What A Fiasco!
From the Baton Rouge Advocate’s story about Jordan Jefferson’s getting 33 pairs of his shoes back from the Baton Rouge Police thanks to the efforts of his attorney’s law partner, one Rob Marionneaux, Esquire…
Lowery suffered another injury around 5 a.m. Sept. 4 when he was hit by a Chevrolet Silverado pickup while hitchhiking on Highland Road near Airline Highway, a State Police crash report says.
Michael Whitman, 47, of Prairieville, told troopers he was traveling east on Highland when he saw Lowery walking east on the shoulder of the road, the report says.
Lowery’s left thumb was sticking up and his left arm extended into Whitman’s lane of travel, Whitman told troopers in the report.
Whitman couldn’t swerve to avoid Lowery because of a vehicle traveling next to him, the report says. Whitman hit Lowery with his passenger side mirror, shattering it and chipping the paint on his passenger side door.
Lowery, who was taken to a local hospital by his family and treated for moderate injuries, initially told troopers he was hit when Whitman changed lanes, the report says.
Lowery, 21, later changed his story and told troopers he was hit after he stuck his arm into Whitman’s lane of travel in an effort to “catch a ride,” the report says.
Lowery said he was hitchhiking because his car had broken down and he couldn’t get hold of anyone to give him a lift.
After troopers questioned him about his sobriety at the time of the crash, Lowery admitted to having three to four drinks and taking at least one Lortab prior to the crash.
Blood samples were taken from Lowery and submitted to the State Police Crime Lab for analysis.
A trooper issued Lowery a misdemeanor summons for pedestrian soliciting rides. Whitman, who initially fled the scene, was issued a summons for failure to report an accident.
Lowery, of course, is Andrew Lowery – who is the “victim” in the LSU bar fight case from which Jefferson’s suspension from the Tiger football team resulted.
Not to put too fine a point on all this, because his Hitchhiker Fail doesn’t necessarily mean he didn’t get kicked in the head by LSU’s then-starting quarterback. But this guy looks more and more like the Mayhem character from those Allstate commercials.
That said, Jefferson’s other attorney Lewis Unglesby put this forth as another attempt to put the cart before the horse get his client back on the LSU team…
Lewis Unglesby, one of Jefferson’s attorneys, agreed and said it’s unfortunate that, “We are talking Monday night before the Mississippi State game about an accusation that’s unproven in a country where you are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
“There is a fundamental problem at LSU,” Unglesby said. “It’s wrong for LSU to treat Jordan differently than other players.”
He said Jefferson should not be suspended from the team because he has only been arrested and has not been charged by the District Attorney’s Office.
Putting Les Miles on trial might be a worthy attempt to try the case in public in an effort to convince the district attorney’s office to drop the case, but it’s an asinine argument for Unglesby to make.
After all, Jefferson was clearly guilty of violating a curfew. And he clearly had at least something to do with the fight, though it’s less and less likely he’s guilty of the 2nd degree battery BRPD charged him with.
But more importantly, it’s quite apparent Jefferson lied to LSU’s head football coach about his role in that fight. And that’s really all Miles needs as a justification to suspend him.
Which is not Unglesby’s business, anyway. He’s a criminal lawyer. His job is to get his client off on that charge. That’s it. And Miles has already taken the perfectly defensible position that Jefferson isn’t going to be of any use to him with a felony charge hanging over his head, not to mention LSU has a school policy which says if you’re charged with a felony you don’t generally take part in things like nationally-televised football games while representing the university.
This business about Lowery staggering around Highland Road and bouncing off passing cars ought to have created more sympathy for Jefferson. When Unglesby uses it to pressure Miles, he drains that away.
It sure looks like Jefferson has the wrong lawyer. Or if he’s got the right one, maybe he needs a publicist.
Whats good for the Goose is good for the Gander! I wholly disagree with your opinion, but you are entitled to it.
Jordan Jefferson’s and John’s credibility was harmed in augmentation too by all these accusations that are yet to be made real by Lowery. In this situation I see Lowery apparently driving under the influence and changing stories around how he was hurt. “would you want him to speak for you?!”
You can assume Miles was lied too, but all we know is the fact he would have likely kept him on the team if Jordan and Johns were not charged with the second degree battery as you wrote. And he was already on the team a week after the curfew violation. As far as curfew, the difference here is every player, including Lee and Mett were out and about in different bars that night. In the end Johns and Jefferson paid way more of a price than the others. And now people consider them convicts without proof. I wonder what you will write if the DNA evidence comes clean?! it was a conspiracy?!
When those charges are dropped, as I believe they will be, then Miles probably ought to put Jefferson back on the team so long as he’s satisfied that he can do so without creating a further distraction to the team.
The difference between Jefferson and Lee on violating the curfew is that Lee wasn’t involved in the Shady’s fracas and Jefferson was. Lee hasn’t been charged with a felony and Jefferson has.That, incidentally, is the purpose of a curfew – to eliminate the possibility of embarrassing distractions like the Shady’s fight in the first place. Jefferson did damage to the program by getting himself mixed up in this mess, whether he’s guilty of what he’s charged with.
And the statement that Jefferson lied to Miles is not based on assumption.
Withot creating a further distraction is a major point to consider. If that can be accomplished then maybe he could be re-instated and his punishment for violating curfew and lying to his coach could be the time that he was suspended and the games he has missed. Unglesby keeps trying to have him put back on the team and is making Miles out to be the bad guy, but I was under the impression that if a person is charged with a felony and arrested based on that charge, that he can’t leave the State. If that’s the case, how can he travel with the team? That fact alone should be enough to keep him off of the team since he cannot fulfil all of his obligations as a team member.
If charged with a felony you can leave the state with the permission of the judge. That wouldn’t be an issue, as it is a gauge of flight risk, which Jefferson is not.
We live n a litigious society. My generation grew up at a time where ones actions were their responsibility. Had Mr. Lowery’s injury(ies) occurred in the 1970′s as a result of his participation in or witness to a fight in a Tigerland bar, that more than likely would have involved several of Chollie Mac’s players, Mr. Lowrey’s intoxication level would likely have been ruled the main contributing factor in the injuries he sustained, he’d have been given a few band-aids and told to go home and sober up. Any LSU football player in the 1970′s will tell you that there was no action taken legally against a player who might have accidentally contributed to another drunk bar patron that night to losing a few teeth or need stitches when he slipped and fell trying to get away from the Malay. My point is that there was once a time when individuals were responsible for their own actions. If it is true that Mr. Lowery threw the first punch in this altercation then he is responsible for whatever happened to him after that act. Himself a “River Rat” Jefferson grew up in the St Rose/Destrehan area where street and bar fights were a way of life. One cannot expect him to act any differently in Baton Rouge than he did back home with his gang homies. Let me predict now that this whole matter will be dropped the more the background and reputation of Mr. Lowery is examined.
“Lewis Unglesby, one of Jefferson’s attorneys, agreed and said it’s unfortunate that, “We are talking Monday night before the Mississippi State game about an accusation that’s unproven in a country where you are presumed innocent until proven guilty.”
It is infuriating to read this from a lawyer. In America, you are presumed innocent in a court of law. Outside of a court of law, there is no responsibility on the part of individuals to presume that others are innocent. In fact, it would be ruinous in many cases to do so. One simple example—if a man had been arrested for molesting children but had not yet been convicted, should a school presume him to be innocent and hire him as a P.E. teacher?
If Lewis Unglesby were a lawyer, he would stick to defending Jordan Jefferson wih the facts pertinent to his case. Instead he choses to publicly express his opinion on matters which have nothing to do with it. It’s obvious that Ungelsby is looking for some free publicity for his law firm. His actions are what gives the profession a black eye.