Reported Sexual Assault at Armstrong's House Under Investigation

[84HuskerLaw]

The problem with all the advice you are suggesting to clam up and ask for a lawyer is that anytime a person does that very thing, innocent or guilty, the media and most people immediately assume guilt. The presumption of innocense is a very difficult concept for most people. It is very difficult to convince a jury in a court room that the defendant is innocent until PROVEN guilty and the proof must be beyond a reasonable doubt. Juries, in general, tend to convict because they don't really comprehend sufficiently the 'beyond a reasonable doubt' stricture and because the automatically assume the accused must of have done something otherwise the cops would not have arrested the accused and he would not have come all the way to this stage in the legal process. In reality (as criminal defense attorney for many years myself), I believe strongly that the assumed presumption of guilty usually outweights the supposed presumption of innocense and the burden to prove innocense is quite heavy indeed.

 

In a rape case, it is very often a matter of He said vs. She said and who do you believe? The facts of intercourse are not usually in dispute and the case comes down to whether it was consensual or not! There are many cases plea bargained because the attorneys on both sides are not truly certain and both sides know that the jury can come down either way, depending on something as simple as which person in the jury becomes the natural 'leader' and thereby has sway over the members who are more follower in nature. Often, juries go off in tangents off of the slightest or simplest little details and become convinced that the truth is revealed because of the fact they have found. Juries don't always listen to and follow instructions carefully and again, it is very difficult for many people, to see the 'reasonable doubt' that may be readily apparent to others.

 

Obviously we don't know who was involved or what is alleged to have occured, if anything. We don't know if TA or Westy or any other player or some third party was alleged to have committed a sexual assault. We can only hope that the police and legal process function properly and the correct outcome follows judicially. If a girl was truly raped, then the rapist should be promptly arrested and prosecuted in due course. Let's hope the alleged victim is telling the truth. Obviously, Tommy is no NFL superstar with lots of money so presumably we are not dealing with a gold digger. But groupies are groupies. Sometimes they are seeking attention. Who knows. We just can't speculate and for the sake of all concerned, let's hope the story is simple and the truth is told quickly.

[teachercd]

I am confused...how come no one is blaming Coach Pelini yet?

[ColoradoHusk]

 

 

The positive I can see from talking is to remove any questions about player involvement. What would the talk be if we only had the headline, "Reported Sexual Assault at Armstrong and Westerkamp's House"? This place would be lighting up even worse with speculation.

 

I'm guessing that was what was on Armstrong's mind

 

 

Haha, do you get the point though? It would be ESPN Breaking News, and a huge distraction. I would love for the Lincoln PD to come out with a statement that no Husker players are suspects.

 

Not trying to downplay the situation. If an assault did occur, I hope whoever is responsible is punished severely.

 

They did just mention the rape investigation on the Ticket Ticker on Dallas Sports Radio 1310 AM The Ticket.

[Bigred_inSD]

Someone already made a LP reference on deadspin.... smh.

[teachercd]

Why are they even throwing a party? The season is so close to being over and they could not wait?

 

Also...if I played for NU I would do everything I could to make sure that the team was the most important thing, all the time! I would not be worried about partying and goofing around.

[teachercd]

I bet Gangwish was not there...he was probably lifting and watching film.

[MichiganDad3]

The problem with all the advice you are suggesting to clam up and ask for a lawyer is that anytime a person does that very thing, innocent or guilty, the media and most people immediately assume guilt. The presumption of innocense is a very difficult concept for most people. It is very difficult to convince a jury in a court room that the defendant is innocent until PROVEN guilty and the proof must be beyond a reasonable doubt. Juries, in general, tend to convict because they don't really comprehend sufficiently the 'beyond a reasonable doubt' stricture and because the automatically assume the accused must of have done something otherwise the cops would not have arrested the accused and he would not have come all the way to this stage in the legal process. In reality (as criminal defense attorney for many years myself), I believe strongly that the assumed presumption of guilty usually outweights the supposed presumption of innocense and the burden to prove innocense is quite heavy indeed.

 

In a rape case, it is very often a matter of He said vs. She said and who do you believe? The facts of intercourse are not usually in dispute and the case comes down to whether it was consensual or not! There are many cases plea bargained because the attorneys on both sides are not truly certain and both sides know that the jury can come down either way, depending on something as simple as which person in the jury becomes the natural 'leader' and thereby has sway over the members who are more follower in nature. Often, juries go off in tangents off of the slightest or simplest little details and become convinced that the truth is revealed because of the fact they have found. Juries don't always listen to and follow instructions carefully and again, it is very difficult for many people, to see the 'reasonable doubt' that may be readily apparent to others.

 

Obviously we don't know who was involved or what is alleged to have occured, if anything. We don't know if TA or Westy or any other player or some third party was alleged to have committed a sexual assault. We can only hope that the police and legal process function properly and the correct outcome follows judicially. If a girl was truly raped, then the rapist should be promptly arrested and prosecuted in due course. Let's hope the alleged victim is telling the truth. Obviously, Tommy is no NFL superstar with lots of money so presumably we are not dealing with a gold digger. But groupies are groupies. Sometimes they are seeking attention. Who knows. We just can't speculate and for the sake of all concerned, let's hope the story is simple and the truth is told quickly.

I hope it doesn't end up like some of the high profile cases, where nothing happened, but the athletes are punished. The Duke Lacross case was a travesty.

[Bigred_inSD]

Why are they even throwing a party? The season is so close to being over and they could not wait?

 

Also...if I played for NU I would do everything I could to make sure that the team was the most important thing, all the time! I would not be worried about partying and goofing around.

Are we really going to have this discussion again? Every college team has a party almost every weekend. Whether it's Bama or Chadron state. And every school in between

[BoNeyard]

I know these are college students, but that means they are young adults. And with recent headlines with other college athletes and bad decisions, I don't understand why they continue to put themselves in this position.

 

TA and Westerkamp may not be involved in this incident, hope so, but why is the star QB and WR of the college team hosting a party?? Be responsible and this isn't responsible, I know they're in college, but the negative outcomes of hosting a college party far outweight that of not having one. From sex assault to an underage student drinking and potentially driving home and getting into a crash.

 

Just not smart at all.

[teachercd]

 

Why are they even throwing a party? The season is so close to being over and they could not wait?

 

Also...if I played for NU I would do everything I could to make sure that the team was the most important thing, all the time! I would not be worried about partying and goofing around.

Are we really going to have this discussion again? Every college team has a party almost every weekend. Whether it's Bama or Chadron state. And every school in between

 

Ha! I am totally kidding...come on!

 

But you know Johnny Husker will be bringing it up (for real) very soon.

[ColoradoHusk]

I know these are college students, but that means they are young adults. And with recent headlines with other college athletes and bad decisions, I don't understand why they continue to put themselves in this position.

 

TA and Westerkamp may not be involved in this incident, hope so, but why is the star QB and WR of the college team hosting a party?? Be responsible and this isn't responsible, I know they're in college, but the negative outcomes of hosting a college party far outweight that of not having one. From sex assault to an underage student drinking and potentially driving home and getting into a crash.

 

Just not smart at all.

Because the star QB and WR and their friends are trying to have fun and get laid.

[BIGREDIOWAN]

If he's got nothing to hide I don't see the problem with talking to the police, amazing how much that view has been slanted now, despite what some might think people aren't charged for zero reason, but I digress. I do have an issue with him talking to the press, he shouldn't do that, that's not his responsibility. I can't imagine Mike Riley would want him doing such a thing either. Hope this gets resolved from the Husker football stand point sooner rather than later so it's not just hanging out there. If it's not a football player, there should be no reason to drag that angle on, clear that up and move on with the investigation into the person responsible. If it did happen that is, you don't know until the evidence is in and it points you in the direction you should look.

[BoNeyard]

In a time like this, I will gladly have Riley as our coach.

[BoNeyard]

If he's got nothing to hide I don't see the problem with talking to the police, amazing how much that view has been slanted now, despite what some might think people aren't charged for zero reason, but I digress. I do have an issue with him talking to the press, he shouldn't do that, that's not his responsibility. I can't imagine Mike Riley would want him doing such a thing either. Hope this gets resolved from the Husker football stand point sooner rather than later so it's not just hanging out there. If it's not a football player, there should be no reason to drag that angle on. Clear that up and move on with the investigation into the person responsible.

 

I agree with he shouldn't talk to media, but he probably wanted it to make clear he is cleared and so is westerkamp, so people will move on. Otherwise, like someone else mentioned, headline reads sex assault at their house and everyone else is left wondering. This is n awful headline to have over your head and house.

[BigRedBuster]

In a time like this, I will gladly have Riley as our coach.

Exactly!!!