The assault charges against former Nebraska coach Mickey Joseph have been dropped because the accuser, now living in Arizona, is not willing to testify.
See Assault case against ex-Nebraska coach Mickey Joseph dismissed
Mike Nolan
Well the damage was already done to Mickeyâs life.
Anyone who has worked with abused women will tell you that many cases never make it to court, often because the complainant is unwilling to testify.
Sad, but understandable. As in a lot of cases, just because the charges
are dropped doesnât mean the defendant didnât do of which he/she is
accused. I am not saying Mickey is Guilty or not guilty. I am just
saying the step canât automatically be taken to not guilty because the
charges were dropped.
He is ânot guiltyâ from the justice system perspective. Innocent until proven guilty. He is âguiltyâ in the court of public opinion. From my perspective, ânot guiltyâ does not necessarily mean âinnocent.â That said, Iâll move on from this topicâŚ
JB
Iâm not a lawyer, but my laymanâs understanding of the law is that dismissing the charges does not mean that he is considered ânot guiltyâ, because there is no verdict.
It just means there are no pending charges at this time. Unless they were dismissed with prejudice, they could be refiled (but probably wonât be.)
And Mickeyâs college coaching career is, most likely, essentially over. Any school that might consider hiring him is going to face a lot of questions.
That is true and I thought I posted something about that a while back.
Maybe it was on another list. Anyway that is why there are two
verdicts. That being, of course, is guilty and not guilty. Innocent is
not one of the verdicts. Just because a person is declared not guilty
or the charges dropped doesnât mean they didnât do that of which they
were accused. In other words, they are not necessarily innocent. It
just means there was not enough evidence presented to convict in the
judgement of the Judge or jury.
In these crimes against women allegations it is so hard to really know
what happened. Are the allegations true or not? I donât know how
anyone would really know without being there and witnessing things. In
the Mickey case I probably lean toward there is at least some truth to
the allegations but I canât say I know that.
On topic: As far as the legal system is concerned, there is no verdict at this time. What people choose to believe is a totally separate issue, one that has no legal standing.
On the issue of list activity: I see the two posts from you today, John, but no others since the changeover.
They may have gotten lost in the conversion or, more likely, were sent to the old posting address WHICH WILL NO LONGER WORK!
And as a reminder, because others are falling into the same trap, hitting âREPLY ALLâ on an emailed post WILL include the old listserver, and you WILL get an email saying your post is being held for moderation, because the ONLY posts that are allowed through on the old listserver are the ones being relayed from the new system. And it WILL NOT be released, because there is no way for me to reroute posts sent to the old listserver to the new one. (Besides, if your return email matches and you sent it to the new system, itâs already there.)
Mike Nolan
Since Iâve been down this road, Iâll add my 2 cents. Domestic violence is a slippery slope. It destroys many lives, often involves and traumatically impacts children as well as the âadultsâ involved in the bad relationship. I would suggest there are most likely mental health issues (codependency, etc) on both sides that have contributed to the problem. It is tragic for the entire family. It is not something that an outsider can unravel from the media coverage. It takes professionals working with all the family members to heal from domestic violence and to move on to healthier relationships. Legal issues aside, Joseph was convicted immediately in the media, will not get his day in court and unless both parties have realized that the root of their problem is at minimum a relationship out of control and more likely a mental health issue and are both seeking treatment to address their own issues, the cycle is bound to repeat itself.
It took me too many times to realize I was in a no win situation and get out of it. Thankfully I did eventually and turned all of that into a past lesson learned never to be repeated. Oh and it goes both ways, women can also be very abusive - verbal abuse and manipulation is often just as damaging as physical abuse.
I just hope that Mickey Joseph and his affected family members are getting the help they need to overcome whatever issues led to the events that happened.
1 Like
Like most people, I know several people who have been or are in unhealthy relationships. It can be very frustrating to watch, because thereâs generally not much that can be done unless help is sought by one or both parties in the relationship. Bringing in the police doesnât deal with the underlying issues, just their aftermath.
Mike Nolan