Mazi Smith making headlines for all the wrong reasons

I guess I'd want to know what would be "handling it right". The kid wasn't even charged until today. So you'd want the staff to, what?, suspend the kid for the rest of the season for a traffic stop where he wasn't charged with anything?

EMU suspended Emoni Bates until things got sorted out.

Michigan let it slide.
 
EMU suspended Emoni Bates until things got sorted out.

Michigan let it slide.
Emoni Bates was arrested and charged. Mazi was not arrested and was only charged yesterday.
 
I guess I'd want to know what would be "handling it right". The kid wasn't even charged until today. So you'd want the staff to, what?, suspend the kid for the rest of the season for a traffic stop where he wasn't charged with anything?
Sitting him out a game, or half a game, would have gone a long way.
 
Why did it take over 2 months for charges to finally be filed? Emoni Bates was charged like the day after.
Not sure. That's a good question. What changed between the night of and yesterday.
 
Not sure. That's a good question.

But I'm not sure I would want anyone's life ruined because they let their CPL expire.

Seems like the same people Harbaugh begged to charge the MSU players in the tunnel fight (and they obliged) were handling this

So not a coincidence.
 
Sitting him out a game, or half a game, would have gone a long way.
I guess....no one probably would have even noticed, hell...maybe they did? Harbaugh wouldn't have told us anyway. And really would it have mattered?
 
There's actually a legal term for this; jury nullification. Essentially admitting that they person broke the law but that the law itself is the problem.
Gotta have charges before that can happen.

Gotta admit that it is a bad look that it took this long and STILL felony charges were filed. If they weren't sure what to charge him with then either something happened to escalate it back to felony or they were just dragging their feet on a football player to get through the season.
 
Seems like the same people Harbaugh begged to charge the MSU players in the tunnel fight (and they obliged) were handling this

So not a coincidence.
The tunnel fight involved a very public crime, that had 1. Victims and 2. Was a violent crime.

I'm not sure a traffic stop and expired CPL fit the same need for urgency.
 
I guess....no one probably would have even noticed, hell...maybe they did? Harbaugh wouldn't have told us anyway. And really would it have mattered?
Would have mattered a lot in terms of the optics of it all.
 
And now we have the answer on the delay:

Bates was arrested at the scene of the Sept. 18 incident, Savit said. Per Michigan law, charges needed to be authorized within 24 to 48 hours later, Savit said. State law requires an arraignment 24 to 48 hours after an arrest.

Smith was not arrested at the scene of the incident, which meant further investigation was required, Savit said. His office received the report on the Smith incident from the Ann Arbor Police Department on Oct. 14, he said.

“In those circumstances, about a month before we authorize charges is pretty commonplace,” he said. “He was not in custody.”

“It can sometimes take significantly longer than (a month and a half), actually,” Savit added.
 
The tunnel fight involved a very public crime, that had 1. Victims and 2. Was a violent crime.

I'm not sure a traffic stop and expired CPL fit the same need for urgency.
A&M kicked a WR out who showed his junk to a chick, no charges or arrests made. Just an accusation. That dude is now in the NFL the last three years, so it isn't like he had no talent.
 
And now we have the answer on the delay:
Excuses are like assholes, everyone has one and they all stink. What new evidence did they learn in that month? Either the gun was concealed or it wasn't. Either his license was expired or it wasn't. If Texas Game Wardens can call in and find if your fishing license is expired in under a minute, pretty sure a CHL can be the same.
 
A&M kicked a WR out who showed his junk to a chick, no charges or arrests made. Just an accusation. That dude is now in the NFL the last three years, so it isn't like he had no talent.
We're going to be splitting hairs with this. There's a victim there. And sexual assault related crimes these days are usually acted upon quickly and harshly.

We're talking about a traffic stop and an expired CPL. Should Harbaugh have suspended him a game? I don't know. I'm not sure I care or think it matters. If we say he should have been suspended a game does it change the argument any? He's still playing vs. all the important teams.

And in the end, I don't think he actually gets convicted of anything significant for the same reason; because this all seems rather minor, even though the crime is charged as a felony.
 
A&M kicked a WR out who showed his junk to a chick, no charges or arrests made. Just an accusation. That dude is now in the NFL the last three years, so it isn't like he had no talent.

Yea the "THEY WERE WAITING FOR CHARGES!" angle is weak when there's countless examples of teams taking action on players before charges or made or with no charges being made.
 
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