A female college student who was facing six years in prison after admitting to falsely accusing two football players of raping her has gotten off relatively easy: As the result of a last-minute plea deal, former Sacred Heart University student Nikki Yovino will only spend one year behind bars, if that. The intervention by the OCR is part of a broader shift in the agencys interpretation of Title IX, experts said. My life will never be the same. As a teenager, his high school football hero status and promising future quickly evaporated when he was falsely accused of being a child molester. University of Oregon administrators and campus police led concurrent investigations and spoke to more than two dozen witnesses. injured his shoulder in November, and appeared in just one game in St. Hilaire said he has experienced anxiety and PTSD as a result of the false charges. Interim athletic director Alicia Pete and spokeswoman LaTonia Thirston ignored the USA TODAY Networks emails for a month. On their next date, they were making out and undressing in Wallaces bedroom when he started putting a condom on, a police report shows. She again told him no, that she wasnt ready. Rated PG-13 for inmate angst, teenage fumbling and the saucy philosophy of Funkadelic. Drivers ticketed for leaving cars in path of street sweepers, ESPN: Harper to return to lineup 159 days after Tommy John surgery, 'Yes, I'm afraid': 2 arrested after violent chase through neighborhood. Brian Keith Banks (born July 24, 1985)[1] is a former American football player. Kelley's other defenders pointed out that both the high schooler's original lawyer and the prosecution made missteps by not looking at all the evidence including neglecting to interview McCarty, who happened to look just like Kelley. Her sentence will be suspended after she serves one year, followed by probation. The system is broken!, laments Brooks, whose main job in Doug Atchisons formulaic screenplay is to repeatedly assert that Bankss quest for justice is futile. The football players Tevin Elliott, in 2014, and Sam Ukwuachu, in 2015, were convicted of sexual assault. He tried out and is still waiting on a decision from the coaches.". I dont think that he should have the opportunity to be in that environment because it supports his behavior, McKay said. [9], Banks signed with the Atlanta Falcons on April 3, 2013, participating in offseason workouts, OTAs, and training camp. In his two years there, he has racked up more than 1,100 receiving yards. A feature film project based on Banks' story, List of wrongful convictions in the United States, "Brian Banks released by Atlanta Falcons", "Brian Banks, football player exonerated in rape case, to sign with UFL team", "Brian Banks signs with Las Vegas UFL team", "Pete Carroll excited to give Brian Banks a chance", "Exonerated Brian Banks signs with Atlanta Falcons", "Atlanta Falcons sign exonerated Brian Banks", "Exonerated Football Player Brian Banks Back on the Gridiron After Five Years in Prison", "Brian Banks makes NFL debut after false rape conviction", "Exonerated of rape, Brian Banks now realizing NFL dream in different capacity", "Banks' NFL Dream Leads To League Office", "Exonerated Football Star Brian Banks Getting Divorced", "Brian Banks spent five years in prison after being falsely accused of rape, but now he finally has a career in NFL", "Ex-Poly standout has rape and kidnapping conviction reversed", "A 10-year nightmare over rape conviction is over", "Brian Banks and His Mother Join "Innocence March" to Protest Wrongful Convictions", "Long Beach Unified wins judgment against accuser in false rape case against Brian Banks", "Prosecution of false accuser in rape case seen as difficult", "Tiffany Dupont Joins Greg Kinnear in Brian Banks Drama", "Brian Banks Movie Production Filming In Memphis, Seeks Football "Fans", "Brian Banks takes his next step with the UFL", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Brian_Banks_(American_football)&oldid=1143589283, Players of American football from Long Beach, California, Overturned convictions in the United States, Long Beach Polytechnic High School alumni, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles using infobox templates with no data rows, NFL player missing current team parameter, Infobox NFL biography articles missing alt text, Infobox NFL biography articles with old NFL.com URL, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from April 2021, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 8 March 2023, at 17:58. Former Baylor Football Player Is Acquitted in Rape Trial, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/28/sports/baylor-scandal-shawn-oakman.html. Her sleep and studies suffered, and she stopped going out. Kelleyparticipated in a walk-on tryout for hisschool's football teamin the spring,Texas Athletics officialstoldKVUE. He leads the team with 40 catches. While at the party, Wallace pulled her into the bathroom. Coverage of the latest true crime stories and famous cases explained, as well as the best TV shows, movies and podcasts in the genre. All rights reserved, Small Plane Crashes in Big Bear, Killing 3 Aboard, City of San Bernardino Elects First Asian American Mayor Helen Tran, Pilot Identified in Fatal Single-Engine Plane Crash on Beverly Crest Hillside, Where Rallies and Marches Are Planned for May Day in Los Angeles, How Malia Obama Is Taking a Major Step in Her Hollywood Career, Farewell, Forks. But at least this is some form of solace to them.". Wallace arrived on campus at the University of Oregon shortly after graduating from DeSoto High School in Texas. After he was convicted, a crowd of supporters surrounded him but a cloud of uncertainty about his future continued to follow as shown in a new docuseries about the flawed case against him and his eventual freedom. But attorney Justin Brooks (a very fine Greg Kinnear) needs new evidence to reopen the case. had flipped it over. Kelley fought the charges but was convicted in 2014 of two counts of super aggravated sexual assault and sentenced to 25 years in prison. Superior Court Judge William Holden sentenced Yovino to three years in prison. When we meet Banks (Aldis Hodge), a former high school football star, he's trying to resurrect his N.F.L. BRIDGEPORT, Connecticut (WPVI) -- A Long Island woman who falsely accused two Sacred Heart University football players of rape was sentenced in a Connecticut court . FILE - In this Thursday, May 24, 2012 file photo, Brian Banks weeps after his rape conviction was dismissed in court in Long Beach, Calif. Banks, 34, was a standout high school football player who many believed had a shot at the NFL, until his dreams were derailed when he was falsely accused of rape in 2002. High School Football Player Charged With Rape Gets Support From Fellow Students. I believe that public knowledge about sexual violence, and how universities respond or do not respond to it, helps encourage survivors to come forward and report and helps universities develop better policies and procedures. Barnes is a former Fresno State basketball player and was at the school to receive an award Saturday night. He was also a reserve player last season on the Prairie View basketball team, which made an appearance in the March Madness tournament earlier this year. Then they told me that they were removing it from his transcript, and I just felt almost useless. So the imbalance is not unique to one gender or sex, she said. The two former college football players who were falsely accused of rape by a white Long Island student have accused Sacred Heart University of violating a contract protecting the rights. Whether or not this really happened (Banks was closely involved in the making of the film), the incident feels like manufactured tension in a movie that is sometimes disappointingly bland. We first meet Hodge's Brian, not as a scared kid at 16, the promising high school football player was accused of rape and kidnapping by a classmate but as a sharp, collected adult, one . I did nothing wrong, but everything has been altered because of this.. . A jury on Thursday found a former Baylor University football player not guilty of raping another student in 2016, the latest case linked to a scandal that rocked the university and led to the departure of several top leaders. A jury on Thursday found a former Baylor University football player not guilty of raping another student in 2016, the latest case linked to a scandal that rocked the university and led to the. UO did change the notation on the transcript, university spokesman Henley said, to make it consistent with how transcripts are noted in all expulsion cases., The university is constantly examining its Title IX processes with an eye toward improving our response to issues of campus safety as well as fairness, Henley added. The proceedings are raised when Hodge is onscreen, using every nuanced look and gesture to jump the hurdles of a banal script and reveal the pain tearing up Banks. Dickstated publicly in 2017 that his office had failed Kelley,The Austin American-Statesman reported that year. Rich is representing all three men. Thats not how sex discrimination works, Nesbitt said. Prairie View A&M officials and coaches declined to comment. In March 2017, a university Title IX investigator issued her findings. Wallace continues to play for Prairie View, which has a 6-5 record this season. We want to hear it. During this time, Wallace met a couple of female students through the photo-sharing app Instagram, police reports show. He also said it was unfair to characterize her behavior as defiant. That summer, a 4-year-old boy who attended the McCarty daycare accused Kelley of molesting him. free-agent contract with the San Francisco 49ers of the National But that interpretation of the law is problematic, dangerous and part of a growing trend under Trump, said Sarah Nesbitt, policy and advocacy organizer for the nonprofit Know Your IX. former Oregon State University football players Keaton Kristick and Lyle Moevao and current OSU player . Furthermore, an investigator used questionable tactics to interview the children. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! He initiated a conversation with one by posting hearts on her photo. When Carroll was head coach at USC, the program was one of several college powerhouses that recruited Banks, who is now26. She told him she was too drunk and too tired to have sex, but he forced himself on her, she said. He said he has given Kelley some office space on his property for Kelley's new endeavor acompany calledTomahawkTargets,which makes customaxe throwing boardsand corn hole sets. It also reveals the personal toll of a false conviction: How does a guy like Banks get a date when he has to inform anyone hes interested in that hes a sex offender? Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more! Both women separately agreed to meet Wallace in person for the first time in September 2016. Police conducted a full investigation. "As I pursue the #NFL, the #UFL will be a vessel to gain experience and prepare me for a possible mid season pick up or next NFL season," Banks tweeted Tuesday. Yovino then dropped out of the university and returned home to Long Island. She kept trying to get away, but Wallace didnt stop, she said. Kelleys supporters rallied to show their support of the convicted teen, and to point out the apparentholes in the case. Oakmans lawyer told the jurors that the two wanted to be together and that they had consensual sex. He reached out to the other through a direct message saying, your so gorg (sic).. Kelley's case"clearly was the perfect storm of all aspects of the criminal justice system failing," Dick told Oxygen.com. him a citation for unauthorized use of a vehicle. You have permission to edit this article. He has one more year of NCAA football eligibility remaining. tackle. And yet, Prairie View A&M signed Wallace to its football team months before the settlement was reached. The stacked-deck script by Doug Atchison (Akeelah and the Bee) argues so relentlessly in Banks favor that it reduces his depth as a human. At some point she fell asleep or passed out, she said. Asked by an OCR case worker if it was affecting her sons ability to transfer, she responded in the affirmative, according to a non-verbatim transcript of that June 2017 phone call. She said she attended an off-campus party on Oct. 15, 2016, in Bridgeport, Conn . For Banks and his loyal single mom Leomia (Sherri Shepherd), hope comes in the form of the California Innocence Project, which may be able to give Banks a chance to overturn his verdict. She said she attended an off-campus party on Oct. 15, 2016, in Bridgeport, Conn., where the two men pulled her into a basement bathroom and took turns raping her. Kristick is a former linebacker. He responded, But we already are, she told campus officials. Her friends told police she dropped classes and didnt want to sleep in her own bed, sometimes staying at friends houses or a hotel instead. A second boy also came forward but later recanted his accusation against Kelley. Additionally, Kelley is looking for reparations for the injustice he experienced. A police investigation into complaints by more than 20 women that they were forced to commit a variety of sexual acts with University of Oregon football players over the past two years has. McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna announced Wednesday that a grand jury determined there was not enough evidence to proceed to trial for either player in a suspected November 2017 assault. But now because of the decision theyve indicated that theyll mark his transcript. "He is a student there and ready to take the field. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. First, Oregon had a program offering free legal services to survivors but not to accused students. Said Harbaugh, I believe that public knowledge about sexual violence, and how universities respond or do not respond to it, helps encourage survivors to come forward and report and helps universities develop better policies and procedures.. after he pleaded guilty to second-degree theft stemming from an By Gina Tron Greg Kelley's Sex Assault Case Explored In 'Outcry' Greg Kelley's life has not been simple. That meant under NCAA rules he could transfer to any school. [14], In 2014, Banks was asked by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to speak at the 2014 NFL draft Rookie Symposium. Who won the spring transfer cycle? At 3:54 Ducks Digest has reached out to the University of Oregon for comment but has not heard back yet. Following his exoneration, Banks sought to resume his football career, playing for the now-defunct United Football League (UFL), attending mini-camps for several NFL teams, and later signing with the Atlanta Falcons. The university has since settled several lawsuits from women who said their allegations of sexual assault by football players were mishandled or ignored. Expelled for sexual misconduct, his transcript said. 1 NFL draft picks were like as college football recruits: Only how many five-stars?!