Xavier’s Intentional Foul On A Former Player
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By DERON SNYDER
In cases involving a man, a woman and a closed door, the difference between accusations and actualities can be difficult to assess. Verdicts rendered by the criminal justice system aren’t always accurate, no matter which side they favor. Unfortunately, regardless of who’s lying and who’s not, both parties are stained.
That’s simply how society views accusers and the accused in sexual assault cases. But we don’t have to accept it quietly.
Dezmine Wells, a sophomore forward, was expelled from Xavier University on Aug. 21 for “a serious violation of the Code of Student Conduct,” according to a school statement. This week, an Ohio grand jury declined to bring criminal charges against Wells for an alleged sexual assault. The county prosecutor raised serious questions about Xavier’s decision, rendered by the school’s Conduct Board, which is composed of faculty, students and administrators.
“There is something seriously flawed with a procedure where a young man and his accuser appear before a group of people, which I would suggest probably isn’t very well trained in assessing these types of cases, and they sit there and tell their stories,” prosecutor Joe Deters said in a statement. “No lawyers, nothing. There’s just something wrong with that.”
It’s a wrong that Xavier won’t right. There was no acknowledgment that Deters has a point. No apology to Wells for a rush to judgment. No invitation to return to school and rejoin the basketball team.
