Charges dropped, reduced against UT players over fight at party

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Posted 2:22PM on Monday, August 1, 2005

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) Prosecutors dropped an aggravated assault charge against one Tennessee player and reduced the charge against another Monday in a case stemming from a fight at a campus party. Tennessee defensive end Robert Ayers and linebacker Jerod Mayo, who redshirted last season as freshmen, were charged with hitting fellow student Shadiyah Murphy in March when several fights broke out between football players and members of Omega Psi Phi fraternity. The charge against Mayo was dismissed after a witness would not cooperate with prosecutors. Assistant District Attorney General Willie Harper asked Knox County General Sessions Judge Tony Stansberry to dismiss the charge on the grounds of failure to prosecute. The charge against Ayers was reduced to misdemeanor assault. He pleaded guilty to the lesser charge and was placed on judicial diversion, which means he has nearly 12 months to pay court costs and make restitution to the victim. After that time, the charge can be erased from his record. The amount of restitution has not yet been determined, but it will be no more than $3,000. Aggravated assault is a felony, and sentences could vary from 3 to 15 years in prison. Ayers told police he hit Murphy twice. The witness, former Tennessee player Thomas Stallworth, told police he saw Mayo hit Murphy in the jaw. Mayo denied the accusation, and coach Phillip Fulmer has said he believes Mayo was misidentified. Ayers was suspended from the team; Mayo was not. Stallworth did not appear in court, and Harper said his testimony was critical to the case against Mayo. ``The state can't go forward,'' Harper told the judge. Ayers' attorney Wade Davies said he and his client were happy with the outcome. ``Robert has never been in any trouble. The facts showed that his participation in the fight was pretty minor. He is real pleased to get this behind him in a way that's going to get the case dismissed,'' Davies said. The UT athletic department did not have an immediate comment on the case. Police said a fight started in the University Center ballroom, and officers on the scene used their chemical spray to stop it. The crowd moved outside, and police saw at least four fights in front of the building. Murphy told police he was surrounded by three men, who were insulting him. When Murphy said, ``Are you really going to jump me?'' he was hit on the back of the head. He then blacked out, and his left jaw was broken. Ayers and Mayo are among the 13 Tennessee players who have been either cited or arrested on charges ranging from assault to underage drinking since February 2004. Defensive tackle Tony McDaniel pleaded guilty last week to misdemeanor assault in a deal with prosecutors in a separate case. He had been charged with a felony after hitting and injuring a student during a pickup basketball game in January. He was placed on probation, and Fulmer suspended him for the first two games of the season. (Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)