Football - GT Player Arrested

UPDATE IN RED BELOW
Georgia Tech freshman Jerrard Tarrant was arrested last Friday on rape and sodomy charges. Uhhh, not good. Here's what we know about the alleged incident:

- reportedly occurred before 4:15am April 25.
- victim reported it in the morning on April 25
- reportedly happened at Undergraduate Living Center
- no weapons used per GT police incident report
- reported to Dekalb County police
- Tarrant arrested Friday June 27
- Tarrant released on $40,000 bond
- Monday, Tarrant was suspended by Paul Johnson indefinitely, pending the legal outcome
- Tarrant's legal team has been investigating the facts for awhile.

Tarrant's lawyer, Charles Lea, had the following statement:

"He is in fact, innocent. We have done some extensive investigations, interviewed numerous witnesses in this case and at the proper time we fully intend to present our defense, the real version of events, what happened in this case," - Charles Lea

Tarrant's facebook page had the following statement per the AJC:

“Jerrard Tarrant is truly MISUNDERSTOOD, when will they see the real me????”

Honestly, there are no real details that are public right now. Most are timeline related and what happened to Tarrant. As always we have to remember innocent until proven guilty. We sure hope Tarrant is able to clear his name and we hope the alleged victim is ultimately ok if this is true.

Another story had the following statement from Tarrant's lawyer:

'A two month investigation into the claims was conducted. Lab results are pending. “The activity was consensual. The circumstances are such the surrounding facts will show no sexual activity took place against the will of the female,” says Tarrant’s attorney.'

QUESTIONS FOR READERS?
Now, I'm no lawyer, but my guess is that Jarrard's facebook page will be changed or coming down soon (if not already). If I were his lawyer, I'd be checking out his entire online life..... quickly. I haven't looked, but can you find his facebook page?

Reading between the timeline, what should we conclude based on the fact that the alleged incident was reported back in April, yet the arrest only happened last week? Did investigators build their case during that time? I've watched enough Law-and-Order. Heck they do it in 30 minutes every time. It's uncanny.

If Tarrant is found guilty, obviously there is no way he sees the field again. However, what scenarios exist that would allow him to see the field this season? Barring dropping the charges, I can't think of one. Even if he's ultimately found not guilty, the legal process will probably still play out too late. What do you think?

Some Hivers speculated that the fact Tarrant was able to get bond so quickly is a good sign, and speculated that this is not typical for rape charges. Somehow, I can't buy that, but I have no idea. Do you?

IN A BIT OF IRONY
Let's talk irony. Joe Hamilton is at a low point in his life - at least based on fan perceptions. He quit his job after a multi-charge DUI, drug, etc, etc incident. Based on 2nd hand information from people at the Hive, a guy who has been "brought on staff", maybe to replace Joe, is Lamar Owens Jr. First, I have no confirmation this is true or not. I'm sure we'll hear more on that soon if true. Owens is a guy that played QB for Paul Johnson at Navy.

Here's the irony - Owens Jr was the "victim" of an alleged rape charge that absolutely changed his life..... a bogus rape charge, that in effect ended his collegiate career. He was completely acquitted of charges, but evidently Navy's Naval Academy's superintendent, Vice Adm. Rodney Rempt, decided that he wanted a witch-hunt to appease the feminists who were always on Navy's case when it came to cadet incidents.

According to another affidavit, this one sworn by three other Navy alums who attended Optekar's dinner party, Rempt also said that the consensual-sex and failure-to-obey convictions would be considered felonies, and that they would bar Owens from voting and require him to notify any future employer, for the rest of his life, that he was a convicted felon. (Rempt has disputed the affidavits.)

This despite the fact that the military jury, after a 10-day trial, not only acquitted Owens of rape but also determined after careful deliberation that there should be "no punishment" for his two minor convictions. And despite the fact that but for the bogus rape charge there would have been no general court-martial at all—only administrative discipline under an often-violated regulation prohibiting sex in Bancroft Hall. And despite football coach Paul Johnson's characterization of Owens as the "outstanding leader" of his team, one who "cares about people that are around him" and has "a natural ability that draws people."

How about the outcome. Check it out:

While Owens still faces grave consequences for his minor convictions, his accuser is on her way to graduating and being commissioned. This despite the military jury's implicit finding that she was as guilty as Owens of having sex in Bancroft Hall. Not to mention her serial, admitted underage binge drinking and other violations of Naval Academy rules.

The accuser will go unpunished because Rempt granted her broad testimonial immunity. From behind this shield, she admitted at the trial that she had left Bancroft Hall "about four times" after having signed a muster sheet that she was there, and that hours before the incident with Owens she had consumed "three rum and Diet cokes, two shots of tequila, one shot of Southern Comfort, and a Kamikaze."

In addition, she had occasionally blacked out in a party house in Annapolis that she rented with male and female friends. Sperm—not from Lamar Owens—was found on her comforter in Bancroft Hall. It "could have been the sperm from some guy I was with that was on that blanket," she later said. She was known to have been sexually aggressive with multiple men. Some "victim."

The assessment of all this offered by Reid Weingarten, Lamar Owens's defense lawyer, seems more than fair: "This is a case of political correctness gone totally awry. The academy's otherwise laudable effort to protect its women broke down when their charges proved to be demonstrably and palpably untrue and their target proved to be a young man of uncommon integrity, strength, and character. They tried to make Lamar a poster child, but they picked the wrong case and the wrong kid."

'Rape' and the Navy's P.C. Police
Former Navy QB Acquitted of Rape

Innocent until proven guilty............. but branded whether innocent or guilty. Stigma's live on. We give people second chances, but stigma's don't die.

Interesting that Paul Johnson might have Owens back on his staff here at Georgia Tech. If true, sure could be an interesting guy for Tarrant to talk to. Might even be God's way of adding purpose to lives by bringing them together.......... after all, there are no accidents in life.