Re: Here’s what we know about the Marcus Morris assault case

by **bobheckler** Thu Sep 07, 2017 12:22 pm

http://www.csnne.com/boston-celtics/markieff-and-marcus-morris-assault-case-one-step-closer-trial

Markieff and Marcus Morris assault case one step closer to trial

By A. Sherrod Blakely September 06, 2017 7:42 PM

BOSTON – The multiple assault charges levied against Marcus and Markieff Morris moved one step closer towards going to trial.

Trial selection begins on September 12 at 8 a.m. local time in Phoenix. This is when the master calendar judge will identify which Superior Court Judge will preside over the trail.

Marcus, who was traded to the Boston Celtics this summer from Detroit in exchange for Avery Bradley, and his brother Markieff (a starting forward for the Washington Wizards) are each facing two aggravated assault charges with each carrying a maximum sentence of 3 ¾ years in jail.

Marcus and Markieff were allegedly involved in a January 24, 2015 incident in Phoenix involving Erik Hood who according to police reports, suffered a broken nose, abrasions and a large bump on his head.

Hood, who attended the same Philadelphia high school as the twins, told police that he was held down by four men who assaulted him outside of a high school basketball game in Phoenix. He added that the Morris twins were among those who assaulted him.

Authorities later said a witness identified the Morris twins as having been at the scene during the incident.

According to Hood, he had at times coached the twins in addition to giving them rides to practice. But the relationship soured about year before they were drafted, according to reports. That is around the time when the twins reportedly found “inappropriate” text messages from Hood to their mother.

However, the Morris twins have said that they were not involved in the incident, and that they have no connection to Hood.

Anything other than a not guilty verdict will likely result in some sort of suspension by the NBA.

Pleading down to a misdemeanor charge may result in the twins avoiding jail time, but they’re still likely to be hit with a multiple game suspension.

Article VI, Section 7 of the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement states that a player will be suspended for “a minimum of ten (10) games” if they are convicted, pleads guilty or pleads no contest or “nolo contendere” to a violent felony.

bob
MY NOTE: Pleading down to a misdemeanor might get a multi-game suspension but it won't be 10 games since that's the penalty for a felony. Theis might get thrown into the fire a little quicker than Brad might want.

On a related topic, what does it say about the NBA CBA that the penalty for being found guilty ("nolo contendere" is the same as "guilty") of a violent felony only keeps you off the court for less than a month? Not a very stiff penalty for committing a serious crime, is it?

.

by **bobheckler** Wed Sep 13, 2017 11:08 am

Jury selection begins today, 9/13, in Maricopa County.

bob

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by **RosalieTCeltics** Wed Sep 13, 2017 11:16 am

what are the chances that they 'really' did not do anything? is this a money grabbing situation or are they guilty? Why would Danny get involved with a player who is involved in an up to his eyeballs in a mess like this?

by **dboss** Thu Sep 14, 2017 11:19 pm

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/20697840/jury-selection-concludes-morris-brothers-assault-trial

Two other co-defendants have pled guilty to aggravated assault charges.

If the Morris twins are guilty they should have pursued an out of court settlement.

Dboss

by **kdp59** Fri Sep 15, 2017 7:40 am

dboss wrote:http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/20697840/jury-selection-concludes-morris-brothers-assault-trial

Two other co-defendants have pled guilty to aggravated assault charges.

If the Morris twins are guilty they should have pursued an out of court settlement.

Dboss

there are always civil cases. so that out of court settlement could happen even if they are acquitted. Think OJ.

by **dboss** Fri Sep 15, 2017 10:52 am

kdp59 wrote:
dboss wrote:http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/20697840/jury-selection-concludes-morris-brothers-assault-trial

Two other co-defendants have pled guilty to aggravated assault charges.

If the Morris twins are guilty they should have pursued an out of court settlement.

Dboss

there are always civil cases. so that out of court settlement could happen even if they are acquitted. Think OJ.

Kdp59

Exactly but they could have avoided going to trial.

by **bobheckler** Fri Sep 15, 2017 11:28 am

Personally, and I am not a lawyer, I think this will work out ok for the Morris twins. I say this because I read that:

1. While one twin allegedly was involved with the beating the other one was engaged in "crowd control" (in other words, he was telling everybody to stay back).

2. The victim was on the ground and was covering his head in protection.

If these things are true that creates an opening for the Morris twins to wriggle through, in that, If you cannot identify which twin was beating you, you cannot convict either of them since that is "reasonable doubt".

One giant hole in this theory are any witnesses and whether the Morris twins were wearing vastly different outfits that night. If one was in yellow and the other was in black, say, and the one in yellow was the one doing the beating and witnesses will attest that Marcus Morris wore yellow that night, then...If however, they were both wearing dark garb, at night, then the dim lighting and craziness of the moment might make peoples' memories of whether the twin doing the beating was wearing blue or green or black vs brown might be that wriggle room.

Either way, since I doubt either Morris is working out with their teammates, like the way Jayson Tatum etal are working out together in Waltham, it hurts the Celtics.

bob

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by **dboss** Fri Sep 15, 2017 12:00 pm

Bob

Does the guy driving the getaway car get off? The TWINS claimed they were not even there.

Do you think the two other defendants who pled guilty disclosed what happened and who was involved?

And to think we traded AB and a 2nd round pick for a guy that most likely was involved in a hideous and violent crime.

Dboss

by **RosalieTCeltics** Fri Sep 15, 2017 12:17 pm

I just can't imagine that this could turn out to be the biggest blunder of Danny's GM career. He had to have done some homework on this, but the fact that he is not in Waltham is not a good sign. Has their lawyer told them that they are unwanted in their training camps, Boston and Washington??

Ugh, to thing Avery is gone because he was going to make too much money and they needed the space for Hayward. What a bonus it would be to still have him, at least for this year. Why couldn't Crowder have gone in his place

by **bobheckler** Fri Sep 15, 2017 12:49 pm

dboss wrote:Bob

Does the guy driving the getaway car get off? The TWINS claimed they were not even there.

Do you think the two other defendants who pled guilty disclosed what hapoened and who was involved?

And to think we traded AB and a 2nd round pick for a guy that most likely was involved in a hideous and violent crime.

Dboss

dboss,

Driving the getaway car makes you an accessory. Trying to keep more people from piling on doesn't. The question is "which twin did what?". If you cannot prove which one did what beyond a reasonable doubt, you shouldn't convict either of them.

I don't know what other defendents disclosed, if anything. There is an assumption in your statement that there was a plea bargain in exchange for something other than saving the taxpayers of Maricopa County the cost of a trial. They might have just allocuted to their role in exchange for a reduced charge and/or sentence. That happens all the time. In fact, an argument could be made that is what they did precisely because they couldn't drag the higher-profile twins into it and knew that if they went to trial they'd be convicted and get the whole sentence. I do not know if the DA is gunning for the Morris twins and offered this deal to those two guilty persons to flip them against the twins. I suggested a defense strategy based upon the fact that it was dark and they are identical twins. Other circumstances, such cooperation by other defendants, is speculation to me barring something to suggest otherwise.

Getting past the specifics, I agree with what you are saying about Danny trading for a player with known legal issues. I don't know how much choice he had, everybody knew he had to move someone to sign Hayward because of the lower salary cap, but here we are.

bob

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by **RosalieTCeltics** Fri Sep 15, 2017 1:46 pm

Why not Crowder for Morris, straight up. would that have worked

by **swish** Fri Sep 15, 2017 2:35 pm

Other than the possibility of visual identification were either of the twins identified by name during the fight ?

swish

by **dboss** Fri Sep 15, 2017 8:36 pm

Look at it this way.

The guy Hood made sexually explicit text messages to the twins mama. They took offense and I could too considering that Hood apparently attended high school in Philly with them. So he is no father figure.

They could have advised Hood that they did not think it was a good ides for Hood to be banging their mama or wanting to bang their mama.

Instead they just beat his ass along with several other people.

The other people said yes we beat his ass. And charges were probably reduced because they miked on the twins.

The prosecutor must have asked "were the Twins there"? Did they beat ass too?

The getaway car was a Phantom Rolls Royce. MSRP: From $417,825 Who's car was that? It wasn't owned by Danny Ainge, that's for sure.

This whole sorted affair is vexing.

Form your own conclusions.

dboss

by **worcester** Fri Sep 15, 2017 9:32 pm

LeBron is a saint by comparison, considering what went down between Delonte and Mama James.

by **kdp59** Sat Sep 16, 2017 8:18 am

this was all well known long before Danny traded for Morris. I am sure he weighed the charges/ potential penalty before he made the deal.

by **wideclyde** Sat Sep 16, 2017 1:22 pm

It just befuddles me that so many (any?) of these multimillionaire professional athletes allow themselves to get involved in such situations. Kind of makes them look like thugs.

Whether Morris is guilty or not, he should not have been involved. And, if he was close to it when it started he needed to head in the opposite direction as fast as his feet could have carried him.

This seems to be a situation where having a body guard, like many professional athletes have, would have been a great idea not so much to fight in a fight but to keep Morris and his brother out of such a fight.

Fair or not, and wanted or not, professional athletes are seen in a different light and live in a different world than most of us regular people. In 2017, how can they all not understand this concept.

by **bobheckler** Mon Sep 18, 2017 2:56 pm

Jared Weiss @JaredWeissNBA
about 21 minutes ago
In opening statement of Morris twins assault trial, their attorney claims they were not present for the assault and witnesses are lying.
reply retweet like

bob

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by **worcester** Mon Sep 18, 2017 9:55 pm

Let's hope their lawyer is telling the truth. It could happen. Stranger things have happened. Rarely.

by **beat** Tue Sep 19, 2017 5:26 am

Lawyer and truth should never be used in the same sentence

beat

by **kdp59** Tue Sep 19, 2017 7:40 am

thats a strong statement to make in court.

perhaps they have videos from a local strip club that show the twins there at the time?

by **Ktronic1** Tue Sep 19, 2017 1:34 pm

dboss wrote:I mentioned this during the discussions about the need to free up cap space and the AB trade and I specifically referred to Morris as a thug. ( in the worse sense of that word)

No one even acknowledge that this was an issue because most everyone was so enthralled about getting Hayward that the character issue took a back seat.

If found guilty he should reprimanded and if this includes a suspension, so be it.

It will be interesting to see if Morris becomes a good citizen. If he atones for his inappropriate behavior he should be granted a 2nd chance and Celtics fans should expect a prove it to me situation.

dboss

One or 2 incidents does not make one a "thug", especially if one involves a parent, specifically a mother.

by **swish** Tue Sep 19, 2017 1:44 pm

Five on one, if true, in my book equals thug.

swish

by **worcester** Tue Sep 19, 2017 1:54 pm

In the right context 5 on 1 could also describe the defense against IT during last year's Celtics games.

by **dboss** Tue Sep 19, 2017 9:15 pm

Ktronic1 wrote:
dboss wrote:I mentioned this during the discussions about the need to free up cap space and the AB trade and I specifically referred to Morris as a thug. ( in the worse sense of that word)

No one even acknowledge that this was an issue because most everyone was so enthralled about getting Hayward that the character issue took a back seat.

If found guilty he should reprimanded and if this includes a suspension, so be it.

It will be interesting to see if Morris becomes a good citizen. If he atones for his inappropriate behavior he should be granted a 2nd chance and Celtics fans should expect a prove it to me situation.

dboss

One or 2 incidents does not make one a "thug", especially if one involves a parent, specifically a mother.

Fine.

So tell me how many incidents qualifies to apply the thug term?

Dboss

by **dboss** Thu Sep 21, 2017 9:56 pm

Update

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/20761820/marcus-morris-markieff-morris-aggravated-assault-trial-resumes-testimony-man-attacked

Interesting as Hood now says that both twins were no involved in the beating. Only our very on Marcus took part in the alleged assault.

If things go south and Marcus gets suspended by the NBA, who will start at Power Forward?

Will Stevens insert Baynes in the lineup at Center to pair with AH? How about Theis or Yabusele at PF to start the season?

There is not a lot of experienced depth at the 4. It is very likely that both Theis and Yabusele are going to get some run even if Morris is not suspended.

dboss

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