From OnlineAthens.com
May 24th, 2016 12:25 PM
Georgia defensive lineman Jonathan Ledbetter won’t face prosecution for his March 20 arrest at an Athens bar.
The case in State Court in Athens was dismissed Monday with an entry of nolle prosequi, which means that the misdemeanor charges of possession of a fake ID and underage consumption of alcohol are being dropped.
Athens-Clarke Solicitor General C.R. Chisholm said while the evidence shows that the 18-year old Ledbetter was intoxicated “we would not be able to overcome a motion to suppress in the case. So we would not have been able to present that evidence if it had gone to a trial.”
Ledbetter was scheduled to face arraignment in court on Tuesday afternoon.
The police incident report described Ledbetter as “very inebriated” when he tried to gain entrance to the Silver Dollar Bar.
Chisholm watched video of the incident from the body camera of the Athens-Clarke County police officer and determined that the prosecution would have lost the case, based on two Georgia Supreme Court Cases, because of how the information determining Ledbetter’s age was obtained.
“It would have been a waste of court time to put that up,” Chisholm said. “I know how these cases look. Sometimes folks will think, ‘Oh, well, he’s a football player, he’s getting a break.’ The fact is this is one where it was a set of facts and we were not going to be able to survive a motion to suppress.”
At issue was evidence against Ledbetter that appeared to have been obtained illegally.
According to the incident report, the officer wrote: “I could see the Georgia Driver’s License protruding from his wallet. I retrieved the license and observed the male’s date of birth to be (redcated) 1997.”
Chisholm said the license was grabbed before Ledbetter was under arrest and had not yet even engaged in conversation.
“Due to Ledbetter’s inebriated state and stature I asked him to step away from the entrance and I took possession of his wallet finding a fraudulent photo copy Georgia’s Driver’s License with Ledbetter’s information but with a date of birth of (redacted) 1992,” the incident report said.
Chisholm said a judge would not allow that evidence to be used in a trial.
Georgia already announced the Ledbetter is suspended for the season opener against North Carolina for a first-time violation of Georgia’s drug and alcohol policy and that may not be affected by the legal proceedings.
According to athletic director Greg McGarity on Tuesday, "any comment on a student athlete would be addressed by coach (Kirby) Smart."
Smart said after Ledbetter's arrest that the sophomore from Tucker was “very remorseful.” Ledbetter apologized via Twitter for what he called a mistake and said he “will give my best to UGA from here on out.”
Ledbetter had four tackles in seven games last season.
...READ MORE HERE...
May 24th, 2016 12:25 PM
Georgia defensive lineman Jonathan Ledbetter won’t face prosecution for his March 20 arrest at an Athens bar.
The case in State Court in Athens was dismissed Monday with an entry of nolle prosequi, which means that the misdemeanor charges of possession of a fake ID and underage consumption of alcohol are being dropped.
Athens-Clarke Solicitor General C.R. Chisholm said while the evidence shows that the 18-year old Ledbetter was intoxicated “we would not be able to overcome a motion to suppress in the case. So we would not have been able to present that evidence if it had gone to a trial.”
Ledbetter was scheduled to face arraignment in court on Tuesday afternoon.
The police incident report described Ledbetter as “very inebriated” when he tried to gain entrance to the Silver Dollar Bar.
Chisholm watched video of the incident from the body camera of the Athens-Clarke County police officer and determined that the prosecution would have lost the case, based on two Georgia Supreme Court Cases, because of how the information determining Ledbetter’s age was obtained.
“It would have been a waste of court time to put that up,” Chisholm said. “I know how these cases look. Sometimes folks will think, ‘Oh, well, he’s a football player, he’s getting a break.’ The fact is this is one where it was a set of facts and we were not going to be able to survive a motion to suppress.”
At issue was evidence against Ledbetter that appeared to have been obtained illegally.
According to the incident report, the officer wrote: “I could see the Georgia Driver’s License protruding from his wallet. I retrieved the license and observed the male’s date of birth to be (redcated) 1997.”
Chisholm said the license was grabbed before Ledbetter was under arrest and had not yet even engaged in conversation.
“Due to Ledbetter’s inebriated state and stature I asked him to step away from the entrance and I took possession of his wallet finding a fraudulent photo copy Georgia’s Driver’s License with Ledbetter’s information but with a date of birth of (redacted) 1992,” the incident report said.
Chisholm said a judge would not allow that evidence to be used in a trial.
Georgia already announced the Ledbetter is suspended for the season opener against North Carolina for a first-time violation of Georgia’s drug and alcohol policy and that may not be affected by the legal proceedings.
According to athletic director Greg McGarity on Tuesday, "any comment on a student athlete would be addressed by coach (Kirby) Smart."
Smart said after Ledbetter's arrest that the sophomore from Tucker was “very remorseful.” Ledbetter apologized via Twitter for what he called a mistake and said he “will give my best to UGA from here on out.”
Ledbetter had four tackles in seven games last season.
...READ MORE HERE...
