of the guys accused in 2010 at MSU have never actually been publicly released. That's why I simply refer to them as basketball players. They were described only as freshmen on the basketball team and MSU had four freshmen in that class. We all think we know who the two guys were but there has NEVER been an official statement revealing their names.
http://www.lansingcitypulse.com/lansing/article-9937-breaking-msu-probe.html
February 28th, 2014 at 6:41 PM ^
Maybe they'll shut up about Gibbons now.
February 28th, 2014 at 6:50 PM ^
but at least now we can tell them why they need to shut up
February 28th, 2014 at 7:19 PM ^
I'm sure the Freep will be all over this and Drew will continually remind us there are unanswered questions...
February 28th, 2014 at 8:41 PM ^
http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20140228/NEWS01/302280037/MS…
"In a statement issued in October of 2010, Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III noted that assistant prosecutor Debra Bouck (now Debra Rousseau) had screened the case and found no reason to file charges and that Chief Assistant Prosecutor Lisa McCormick had agreed with the decision.
“I have prosecuted numerous prominent persons — including police officers, attorneys and athletes,” Dunnings said at the time. “In each instance, I believe that our office has handled the case regardless of status, and shown neither favor nor prejudice to any person.”
In that specific case, Dunnings said, “our office reached the conclusion that no crime had been committed.”
________________________________________
Yes, the two are exactly the same.
February 28th, 2014 at 8:49 PM ^
The prosecutor engaged in a cover up as "the RCMB" has accused the police/university in Ann Arbor regardin Gibbons?
In East Lansing? Well, I never...
February 28th, 2014 at 9:04 PM ^
February 28th, 2014 at 9:17 PM ^
February 28th, 2014 at 10:56 PM ^
February 28th, 2014 at 8:57 PM ^
Of course they won't. They would rather see Michigan fail than MSU succeed.
February 28th, 2014 at 6:44 PM ^
http://statenews.com/article/2014/02/breaking-assault
"In other words, was it initiated by a complaint about the alleged assault by basketball players in 2010 similar to how it was initiated at UM by a complaint about the assault by Gibbons?"
-"Cody said the victim filed a Title IX complaint against the university after the MSU police investigation had concluded."
Another note from the article
"Earlier this week, U.S. Department of Education officials revealed that MSU is being investigated for two Title IX complaints, but would not confirm details. "
Not sure if both complaints are the same incident.
February 28th, 2014 at 7:14 PM ^
I believe there was something in the Detroit News and perhaps the Lansing State Journal as well that indicated the second complaint is a sexual harrassment complaint, but neither article game much in the way of information beyond that, so I am not sure if was related. It may not be, but again, there wasn't much said about either.
February 28th, 2014 at 7:20 PM ^
That's weird, all of the MSU law experts claim FERPA doesn't apply.
February 28th, 2014 at 6:45 PM ^
And honestly, just because they have two scumballs playing for them now that doesn't excuse what Gibbons probably did. Glass houses and all that, but it doesn't make me feel much better about the situation.
February 28th, 2014 at 9:25 PM ^
Unless I'm wrong, these two players aren't necessarily scumbags. Just because there is an investigation doesn't mean they did anything. I mean, either I'm missig something, or you're jumping to conclusions.
And if you are saying "well, they're getting investigated by the gov't -->therefore guilty" I really question your thought process.
February 28th, 2014 at 6:51 PM ^
This is a massive issue in the NCAA. Us, PSU, Notre Dame, Ohio, and now MSU have dealt with rape accusations. It makes you wonder what all the SEC is covering up.
February 28th, 2014 at 7:06 PM ^
http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2013/9/9/4711768/james-frankli…
I think the accusations against James Franklin are second to only PSU. "I'm 99.9 percent sure that Franklin saw the video," the source said. "And I wouldn't be surprised if the public finds this out soon." If that's true he's done forever.
February 28th, 2014 at 7:28 PM ^
I'd like to think PSU would hesitate to hire a guy accused by anyone of committing a violation "2nd to PSU," but I don't believe in anything anymore.
February 28th, 2014 at 7:43 PM ^
If this story was public back in September . . . why did PSU (of all schools) hire him?
February 28th, 2014 at 6:56 PM ^
February 28th, 2014 at 7:00 PM ^
February 28th, 2014 at 7:11 PM ^
... probably injured.
February 28th, 2014 at 10:04 PM ^
February 28th, 2014 at 7:16 PM ^
How are they supposed to win wth all these phony distractions?
February 28th, 2014 at 7:33 PM ^
February 28th, 2014 at 7:38 PM ^
Most of us who followed sports on either campus knew about both of these alleged incidents back when they happened (09 for gibbons and iirc 10 for msu's guys). They weren't secrets. I had no connection to any team but many students knew that something murky happened and that there was some amount of he said-she said going on.
February 28th, 2014 at 8:16 PM ^
Because the Feds are investigating both schools now.
February 28th, 2014 at 8:15 PM ^
I am still pissed, considering the "smoking gun" police report where one player said he watched the other have sex with someone who "clearly wasn't into it."
If Gibbons actually got away with raping someone, I am utterly disgusted. However, if the evidence was "he said, she said" and Gibbons came off as someone wrongly accused, the Michigan staff did the right thing.
It sounds to me like Gibbons may have "slipped through the cracks" and there is a strong possibility that the rules were changed to prevent that from happening and give Michigan just cause to expel Gibbons.
As for Sparty, one player corroborated the alleged victim's story. It Tom Izzo gave a rat's ass about the safety of women on his campus, he would have never let them play a second in a Sparty uniform. However, since he has had to work so hard to recruit against a revitalized Michigan program, he knew he would risk having a terrible team if he got rid of them.
I don't care if a woman goes to Michgan, MSU, or Pudunk Junior College: she deserves to be protected from sexual assaults on campus. Michigan has taken a strong step in that direction.
Sparty is still hiding the names of the two players involved in the Wonders Hall coverup. And it really, really pisses me off to see the media fawn over one of them for his relationship with a special needs girl and commend the other for his "bravery" in playing through injuries.
I so hope justice is done here. Hopefully, they didn't victimize anyone else while they were at MSU and it's "no harm, no foul." If they have really been stand-up citizens since then and the case will never be prosecuted, maybe there is nothing positive to be gained by revealing their names to those who don't already know them.
But Tom Izzo MUST answer to someone for compromising the safety of every female on the MSU campus by helping the two players cover up the incident.
February 28th, 2014 at 9:05 PM ^
February 28th, 2014 at 8:39 PM ^
February 28th, 2014 at 9:09 PM ^
February 28th, 2014 at 8:59 PM ^
February 28th, 2014 at 9:49 PM ^
February 28th, 2014 at 9:01 PM ^
February 28th, 2014 at 9:08 PM ^
...come the end of march.
February 28th, 2014 at 9:18 PM ^
February 28th, 2014 at 11:15 PM ^
Here's one of the things that bothers me about these proceedings: who is on this committee or tribunal or whatever that makes the decision about guilt, and what is their background? Suppose, for example, that a reasonable person would find more evidence of wrong doing on the part of the MSU players than the Michigan player, but the MSU committee determines there's not enough evidence. I know this sort of thing can happen in the courts as well: juries and judges don't all view evidence in the same way, but at least in the case of the courts there's some level of transparency in the proceedings.
Not trying to be a jerk, but I honestly don't think that makes one bit of difference in terms of what the feds are looking at. This isn't going to be a question of what the ultimate findings of the universities were in each respective case. It's a question of whether the universities even got to the point of trying to make the findings.
In other words, UM can say to feds, "You want to know if we are performing the mandated investigations on complaints of sexual misconduct and then conducting hearings based on the mandated lower standard of proof? Yes, we are. As proof, we kicked out Brendan Gibbons using our investigation and new hearing." UM might still have problems about whether they started the investigation quickly enough. But there is no question that the investigation was done and hearings were conducted.
Can MSU say the same? I have no idea. We'll all find out soon enough.
I am really interested in hearing Section 1's opinion on this matter. Where is he?
I hate to say it but no school is lily white in these sorts of things. It seems like there are still Glenn Bryant III clouds hanging at EMU. Toledo just had an incident with one of their players getting a DUI (and a 1 game suspension). I'm sure if you dig through stuff at other schools, you'll find stuff like this.
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140225/SCHOOLS/302250080/#comments
If you do some googling, her daughter died in 2012. At the time of her death she was 26 and and had a son. Incredibly tragic.