Our group asked our Hoya lawyer buddy to review what has happened from a legal perspective
here is his response:
1. LeBlanc and Alexander went to the two girls’ (Madison Beckis & Elisabeth Oki) apartment/room on 9/15 and allegedly committed assault and sexual harassment.
2. LeBlanc, Alexander & Gardner went back to the girls’ apartment the next day and “burglarized” (which just means entering someplace with the intent of committing a crime – you don’t need to steal anything to be guilty of burglary) and allegedly committed theft. The civil filings appear to infer that the three guys coming back the next day was part of an effort on their part to coerce the girls into not reporting whatever had happened the day before.
3. The two girls reported both incidents to DC police and DPS relatively promptly, if not immediately.
4. I have not seen any information relative to where the criminal investigation stands with DC police, and you are never going to get any information from GTown (or any other school) relative to ongoing disciplinary complaints/investigations of students.
5. Almost 8 weeks after the incidents, one of the girls filed a civil action requesting that the Court order LeBlanc and Alexander (the two alleged original “perpetrators” on 9/15) to stay away from her.
6. There are essentially three kinds of orders that could be issued in a case like this: (1) a Temporary Restraining Order, which is typically very short term in nature and intended to grant very temporary relief to the Complaintant pending a hearing (i.e., they are handed out based upon the initial pleading; not based upon evidence), (2) a Preliminary Injunction, which is a more substantial, but still relatively short term, order that is issued after testimony – whether in person or via affidavit – is provided to the Court, and (3) a permanent (which need not be “perpetual,” as it can be limited in time) injunction that orders the Defendants to stay away from the Complainant. A permanent injunction in a contested case would typically be Ordered only after a full trial on the merits.
7. A week later, the other roommate filed a similar civil request against all three of the players who allegedly came to her apartment on 9/16.
8. Both of the civil filings alleged ongoing harassment – presumably related to the girls’ decision to report the initial incidents in the first place. At least one of them mentions harassment via text message – which, in addition to being profoundly stupid, would constitute hard evidence beyond “he said/she said” making the requests for injunctions far more likely to succeed on the merits – and thereby greatly increase the chances that a Court will issue a Temporary Injunction.
9. I have seen stuff online – but have viewed no Court filings indicating the same (b/c I do not have the time or energy to dig those up)– that the original Complaintant (and perhaps the roommate) testified at Preliminary Injunction hearing and that the players did not post for that hearing. Either way, it appears that at least one of the Preliminary Injunctions (the first one requested) was issued.
10. Given that there does not appear to be any criminal charges pending against any of the players (whether because the DC cops investigated and decided with the DC equivalent of the District Attorney’s office that there was not sufficient evidence to file charges or because the investigation remains ongoing), you have the relative equivalent of an ongoing domestic dispute among students.
11. Presumably, there are also ongoing disciplinary actions for these guys based upon alleged violations of the GT Code of Student Conduct. Those processes are far more “rigged” in favor of those who make complaints, as there are often no rights to have witnesses testify on behalf of the defendants nor rights to have attorneys participate on behalf of the defendants (though those school disciplinary processes are now under legal siege in many states due to the profound unfairness of the processes against anyone accused of pretty much anything which makes them far more susceptible to being abused by complaintants for nefarious purposes).
12. I would suspect that, at the very least, all of these guys are subject to University ordered restrictions on what they can say/where they can go relative to the two alleged victims/etc as well as similar rules (plus other stuff) that Ewing’s program has put in place for violations of team rules – those are in addition to the Preliminary Injunction that is in place.
13. My guess is that LeBlanc violated at least one of the School or Program ordered restrictions and that led to his dismissal (essentially, he was on double secret probation and Dean Wermer has now showed him the door).
14. We should all remember that Alexander was kicked out of LSU for shooting paintball guns at people amongst other things. He does not appear to be a good guy.
15. Ewing has had a couple of other incidents of poor behavior leading to dismissal of players prior to this mess.
16. There are a bunch of rumors relative to other bad behavior by LeBlanc, but nothing that can be substantiated.
here is his response:
1. LeBlanc and Alexander went to the two girls’ (Madison Beckis & Elisabeth Oki) apartment/room on 9/15 and allegedly committed assault and sexual harassment.
2. LeBlanc, Alexander & Gardner went back to the girls’ apartment the next day and “burglarized” (which just means entering someplace with the intent of committing a crime – you don’t need to steal anything to be guilty of burglary) and allegedly committed theft. The civil filings appear to infer that the three guys coming back the next day was part of an effort on their part to coerce the girls into not reporting whatever had happened the day before.
3. The two girls reported both incidents to DC police and DPS relatively promptly, if not immediately.
4. I have not seen any information relative to where the criminal investigation stands with DC police, and you are never going to get any information from GTown (or any other school) relative to ongoing disciplinary complaints/investigations of students.
5. Almost 8 weeks after the incidents, one of the girls filed a civil action requesting that the Court order LeBlanc and Alexander (the two alleged original “perpetrators” on 9/15) to stay away from her.
6. There are essentially three kinds of orders that could be issued in a case like this: (1) a Temporary Restraining Order, which is typically very short term in nature and intended to grant very temporary relief to the Complaintant pending a hearing (i.e., they are handed out based upon the initial pleading; not based upon evidence), (2) a Preliminary Injunction, which is a more substantial, but still relatively short term, order that is issued after testimony – whether in person or via affidavit – is provided to the Court, and (3) a permanent (which need not be “perpetual,” as it can be limited in time) injunction that orders the Defendants to stay away from the Complainant. A permanent injunction in a contested case would typically be Ordered only after a full trial on the merits.
7. A week later, the other roommate filed a similar civil request against all three of the players who allegedly came to her apartment on 9/16.
8. Both of the civil filings alleged ongoing harassment – presumably related to the girls’ decision to report the initial incidents in the first place. At least one of them mentions harassment via text message – which, in addition to being profoundly stupid, would constitute hard evidence beyond “he said/she said” making the requests for injunctions far more likely to succeed on the merits – and thereby greatly increase the chances that a Court will issue a Temporary Injunction.
9. I have seen stuff online – but have viewed no Court filings indicating the same (b/c I do not have the time or energy to dig those up)– that the original Complaintant (and perhaps the roommate) testified at Preliminary Injunction hearing and that the players did not post for that hearing. Either way, it appears that at least one of the Preliminary Injunctions (the first one requested) was issued.
10. Given that there does not appear to be any criminal charges pending against any of the players (whether because the DC cops investigated and decided with the DC equivalent of the District Attorney’s office that there was not sufficient evidence to file charges or because the investigation remains ongoing), you have the relative equivalent of an ongoing domestic dispute among students.
11. Presumably, there are also ongoing disciplinary actions for these guys based upon alleged violations of the GT Code of Student Conduct. Those processes are far more “rigged” in favor of those who make complaints, as there are often no rights to have witnesses testify on behalf of the defendants nor rights to have attorneys participate on behalf of the defendants (though those school disciplinary processes are now under legal siege in many states due to the profound unfairness of the processes against anyone accused of pretty much anything which makes them far more susceptible to being abused by complaintants for nefarious purposes).
12. I would suspect that, at the very least, all of these guys are subject to University ordered restrictions on what they can say/where they can go relative to the two alleged victims/etc as well as similar rules (plus other stuff) that Ewing’s program has put in place for violations of team rules – those are in addition to the Preliminary Injunction that is in place.
13. My guess is that LeBlanc violated at least one of the School or Program ordered restrictions and that led to his dismissal (essentially, he was on double secret probation and Dean Wermer has now showed him the door).
14. We should all remember that Alexander was kicked out of LSU for shooting paintball guns at people amongst other things. He does not appear to be a good guy.
15. Ewing has had a couple of other incidents of poor behavior leading to dismissal of players prior to this mess.
16. There are a bunch of rumors relative to other bad behavior by LeBlanc, but nothing that can be substantiated.
