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

5 mins ago – via Twitter SteveBHoop
Steve Bulpett: Arizona jury finds Marcus and Markieff Morris not guilty on assault charges.
Law, Marcus Morris, Markieff Morris, Boston Celtic



bob
MY NOTE: Hallelujah!!


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bobheckler wrote:5 mins ago – via Twitter SteveBHoop
Steve Bulpett: Arizona jury finds Marcus and Markieff Morris not guilty on assault charges.
Law, Marcus Morris, Markieff Morris, Boston Celtic



bob
MY NOTE:  Hallelujah!!


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Bump.


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http://celticswire.com/2017/10/03/breaking-news-marcus-and-markieff-morris-found-not-guilty-in-phoenix-assault-trial/



Breaking News: Marcus and Markieff Morris found not guilty in Phoenix assault trial




By: Jared Weiss | 42 minutes ago



New Boston Celtics forward Marcus Morris, as well as his brother Markieff and former USC football player Gerald Bowman were found not guilty of aggravated assault in Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix, Arizona.


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MC Superior Court @courtpio
A jury found Markieff Morris, Marcus Morris and Gerald Bowman not guilty on all counts.
3:43 PM - Oct 3, 2017
2 2 Replies   69 69 Retweets   54 54 likes
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Morris is expected to rejoin the Celtics immediately and be with the team when they return to his hometown Philadelphia for Friday’s preseason game against the 76ers.


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Robert Gundran @RobertGundran
On his immediate plans, Marcus said, "I'm going to Boston, gonna get back with the team"
3:51 PM - Oct 3, 2017
1 1 Reply   41 41 Retweets   101 101 likes
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Two associates of Morris, Julius Kane and Christopher Melendez, pled guilty to committing the assault the week before the trial began, forcing the state to prove that the Morris twins and Bowman were accomplices or present for the assault of 36-year-old Philadelphia native Erik Hood.


Hood was blindsided by a sucker punch at an entrance to the ARCH facility in Phoenix during a basketball tournament in which the Morris brothers were in attendance on January 24, 2015. Hood then ran down the street to a dimly lit area as the assailants, presumably at least Kane and Melendez, gave chase. Hood was then beaten by a group of three men, one of whom was never affirmatively identified.

Markieff Morris was then spotted near the scene, descneding from a nearby parking lot where his Rolls Royce was parked based on the consensus of several witnesses. However, the details beyond the punch at the ARCH building were inconsistent throughout direct testimony and cross examination by witnesses called from both the state and defense lawyers for each defendant.

Additionally, a local for hire barber testified that Bowman was getting his hair cut that evening and was not in attendance at all. While it was never clearly determined whether the Morris twins were involved or accessories to the assault committed by Kane and Melendez, several witnesses and a series of text messages by the victim and his associates strung together a strong defense case for reasonable doubt to lead to a not guilty verdict.

The most effective testimony came from a video operator at the gymnasium, who witnessed the assault from afar and ran into Markieff Morris while running out to the scene from the gym. The witness testified that an associate of Hood contacted him and offered compensation if he testified that the Morris twins were involved in the attack. This evidence was brought to the state’s attention late in the discovery process — just weeks before the trial — and served to corroborate concerns raised by the defense about texts sent by the victim that he was in for a big pay day by suing the Morrises.


bob


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Robert Gundran @RobertGundran
On his immediate plans, Marcus said, "I'm going to Boston, gonna get back with the team"
3:51 PM - Oct 3, 2017
1 1 Reply 46 46 Retweets 111 111 likes


bob
MY NOTE: Wednesday is a scheduled 'no practice' day for the team anyway, so he can be there for Thursday's practice. SO glad this is over!


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I see your "Amen" , Bob, and I'll raise you two "Thank God's."

Think of how Danny feels!

Hopefully the Morris twins keep their noses clean from this point forward.  They got off this time around, and should feel extremely fortunate.  Time to look at what they have to lose, choose their 'associates' more wisely, and stick to playing ball.

Sounds like I'm talking to my teenager.  Although he's not pulling down 8 figures for playing ball.

I don't understand someone getting punched at the entrh to a building and then running into a dark alley. I would have been headed inside toward the light and possibly a policeman.

Morris has a lot of work to do to catch up.

Dboss

dboss wrote:Morris has a lot of work to do to catch up.

Dboss

Dboss,

Absolutely! The Celtics had a staff person in Phoenix with Morris to work out with him in the mornings. I wonder if the Wiz sent someone for Markieff (and if they didn't how he felt about Marcus getting one from the Cs).

Now the battle for that 5th starting spot begins in earnest.


bob


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wow, glad that's over. makes losing Avery a bot easier to swallow

Great news!

You know some people still seem to feel he's guilty...


Maybe just maybe he actually didn't do it.

beat

beat wrote:You know some people still seem to feel he's guilty...


Maybe just maybe he actually didn't do it.

beat

beat

Often times it's a fine line between reality and wishful thinking.

swish

It's so much easier to focus on the faults in other people rather than addressing our own defects of character. Hence the popularity of the National Enquirer and the magazines at the grocery store check out lines, plus half of TV "Journalism.:

swish wrote:

beat wrote:You know some people still seem to feel he's guilty...


Maybe just maybe he actually didn't do it.

beat

 beat

 Often times it's a fine line between reality and wishful thinking.

  swish

I realize that the people I dealt with over 30 years MOST did what they were arrested for.  
By the time they got to me after their various proceedings a large portion would tell me that they only plead guilty because their lawyer told them too. OR they said whatever they could to me to in some way justify their actions.

That wasn't everyone of course.

I had a 30ish year old lady on for a DWI she blew a .28 BAC.... when asked how much she had to drink that night (now most responses to this line are words like  a couple)  her reply was simply " A LOT."  Her blunt honesty was a bit refreshing. Didn't have much of that though.

Crimes with witnesses can be very misleading. We already know there was some motivation from the victim to gain a financial benefit from this.

What we do not know is all the true facts as none of us were there and even the ones that were have altered their stories.


NO way a jury was ever going to return a guilty verdict in this case.  

Did it happen ..............yep
Was he involved...........to some degree probably
Was it proved by a court of law......................NOPE

The standard to prove ones guilt is set very high. Beyond a reasonable doubt is there for a reason.

Just maybe he was indeed NOT guilty of the crime.

A jury that heard all of the evidence thinks so................so why second guess them?


beat

I once had a truck stolen from me by someone I remotely knew. We found the perp with the truck. He was arrested. The case went to trial. A jury trial in rural PA. The perp had his son go on the stand to say that he witnessed me offering to loan the truck to his dad, even though the truck had been hot wired to drive away.
I had never seen the son before in my life. I certainly had not loaned the truck to the dad. I was from MA. The son and dad were from that part of rural PA. The jury voted to acquit. Justice in America.

beat wrote:

swish wrote:

beat wrote:You know some people still seem to feel he's guilty...


Maybe just maybe he actually didn't do it.

beat

 beat

 Often times it's a fine line between reality and wishful thinking.

  swish

I realize that the people I dealt with over 30 years MOST did what they were arrested for.  
By the time they got to me after their various proceedings a large portion would tell me that they only plead guilty because their lawyer told them too. OR they said whatever they could to me to in some way justify their actions.

That wasn't everyone of course.

I had a 30ish year old lady on for a DWI she blew a .28 BAC.... when asked how much she had to drink that night (now most responses to this line are words like  a couple)  her reply was simply " A LOT."  Her blunt honesty was a bit refreshing. Didn't have much of that though.

Crimes with witnesses can be very misleading. We already know there was some motivation from the victim to gain a financial benefit from this.

What we do not know is all the true facts as none of us were there and even the ones that were have altered their stories.


NO way a jury was ever going to return a guilty verdict in this case.  

Did it happen ..............yep
Was he involved...........to some degree probably
Was it proved by a court of law......................NOPE

The standard to prove ones guilt is set very high. Beyond a reasonable doubt is there for a reason.

Just maybe he was indeed NOT guilty of the crime.

A jury that heard all of the evidence thinks so................so why second guess them?


beat

Well thought out response. I suspect that many people will continue to pick and choose those points(facts?) that best suit their opinions. Somehow we hope that justice will prevail.

swish

Mark Murphy @Murf56
about 37 minutes ago
According to Danny Ainge, Marcus Morris will be with Celtics in training camp tomorrow. Worked out with two C's assistants during his trial.
reply retweet like


bob
MY NOTE: Two Celtic assistants? EXCELLENT!!! Not just someone to feed them basketballs for shooting practice, but someone who can help him learn skeleton drills.


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What is Marcus' paycheck? $5M per year? Yeah, I guess Danny could afford to send 2 guys paid $50k a year to work with him for a couple of weeks.

He was found not guilty. That should be sufficient. All these admonitions about choosing your associates etc. seem presumptuous to me. Do any of you guys know something that wasn`t brought out at the trial. Have you never had an " associate" who acted badly?

jrleftfoot wrote:He was found not guilty. That should be sufficient. All these admonitions about choosing your associates etc. seem presumptuous to me. Do any of you guys know something that wasn`t brought out at the trial. Have you never had an " associate" who acted badly?

I think given the facts of the case as reported, it's naive to think the Morris twins shouldn't find a better place to hang.  It's a bit more than a matter of guilt or innocence in this one case.  It's an ongoing problem with professional athletes not severing the ties with those elements they don't need.  The supposed deal-makers who aren't needed at all thanks to the in-demand skills the athletes possess.  The problem seems biggest in the NBA; these athletes need to get smarter and realize they're going to be targets.  So many are leaving themselves wide open.

By the way, Morris does have a prior battery on his record.  He's going to face scrutiny like this, so he needs to recognize people and situations to avoid.

The criminal case is done, but the civil case is still pending. It would be nice not to have that distraction down the road, but the second case hasn't been dropped.

Not picking on you or anyone else in particular jr, but we're all adults here and know how the world works.  At the very best, dumb move by the Morris twins to even have ever been around this type.  This is why the NBA is investing so heavily in social and financial education for rookies; to cut down on this kind of frequently repeated scenario. The NFL has a similar program.

You are who you hang with. It's more than just a sports camp motto.

I am glad this episode is behind us.  The Celtics are a better team with him.  The reasonable doubt argument is spot on.

When I see him take the court in a Celtics uniform I hope it will give me a different perspective on who he is.  Over time his image should be rehabilitated.

He was found not guilty so there is no need for contrition.  

Dboss

I probably should clarify my earlier response on this.

Most of the people I dealt with that plead guilty to whatever were represented by by either a public defender or an assigned counsel. Meaning they didn't pay out of pocket for their defense.

Usually these attorney's caseloads are overwhelming and they don't have the time to "fight" for their clients innocence. They are usually looking for a deal to keep them out of jail and voila probation is a useful alternative. This still doesn't change that most of these people did what they were arrested for but it does change their outcome dramatically from those that can afford to pay for legal counsel.

I'm sure Mr. Morris paid for good legal representation in this matter.

He is no doubt a bit lighter in the wallet and perhaps that might send as much of a message to him as anything else.

Hoping he makes better decisions and as NY Celt mentioned ......... you are who you surround yourself with.

I've told many people NO FRIENDS are better than the wrong friends.

Now lets get this season underway.


beat