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Broward prosecutors drop domestic violence charge against ex-Dolphin, Hurricane Walton

admin — Wed, 13 May 2020 17:56:01 +0000

Prosecutors on Wednesday dropped the domestic violence case against former University of Miami and Miami Dolphins running back Mark Walton, six months after his most recent arrest — one that might have ended his NFL career.

Walton had been charged with aggravated battery on a person known to be pregnant. The alleged victim? His live-in girlfriend.

The Dolphins moved quickly to cut Walton, who was on a zero-tolerance policy with the team after a string of early 2019 arrests in South Florida. He was actually serving a league-imposed suspension for those incidents when arrested on the most recent charge. The Dolphins quickly released him.

Cops at the time said Walton pushed his girlfriend, five weeks pregnant, against a wall “and punched her several times in the face and head.” Walton denied touching the woman “at any point in time,” his attorney, Michael Gottlieb, said following Walton’s November bond hearing.

“He’s a great young player,” Gottlieb told the Miami Herald on Wednesday. “He came up in a tough area of Miami without a good father figure and he’s had a little bit of trouble. But by and large everything he’s had has been dismissed. I’d really like to see a team take a chance on him. … I know that he can overcome this.”

Walton’s November arrest was his fourth of the year. The previous charges — misdemeanor marijuana possession, misdemeanor battery, reckless driving, resisting an officer without violence and openly carrying a weapon — were either dropped of pleaded down. And even that plea deal was thrown out because a judge made an administrative error.

Walton was also accused of striking his girlfriend, Jasmin Thompson, months before the November arrest, but police never could make a case against him.

Just because the legal case has been resolved doesn’t mean that Walton will be welcomed back into the NFL. Even if a team believes he’s straightened out his act, the league could still administer its own punishment, particularly since he’s been disciplined before. The matter remains under review, NFL Network reported Wednesday.

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.

Adam Beasley has covered the Dolphins for the Miami Herald since 2012, and has worked for the newspaper since 2006. He is a graduate of Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Communications and has written about sports professionally since 1996.
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Michigan State scandal: Former player Travis Walton denies sexual assault

admin — Tue, 30 Jan 2018 19:27:55 +0000

Travis Walton, one of the former Michigan State players at the center of the controversy regarding the men’s basketball program and how the university potentially mishandled cases of sexual and physical assault in 2010, denied any misconduct Tuesday.

Walton released a statement claiming allegations against him of physically assaulting a woman at a bar, and in a separate incident, being accused of sexual assault in an ESPN report from last week are false. Both allegations date back to 2010. Walton’s statement was shared by Mike Sullivan, who works for 97.1 The Ticket, a sports radio station in Detroit.

Here is Walton’s statement:

“Over the last several days, allegations have been made about me during my tenure at Michigan State University. In this case, the facts are:

I was never hired or fired by Michigan State University. In January of 2010, I was enrolled at Michigan State University, taking the necessary classes to complete my degree. Upon graduation, I returned to Europe to continue my basketball career.

I never physically assaulted a woman at an East Lansing establishment, as alleged. While conversing with her, and without notice or provocation, she threw a drink at me, and I subsequently left the establishment. Two written statements from independent, objective witnesses were given to the City Attorney, and support my innocence. Ultimately, the determination to resolve the case was based on the merits of the investigation.

I have never been charged with sexual assault and, to my knowledge, the alleged sexual assault was never reported to Michigan State University or the police. My encounters with this woman were more than just a single occasion, and my actions with her were always consensual.

I stand by these facts, and will defend myself to the extent that the law allows.

I apologize for the negative attention this has brought my Spartan family, the Clippers organization, and my family and friends.”

Walton was charged in the bar incident with assault and battery but the case was dismissed in April 2010. He wound up pleading guilty to a littering civil infraction. At the time, he was not a player for the Spartans, but rather serving in a support role on coach Tom Izzo’s staff. Walton’s playing career ended in April 2009. He was a three-year captain with the team.

ESPN’s report also addressed previously reported sexual assault allegations against former players Adreian Payne and Keith Appling, both of whom were freshmen at the time of their incident. Payne is yet to comment, while Appling is quoted in ESPN’s story saying, “It was consensual” and that had the woman alleging sexual assault asked to stop, “I would have completely granted her wishes. We’re not even those type of guys. We wouldn’t want anybody to feel uncomfortable around us.”

On Friday, the Los Angeles Clippers placed Walton on leave. Walton has been an assistant coach for the Clippers’ G League affiliate since 2017. Payne was released from his two-way contract by the Orlando Magic on Friday night, while Appling is serving a one-year jail sentence for a gun charge that was handed down in July 2017.

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Former Michigan State player Travis Walton disputes ESPN report

admin — Tue, 30 Jan 2018 18:07:52 +0000

EAST LANSING – Former Michigan State player Travis Walton is disputing a report that he was fired by Michigan State while facing a sexual assault allegation.

Walton released a statement on Tuesday in response to an ESPN story last week that reported Walton was allowed to continue coaching with the basketball program after being accused of physical assault and that he was fired by the school after he was subsequently accused of sexual assault.

In that statement, reported by multiple media outlets, Walton says that he was not fired by the school, that he did not physically assault a woman in an East Lansing bar and that he never had nonconsensual sexual relations with a woman who accused him and two other Michigan State players of sexual assault.

“I stand by these facts and I will defend myself to the extent the law allows,” Walton said. “I apologize for the negative attention this has brought my Spartan family, the Clippers organization and my family and friends.”

In February 2010, Walton was charged with misdemeanor assault and battery, according to court records. At the time, Walton was serving as a student assistant with the men’s basketball staff while he completed his degree. He finished his playing career in 2009.

ESPN reported that charge stemmed from an incident in an East Lansing bar, where a woman claimed Walton struck her twice in the face during a dispute.

In his statement, Walton said he “never physically assaulted a woman at an East Lansing establishment,” as alleged. He said the woman threw a drink in his face “without provocation” and that he subsequently left the bar. Two witness statements were provided to the East Lansing city attorney corroborating his account, Walton said.

The charge was eventually reduced to littering, a civil infraction. Walton continued his coaching duties while that charge was pending.

In April of that year, a woman made a report to the Michigan State athletic department claiming Walton and two players sexually assaulted her, according to ESPN.

Walton said in his statement that “my encounters with this woman were more than just a single occasion, and my actions with her were always consensual.” He said that he was never criminally charged with sexual assault, and to his knowledge the alleged encounter was never reported to the school.

ESPN reported that Walton was fired from the basketball staff that year. Walton said that Michigan State neither hired nor fired him from its basketball staff and that he left the school to pursue a professional basketball career in Europe.

“I was never hired or fired by Michigan State University,” Walton said. “In January of 2010, I was enrolled at Michigan State University, taking the necessary classes to complete my degree. Upon graduation, I returned to Europe to continue my basketball career.

Asked on Sunday why Walton left the program, Spartans coach Tom Izzo said he couldn’t recall why Walton left the program in 2010.

“To be honest with you, I don’t remember why he left,” Izzo said. “I know he went to Europe to play.”

Walton, currently an assistant coach with the G-League affiliate of the Los Angeles Clippers, was placed on administrative leave last week, according to ESPN.

The allegations against Walton are part of a wide-ranging ESPN report that alleges the school improperly handled multiple sexual assault allegations made against athletes.

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