As it looks right now, Las Vegas Bishop Gorman defensive lineman Justin Chaisson will attend Oklahoma on a football scholarship after a Las Vegas judge on Wednesday accepted his no-contest plea to four gross misdemeanors stemming from an incident involving him and his ex-girlfriend back in March.
We may hear something from Sooners coach Bob Stoops via some kind of a statement, but the assumption is that the legal adjudication of the case with no felony conviction involved means the scholarship offer will stand.
The question of whether OU should honor its commitment is open to debate on other grounds. Personally, I’m conflicted.
The charges included two counts of false imprisonment, one count of conspiracy to commit coercion and one count of malicious destruction of property.
District Judge Stefany Miley accepted the terms of Chaisson’s plea agreement and sentenced him to a maximum of three years probation, 120 hours of community service and a restitution fee to be later determined.
The agreement also restricts any contact between Chaisson and the victim and one witness of the crime, both of whom are female classmates of his.
Chaisson must also complete one year of domestic violence counseling from an April 29 judgment on a no-contest plea to one count of misdemeanor coercion and one count of misdemeanor domestic battery.
He had upon arrest initially been charged with four felonies -- coercion, coercion with a deadly weapon, assault with a deadly weapon and false imprisonment -- a gross misdemeanor of false imprisonment and three misdemeanor counts of battery constituting domestic violence.
According to a police report, on March 17, Chaisson forced his 17-year-old ex-girlfriend into the back seat of his sport utility vehicle in a coffee shop parking lot.
The victim told police Chaisson punched her in the ribs and drove her into the desert where he pulled her from the car. She said he then put a screwdriver to her neck and threatened to kill her until two of her friends pulled up on the scene and Chaisson forced her into his car again.
According to the police report, the incident ended when one of the two friends called 911 and Chaisson told his ex-girlfriend to exit his vehicle at a storage facility.
I’ve been told by someone more intricately familiar with the facts of the case that there is more to the story than has been made public-- as there usually is. My guess is that if Stoops stands by the scholarship offer, he sees a significant reason for that and we’ll just have to trust him on that.
I’m in no way condoning any of Chaisson’s actions. Domestic violence of any kind makes me sick to my stomach. But I am wondering why a judge -- a female judge at that, though gender should make no difference -- would agree to a plea that in essence does away with the assault with a deadly weapon charge -- the alleged screwdriver incident.
If I’m the prosecutor here, and if I’ve got the screwdriver and have any verification that it was indeed used in a threatening manner, I’m using it to at least get one felony conviction. Again, not saying the incident didn’t happen as originally described in the police report citing what Chaisson’s girlfriend told officers. Just saying, while acknowledging my legal expertise is limited to watching Hamilton Burger be foiled weekly by Perry Mason in black and white.
Chaisson’s lawyer told the Las Vegas Sun that his client’s work with Catholic Charities and local school children and letters written on his behalf by classmates and teachers helped acceptance of the plea bargain.
The case, of course, conjures up memory of Josh Jarboe, who came to OU last summer after pleading down a felony handgun charge to a misdemeanor. Stoops sent him home the day before the opening of August practice after seeing an Internet video Jarboe made in which ehwas rapping about guns and shooting people. That was not the end of Jarboe’s troubles.
Chaisson now faces a similar life-changing crossroad. Time will tell whether he profits by his escape from more serious legal problems that could have landed him behind bars. Jarboe did not.
Stoops finds himself in an unenviable position between two factions--one that believes in second chances and another that believes this young man does not deserve one. I honestly do not know the answer.
-- Mike Jones
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