Quintez Cephus Found Not Guilty

[pacopete4]

Cephus Innocent

 

Thoughts?

[trwi7]

I don't know if he's guilty or not guilty but the ADA seemed like kind of a prick and asked an awful question that could have prejudiced the jury to making Cephus a sympathetic figure.

 

At one point Brown asked Cephus if it was fair to say he had "millions of dollars riding on being found not guilty," indicating Cephus' prospect in a career in football.

 

The question drew gasps from the courtroom, which was packed all week with Cephus' friends and family members. Hanrahan told the jury to disregard Brown's comment.

 

I mean, tell the jury to disregard the comment all you want but they all heard it. Also in that article from where that quote is pulled from is the ADA just going rapid fire against him basically trying to confuse him into providing an answer that would help his case to the point where the judge had to tell him to slow down with the questions.

 

Like I said, I have no idea if he's guilty or not guilty but the ADA played the case about as wrong as you possibly could just based on the quotes in the story.

[Mr Southpaw]

Jury said Not Guilty. From the start it seemed like a weak case. Chicago wealth can only get you so far.

[pacopete4]

It’s too bad the Badgers didn’t stick by him a bit more. Probably as good as gone.

[JosephC]

I am a Wisconsin citizen and taxpayer and I realize I'm punching myself in the nuts when saying this, but hopefully Cephus can sue the university and get some proper compensation. Not at all a fan of "misconduct codes" that basically pitch one's rights out the window and throw an innocent individual under the bus for no other reason than to make an organization think that they are standing on some high moral ground.

 

"You have rights....unless you make me look bad...then you have no rights."

 

And for clarification, this is not an opinion that athletes should be allowed to participate in athletics while in a serious legal situation. That's a case by case basis, and personally I would agree with Cephus not being allowed to play football during this process. But expelling him from the university...shame on UW for that.

[stoutdude04]

It is a sad situation and only those there truly know what happened, but I know someone in the Madison PD and he had told.me this wasnt the first accusation from one of these girls against one of UWs athletes. Sad situation for all involved. Hopefully all can move on and hopefully Cephus can find a future in football if he desires.

[LouisEly]

I hope that Cephus can get back into a decent school. Even if you're found not guilty, these things can follow you and they can find reasons not to let you in to pacify the court of public opinion.

[MrTPlush]

Not Guilty =/= Innocent

 

At least not automatically. If he feels he was wronged go after the accuser. The university didn’t have much choice at the time. Is what it is. I guess kicking him out of the school may be debatable...but he has to be suspended off the team etc.

 

He should have no problem getting with a new school if he is believed to be innocent by society. If not then what did Wisconsin do that was so bad if no one will pick him up now? Sounds like they are like any other school towards him.

[pacopete4]

Why not suspend from team until the court process takes place and allow him to still attend their school, even if it’s online. Why expel a kid that never had his day in court to prove his innocence? Innocent until proven guilty might be the biggest crock of you know what in our society. Guy was treated like a criminal and wasn’t one.

[MrTPlush]

Why not suspend from team until the court process takes place and allow him to still attend their school, even if it’s online. Why expel a kid that never had his day in court to prove his innocence? Innocent until proven guilty might be the biggest crock of you know what in our society. Guy was treated like a criminal and wasn’t one.

 

Sure and I get that...for what it is worth that is what I think they should have done. He should probably be playing for Wisconsin this fall, but instead he has another wasted year and has to hope a team picks him up in 2020.

[GAME05]

Everyone saying "new school". Was he expelled from UW? Had he been kicked off the team?

 

Though either way hopefully this leads to better personal-life coaching of college athletes. If you're a name at all you've got to be extra-careful with what you do.

[LouisEly]

Was he expelled from UW? Had he been kicked off the team?

Yes and yes.

[jerichoholicninja]

There's no way a school would allow someone in his situation to remain associated with the school in any way. Not in today's climate.

[pacopete4]

There's no way a school would allow someone in his situation to remain associated with the school in any way. Not in today's climate.

 

This is part of the problem.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Why not suspend from team until the court process takes place and allow him to still attend their school, even if it’s online. Why expel a kid that never had his day in court to prove his innocence? Innocent until proven guilty might be the biggest crock of you know what in our society. Guy was treated like a criminal and wasn’t one.

 

 

Because that ship has sailed in today's climate. If they do that and he's found guilty they have to answer a bunch of unreasonable questions. You have to burn people at the stake at the first hint of potential guilt.

 

Case was a joke and I don't follow the Badgers. Glad justice prevailed but it is too late for his name which is already smeared forever.

[Mr Southpaw]

Just looking at a JS article

 

https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/wisconsin/2019/08/05/quintez-cephus-says-returning-college-priority-after-verdict/1924163001/

 

saying QC may petition the Chancellor to get reinstated into UW. The man was found not guilty and I see no way the Chancellor cannot reinstate him. He also said he may want to play football. I think he has served whatever penalty the football program would give for any other athlete. If not Davis should not play either. Trying not to be political, but rather judicial.

[tmwiese55]

I've seen a lot of uproar since this went down regarding how UW handled this so badly, how he should sue for millions etc. While I agree the whole situation was unfortunate I think to blame UW/Atheletic Dep is a bit much. Think of the situation they're in after seeing what happened at Baylor, MSU, OSU and others. So, no matter what way they go they face getting sued for something they basically have nothing to due with. Leave on campus and on the team and he loses the case, sued and people fired all over. Or imagine if another incident by him or another player happens and they're facing a 'culture' of coddling or covering up type accusations. UW had no choice but to do what they did.

 

Sucks for everyone involved as I'm sure he feels like he did nothing wrong, I'm sure the girls do feel taken advantage of too (it's not like they just made this up to be spiteful, though maybe their rich parents did push it further than it should've out of such reasons), District Attorney can't just dismiss without going to trial or they face allegations of bias and all that and get drilled in the next election, and UW was stuck in the middle the whole time. Hopefully all parties can go on from here and have good productive lives. I'd assume Cephus doesn't play here again though considering he's currently suing UW, who knows though maybe he really does like his coaches and teammates here though and would do it.

[homer]

Keep the discussion to Cephus and not the current social climate, please.

[KeithStone53151]

Sucks for everyone involved as I'm sure he feels like he did nothing wrong, I'm sure the girls do feel taken advantage of too (it's not like they just made this up to be spiteful, though maybe their rich parents did push it further than it should've out of such reasons), District Attorney can't just dismiss without going to trial or they face allegations of bias and all that and get drilled in the next election, and UW was stuck in the middle the whole time. Hopefully all parties can go on from here and have good productive lives. I'd assume Cephus doesn't play here again though considering he's currently suing UW, who knows though maybe he really does like his coaches and teammates here though and would do it.

 

It really does suck for all involved, except I would put the vast majority of the blame on the girls/girls parents here. If I'm reading this right, it took the jury all of 30 minutes to find him not guilty. There couldn't have been many in that room thinking there was any chance at all he was guilty or I imagine it takes even longer. The more I read online, the more ridiculous the allegations seem.

[HiAndTight]

Just looking at a JS article

 

https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/wisconsin/2019/08/05/quintez-cephus-says-returning-college-priority-after-verdict/1924163001/

 

saying QC may petition the Chancellor to get reinstated into UW. The man was found not guilty and I see no way the Chancellor cannot reinstate him. He also said he may want to play football. I think he has served whatever penalty the football program would give for any other athlete. If not Davis should not play either. Trying not to be political, but rather judicial.

 

 

The bar for breaking the honor code and for finding someone guilty beyond a reasonable doubt is so vastly different, the UW Chancellor could very easily refuse his petition...that'd likely lead to some lawsuits, that would likely drag on and on. This wasn't a Brian Banks type situation where they have conclusively decided he did nothing wrong. Even if he didn't, you can't ignore today's climate. There will be people who absolutely believe he did.

 

So the best thing would probably be for him to transfer to another school and finish out his career and then let NFL teams decide how and if this impacts his potential future. My guess is that it'll be tough for a team that views him as a 4th or 5th round talent to draft him with this in his background.

 

 

It's a sad story either way. If he's actually guilty, something horrible happened. If he's actually innocent(different than being found not guilty obviously) then he's the victim.

[homer]

 

Amy Gill @amygillsports

2h

The lawyers for former Badger WR Quintez Cephus announce they are petitioning UW-Madison for his readmission. They have asked for a response by Thursday. This follows last week’s not guilty verdict in his sexual assault case.

------

 

Sounds like this is in order to clean up his academic record.

[HiAndTight]

I don't know if he's guilty or not guilty but the ADA seemed like kind of a prick and asked an awful question that could have prejudiced the jury to making Cephus a sympathetic figure.

 

At one point Brown asked Cephus if it was fair to say he had "millions of dollars riding on being found not guilty," indicating Cephus' prospect in a career in football.

 

The question drew gasps from the courtroom, which was packed all week with Cephus' friends and family members. Hanrahan told the jury to disregard Brown's comment.

 

I mean, tell the jury to disregard the comment all you want but they all heard it. Also in that article from where that quote is pulled from is the ADA just going rapid fire against him basically trying to confuse him into providing an answer that would help his case to the point where the judge had to tell him to slow down with the questions.

 

Like I said, I have no idea if he's guilty or not guilty but the ADA played the case about as wrong as you possibly could just based on the quotes in the story.

 

 

I don't have a big problem with how the prosecutor handled that. Their job is to try and make the defendant sound like he's lying, to make him sound cold, heartless.

 

I just find some of it silly. Did he care about the women? I'm sorry, but is it a crime to have "relations" with women you don't care about as in have real feelings for? Isn't that a pretty big part of the Madison night life? Of being a college student? Of just life in general? How naive does he think people are?

 

I don't think to ask if he's got millions riding on being found not guilty is that bad...but it doesn't seem pertinent. Who cares if he does?

 

I feel very badly for all the women who are the victims of sexual assault who never file reports. I feel probable just as badly for men who are the victims of false accusations as that's a scarlet letter that's going to follow you around. And honestly, as stupid as I once thought it was, maybe those "letters of consent," should be used.

 

I know there are a lot of young women who believe that a man needs to ask for consent before anything transpires and at every single step.

 

Rape on campus is already obviously a huge problem. So too are false accusations. You try and send someone to jail because you didn't get a call or you realize it was simply a one-night thing. Both should be punishable. Of course, if you do that, you don't get women recanting and someone like Brian Banks is still in jail.

 

 

I guess as a UW alum, I'm happy we don't just ignore these issues like some other schools have done, like FSU did with Winston, but I'm too ignorant about this particular case to know if he forced himself or not.

[HiAndTight]

 

Amy Gill @amygillsports

2h

The lawyers for former Badger WR Quintez Cephus announce they are petitioning UW-Madison for his readmission. They have asked for a response by Thursday. This follows last week’s not guilty verdict in his sexual assault case.

------

 

Sounds like this is in order to clean up his academic record.

 

Full story:

MADISON — Former Wisconsin Badgers football player Quintez Cephus today applied for readmission to the University of Wisconsin, according to his lawyers.

 

The move is the next step in clearing his record after being expelled from UW last semester when he was accused of sexually assaulting two women.

 

Cephus was acquitted of the charges following a week-long trial in Dane County Circuit Court.

 

The wide receiver tells the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in a story published Tuesday that going back to school is a top priority, but that he doesn’t know if he will return to the University of Wisconsin.

 

The 21-year-old from Macon, Georgia, was suspended from the football team last summer before being expelled from UW last semester.

 

Cephus says his lawyers will work with UW officials to “to clean up my record” so he can return to school.

 

Cephus also says he plans on playing football again and he is in “the best shape of my life.”

 

 

Really shocking he'd want to come back to Madison. But good luck to him getting back into school and back on the field. Without actually knowing what happened, I've gotta respect the jurors and their 30 minutes of deliberation. He could really help the team on the field this year.

 

Still, a fresh start seems like it'd have to be better.

[homer]

 

 

Really shocking he'd want to come back to Madison. But good luck to him getting back into school and back on the field. Without actually knowing what happened, I've gotta respect the jurors and their 30 minutes of deliberation. He could really help the team on the field this year.

 

Still, a fresh start seems like it'd have to be better.

 

 

I think this is procedural only in that it allows him to get the expulsion removed from his record or something to that effect. Not 100% on that. He could still go back to UW but I don't think this is necessarily evidence of what he wants to do.

[HiAndTight]

 

 

Really shocking he'd want to come back to Madison. But good luck to him getting back into school and back on the field. Without actually knowing what happened, I've gotta respect the jurors and their 30 minutes of deliberation. He could really help the team on the field this year.

 

Still, a fresh start seems like it'd have to be better.

 

 

I think this is procedural only in that it allows him to get the expulsion removed from his record or something to that effect. Not 100% on that. He could still go back to UW but I don't think this is necessarily evidence of what he wants to do.

 

 

That would certainly make sense. You don't want to have an expulsion on your record and have to explain that. It's just inherently going to bias future employers. "So why were you expelled from college?" "Well, I was accused of rape......" and that's all they'll hear in most cases.