OSU basketball player serves 1st day in jail

Sports

July 24, 2012

OSU basketball player serves 1st day in jail

By TIM TALLEY Associated Press Tue Jul 24, 2012, 08:36 PM CDT

STILLWATER, Okla. — Despite his emotional outburst in court, suspended Oklahoma State basketball player Darrell Williams was calm when taken to jail after jurors found him guilty on charges that accused him of sexually assaulting two women, authorities said Tuesday.

Williams wept and loudly proclaimed his innocence when jurors convicted him Monday night of two counts of rape by instrumentation and one count of sexual battery following a two-week trial. Payne County sheriff’s Capt. Kevin Woodward said the 22-year-old had calmed down before he was booked into jail.

“He was perfectly fine,” Woodward said. “I let him kiss his sister.”

Defense attorney Cheryl Ramsey said Tuesday that she plans to challenge the convictions. If upheld, she noted, Williams would have to register as a sex offender under state law, possibly for the rest of his life.

Prosecutors accused Williams of groping two women and reaching inside their pants without their consent at a party in December 2010. Jurors recommended that Williams serve a year in prison on each of the rape by instrumentation counts — the minimum sentence — and recommended no prison time on the sexual battery conviction. Formal sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 24.

Live video from the jail showed Williams standing alone in a holding cell Tuesday, dressed in a jail-issued orange jumpsuit and draped in a gray blanket. He occasionally bowed his head and looked through a small window in the cell door at activity in a hallway outside.

Assistant District Attorney Jill Tontz, who argued the case at trial, said the verdicts have wider meaning for the role of student-athletes.

“I hope this sheds a light that our athletes are representative and role models for the community and the university,” Tontz said Tuesday.

OSU spokeswoman Carrie Hulsey-Greene said the university will decline comment until Williams is formally sentenced.

Williams was suspended from the basketball team in February 2011. Before that, he led the team in rebounding and averaged 7.1 points per game.

Text Only | Photo Reprints

Sports

Millersville players help couple resuscitate ailing child
The Millersville University baseball team came up with a great save this week, but it had nothing to do with the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference tournament being played at Point Stadium.

May 17, 2013 1 Photo
Future Stars
A basketball handling skills camp featured NBA Skills Trainer D.J. Sackman.

May 6, 2013 3 Photos
Sunbelt Reunion
Pictured is AA Minor League San Antonio Mission’s first baseman A.J. Kirby-Jones, right, from Thursday nights game against the Frisco Roughriders. Kirby-Jones has kept in contact with a Sunbelt Baseball Classic host family, Dave and Yvette Martin of McAlester.

May 3, 2013 1 Photo
Discovering a bat that's in a league of its own
Researchers in the grasslands of South Sudan were taken by surprise when they first spotted a beautifully patterned bat with pale yellow spots and stripes on dark black fur.

May 2, 2013 1 Photo
Jason Collins should open floodgates
The life of every gay athlete got a whole lot easier Monday, when center Jason Collins became the first openly gay player in the NBA. Collins, a free agent when this season ends, played for the Boston Celtics and then Washington Wizards this season.

April 30, 2013 1 Photo
How fast is fast?
How fast is fast? Oklahoma State University football fans, you’re about to find out.

April 18, 2013
Markel Brown understands one thing: Grandma knows best
As a 21-year-old from Louisiana, Markel Brown understands one thing: Grandma knows best.

April 18, 2013
VIDEO: Joan Benoit Samuelson runs Boston marathon 30 minutes off her winning time
The decades since Joan Benoit Samuelson set the world record in Boston haven’t diminished her competitive intensity.

April 16, 2013 1 Photo
Joy destroyed at Boston Marathon
The crowds have always made the Boston Marathon a joyful event to watch, and probably also in which to participate. All those good vibes were lost on Monday when terrorists detonated two bombs near the race’s finish line, killing three and wounding approximately 175 more.

April 16, 2013 2 Photos
OU spring football notepad
Oklahoma defensive end D.J. Ward has finally been cleared by the NCAA. The freshman participated in his first practice Tuesday.

“I’m really excited for D.J. It’s been a long process, but fortunately he’s been cleared to practice,” OU coach Bob Stoops said after Tuesday’s practice. “He has to spend two days in just helmets. So he couldn’t do much. But he did fundamental work in learning the defense.”

The two practices Ward will spend without pads come prior to OU’s annual Red/White Spring Game at 2 p.m. Saturday at Owen Field.

April 10, 2013
More Sports Headlines

Sports

Search Results

OSU basketball player serves 1st day in jail

Do you think under aged teens should be able to purchase post-sex contraception over the counter?

Site Map

Contact Us