[Updated w report of CRN's response] E.J. Woods's Trouble: Early Test For Neuheisel

by Nestor on Mar 14, 2009 10:39 AM PDT

One of Neuheisel's early tests at UCLA. E.J. Woods is in trouble. From the LA Times (HT to jtthirtyfour):

Woods, a 19-year-old freshman, was charged with two counts of sexual battery and four counts of battery. He could face up to one year in jail for each sexual battery charge and six months for each battery charge.

Calls to Coach Rick Neuheisel and other athletic officials were not immediately returned, however UCLA released a statement saying, "We are aware the City Attorney's office has filed misdemeanor charges involving E.J. Woods. We will continue to monitor the legal process. Due to federal and state student privacy laws and the fact that this is a legal issue, we are not at liberty to further discuss the situation."

The charges come from three separate incidents at off-campus apartments between October and January, according to the city attorney's office. According to reports made to police, Woods made repeated inappropriate sexual contact with a student. The reports said that a friend of the student confronted Woods at a party, requesting that he stop touching her. Woods shoved the friend "around the chin/throat area."

Woods, who attended Encino Crespi High, was not arrested. He received a voluntary appearance letter and is scheduled to be arraigned on April 6.

While we all believe in someone being innocent until proven guilty, I do believe Neuheisel and UCLA should conduct their own inquiries. More importantly they should excuse Woods from the team on an interim basis until the legal process around him is resolved.

This should allow Woods to focus on this legal situation. Neuheisel can make the final determination after the legal process is resolved. I hope that's the route Neuheisel and UCLA takes. I am all for closing the gap with Carroll's football program but I'd like to see that on the field not off it.

GO BRUINS.

UPDATE (N): Per the Daily News, Woods has already been "disciplined" and that there is more to come no matter what happens with these charges:

Woods remains an active member of the football team, but he will face discipline regardless of the outcome of the charges, according to sources. After Woods was arrested, he was disciplined by Neuheisel, sources said. A UCLA spokesman would not comment.

That is welcome news but it would be interesting to know how he was disciplined.. GO BRUINS.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

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We are NOT $c

A one time incident may easily be a misunderstanding that becomes nothing when it is understood more clearly (as with ND this year).

Three incidents is a pattern and sugggests something much more serious.

Agreed that all are innocent until proven guilty. But we know the microscope CRN is under, and this may prove to be less forgiving initially for E.J. Woods, but I think the coach and admin have to be very conservative with how this is handled. I don’t think our attitudes at UCLA and the culture we expect CRN to operate under allow this to be ignored or treated lightly, as it would be at a nearby campus. Excusing the kid from team activities now is not disloyal to him, it is loyal to a culture of expectations of conduct. And I hope the charges are investigated and prove to be nothing and dismissed and we can gladly welcome him back.

greg in denver - UCLA guy for life

by gbruin on Mar 14, 2009 11:17 AM PDT reply actions

There are a ton of lawyers on the board

I’m not a lawyer, but I am a professional in the legal field. I’m intimately familiar with the LA DA’s and CA’s threshold for filing in sex crimes cases – it’s really, really high. They filed in three separate cases spanning several months. This is serious, guys. This isn’t Nikola Dragovic shoving his girlfriend on her butt in the heat of a fight. This behavior is extremely disturbing and is suggestive of Cecil Collins.

I would accept nothing less than an immediate and indefinite suspension from the team pending the outcome of the legal proceedings and internal investigations. If he’s found the least bit guilty on any of these THREE accounts he should be dismissed from the team forthwith!

by Seanny Rotten on Mar 15, 2009 12:15 PM PDT up reply actions

If he is found guilty

not only should he be dismissed from the team, he should be kicked out of UCLA.

by Nestor on Mar 15, 2009 12:59 PM PDT up reply actions

That goes without saying

But what if he is found not guilty, which is nowhere near the same as being “innocent.” I think Coach Neuheisel owes it to the UCLA community to do his own assessment of what happened after the criminal stuff is completed (if necessary) and if he determines that the guy did the acts which the DA couldn’t prove, then he should be gone. There may be due process issues, but if I were Coach Neuheisel I would let the lawyers deal with those things. That’s if Coach Neuheisel finds that he did the acts. If Coach Neuheisel finds that he didn’t to the acts, then he’s back with wide-open arms.

I wonder if there is already some written protocol for dealing with a situation like this?

by Fox 71 on Mar 15, 2009 4:26 PM PDT up reply actions

I see a difference between an appropriate legal resolution and a team resolution

As OJ1 can attest, sometimes the legal resolution of a criminal case has nothing to do with guilt or innocence. In the case of this player, the legal machine will run its course and there will be some sort of resolution. I think it’s more likely than not that the resolution will be something other than a jury verdict after our player goes through a trial. If Woods is acquitted, it may be because the DA couldn’t prove the case, which is obviously not the same as a finding that Woods did not do the acts he is accused of doing.

I think the appropriate team resolution should be based on a determination of what this kid did. Coach Neuheisel can do his own investigation, read whatever dox he thinks he needs to read, and talk to available and cooperative witnesses, including Woods. (Because of the potential discoverability of anything Woods says to Coach Neuheisel, I think that should wait until the end of the criminal case.) If Coach Neuheisel finds that the kid did it, then he should be off the team, even if he was acquitted of the criminal charge.

To me, Coach Neuheisel’s response to this is his first opportunity to demonstrate that we don’t do things the way they do at justsc. We do what should be done.

Or to put it another way, I agree with gbruin.

by Fox 71 on Mar 14, 2009 1:35 PM PDT reply actions

Keep in Mind ...

CRN had similar problems with Jeramy Stevens at UW and, looking back, he said one of his biggest regrets was that he did not more harshly discipline Stevens. One such incident would be bad enough, but three separate incidents, as is the case with Woods, is an extremely disturbing trend.

I’m with Fox. Regardless of the outcome of the criminal case, if CRN or, more importantly, the school administration determines that Woods probably did these things, Woods should be off the team and his scholarship revoked. That would send an unambiguous message that in no way, shape, or form, is that sort of behavior tolerable for any student, much less a student athlete enjoying the privileges of an athletic scholarship.

In the mean time, I’m with N and GB. Until these matters are resolved, Woods should be suspended from the team. Thus, I’m not just a little concerned that the official word is “Woods remains an active member of the football team”. Perhaps I don’t fully appreciate what exactly that means, but I don’t think that sends a strong enough message.

by snorkeldorf on Mar 14, 2009 2:58 PM PDT reply actions

Double Standard

In the days to come, I will watch the MSM hold itself to it’s Double Standard when dealing with this situation as opposed to how they dealt with Mark Sanchez’ sexual assault. We all know how quickly that got swept under the rug.

I’ll be keenly interested to see who and how hard they call for Neuheisel’s head if he doesn’t come down like an iron fisted disciplinarian. Like Pete Carroll.

A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment. John Wooden

by MexiBruin on Mar 14, 2009 3:17 PM PDT reply actions