Posted: Mike Couzens
The Great Snowball Fiasco of 2010 continues on The Hill. Delone Carter’s lawyer entered a not guilty plea for him in court yesterday and the case will not resume in court until June 2nd.
The Fizz has already documented there are no winners in this embarrassment. However, a nugget from the court proceedings makes the entire case even more interesting.
The Post Standard’s court reporter extraordinaire, Jim O’Hara, dug into the case to find out that something teammate Ryan Gillum said may have helped keep the case against Delone alive.
O’Hara writes, “The criminal case almost didn’t make it through Monday’s arraignment, according to (Carter’s attorney).”
This is because the complaint brought against Delone was based off a “police investigation” and the affadavit of William Hotaling Рwho has now become “That Guy” for sending his mashed up face picture into the newspaper. (See this week’s FizzCast for D.A.’s rant on Hotaling)
But what may have kept the entire thing afloat, according to O’Hara, is that Ryan Gillum threw Delone Carter under the bus.
O’Hara writes, “Gillum, who was released without being charged, gave police a statement Wednesday identifying Carter as the person who threw the punch.
“Gillum said it sounded like a brick hit his¬†2007 GMC Yukon¬†SUV when the snowball struck the passenger side.
“The two guys were laughing about it and they both denied it and that’s when Delone punched the kid,” Gillum said. “He only punched him once but the kid went down hard. I didn’t know Delone was gonna punch the kid.”’
This doesn’t make things easier for either Carter or Gillum. It sounds like without the Gillum statement, Carter might be in the clear.
Now, not only does it identify Carter as the guy who threw the punch, but also creates a rocky situation for Gillum in the locker room. You don’t get respect when you sell out a teammate to the cops.
And as it stands now, both players are suspended for the rest of spring practice and Carter is suspended from school. Carter’s lawyer says he plans to appeal to have Delone reinstated as a student.
We‚Äôll continue to dissect “The Snowball Fiasco” as details emerge. Don‚Äôt forget – whatever you hear, you can always feel free to pass it along to The Fizz newsroom right here.
