Grand jury opts not to indict former Louisville star Chris Jones
Former Louisville point guard Chris Jones will not have to defend himself in court against rape and sodomy charges.
A grand jury decided Wednesday not to indict Jones and co-defendants Jalen D. Tilford and Tyvon Walker after hearing two days of testimony.
The charges stemmed from an incident that allegedly occurred at an off-campus apartment early on the morning of Feb. 22. Jones plead not guilty to the charges a few days later and his lawyers later predicted the evidence against him would be insufficient for the case to go to trial.
"Police never should have charged Jones." Jones' attorney Scott C. Cox told WDRB in Louisville on Wednesday. "If he had been a regular person, no charges would have been filed."
The grand jury's ruling ends a tumultuous year for Jones in which he went from senior starter on a Final Four contender to basketball exile.
Louisville coach Rick Pitino dismissed Jones the day after the alleged incident when he learned the senior point guard had violated the curfew to which he'd agreed. Pitino had initially suspended Jones indefinitely the previous week when a female student accused the senior of sending her a threatening text message, but the Louisville coach permitted the senior to return to the team after surrendering his cell phone and agreeing to a curfew.
Jones was averaging 13.7 points per game and a team-high 3.6 assists at the time of his dismissal. He dropped out of school and moved off campus after charges were filed so he could focus all his attention on the case.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
