Bench Trials for the four former senior players in the Carmel assault case were supposed to start September 16th. But Scott Laskowski's attorney has already had his client's bench trial moved to November 17th. Oscar Falodun's attorney has requested his case get pushed to October.
But sources close to the cases say they expect several, if not all of the players, including Brandon Hoge and Robert Kitzinger will end up making some kind of plea deal to avoid having their cases come before Judge Hughes.
"It's very unlikely any of these cases will go to trial," said defense attorney Jack Crawford.
Crawford doesn't represent any of the players but he's followed the case closely and is betting not one of the players will serve any jail time.
"The lawyers for the defendants are trying to negotiate right now with the state and negotiate a plea deal that's beneficial to their client," said Crawford.
"The state may have issues with the strength of their evidence, and for the defendants the trial might be embarrassing. The allegations here involve some sexual contact and they might not want to go through a public trial where that would come out."
Falodun's attorney Mark Sullivan filed a motion to delay his client's trial until after October first. Sullivan says he expects the Judge will grant his request though he remains under a gag order and could not comment further on the case.
"What the lawyers for the defendants are going to try to do is preserve the records of these young men so this case doesn't legally come back to haunt them in their futures," said Crawford. "If they cant reach a resolution of course they'll take the case to trial. There are good lawyers working on behalf of these young men."
The four accused, Brandon Hoge, Oscar Falodun, Scott Laskowski and Robert Kitzinger face various misdemeanor charges including battery and criminal recklessness.
"Technically those crimes can involve one year in prison and a fine of $5,000 in some of the cases, but that's not going to happen to these young men," said Crawford.
All attorneys involved, including Prosecutor Sonia Leerkamp, are under a gag order and will not comment.
"Their lawyers are going to be trying to persuade the prosecutor in this case to allow them to do something different than admitting to a crime," said Crawford.
One possibility would be a diversion program where the former players would admit responsibility but not technically plead guilty. They would do community service or anger management courses and ultimately could get the cases expunged from their records.
Fox59 will stay on the story and bring you any news of any plea deals that could develop in the coming weeks.
