Six Charged UK Football Players' case goes to Grand Jury

Six Kentucky football players made another move through the criminal justice system Wednesday morning. Each charged with first degree burglary, the defendants waived their right to a preliminary hearing in Fayette District Court, moving the case to a grand jury.

Preliminary hearings offer an opportunity for defendants to argue the merits of their case in a public court of law. Rarely used, now prosecutors will argue their case to a grand jury in closed-door proceedings.

Prosecutors can take up to 60 days to establish a case. If there is enough evidence against the football players to convince nine of 12 jurors, the grand jury will hand down an indictment and the case will proceed to trial. If the jury does not feel there is enough evidence to indict, the case will be dismissed.

The six charged players all pled not guilty to the charges at Friday’s arrangement.

What We Know

On Thursday, August 19, six Kentucky football players — RJ Adams, JuTahn McClain, Andru Phillips, Earnest Sanders, Joel Williams and Vito Tisdale –were charged with first-degree burglary stemming from an incident at an off-campus fraternity party on March 6. According to the charging documents, three players were asked to leave a party, then returned with three others to force their way into the private home. Tisdale was also charged with wanton endangerment for allegedly brandishing a firearm.

Alpha Sigma Phi, the fraternity that hosted the party, was placed on probation. Students who purportedly attended the party spoke anonymously to WDRB, sharing graphic details of the incident. According to court records, a “physical altercation” took place, and some suffered injuries; however, a criminal complaint filed into court did not specify what those injures were.

All six players pleaded not guilty during arraignment on Friday, August 20. Fayette County District Judge Joseph T. Bouvier, the father of former UK wide receiver David Bouvier, ordered the players to stay away from the victims and the site where the incident took place. Today, the players waived their right to a preliminary hearing, which will send the case to a grand jury.

Mark Stoops’ Comments

In a statement released after the charges were made, Mark Stoops said UK has known about the incident since March. It was reviewed by the UK Office of Student Conduct, during which time the players were withheld from team activities.

“We have been aware of this matter since March, as we withheld the players from team activities while a student conduct review was held. Based on the outcome of the review, the players returned to activity in June. We are evaluating the current situation as we receive more information.”

On Saturday, Stoops spoke at length about the situation, telling reporters the players have once again been pulled out of practice.

“Anytime there are situations like that, we take it very seriously and we address it and we look at it. We did. Is there new information that we don’t know about? I’m not sure. That’s what we have to look at, but they deserve an opportunity to defend themselves. We’ll let that process play out.”

On Monday at the Kentucky Football Kickoff Luncheon in Louisville, Stoops sounded confident the players would return to the team soon.

“I know there are a few things going on out there right now that we will get straight, I promise ya. I love this team. I love these players. None of them are perfect. That’s for sure. We don’t ever pretend to be, but you’re going to love this team.”

“This is a fantastic group. There are a couple of hiccups that are in the road right now, but I anticipate we’ll get through those just fine and get everybody back on the football field playing.”

Tyler Thompson contributed to this report.