Von Pearson Update

[drylo]

So you think it's okay for someone accused of rape to be in close proximity to the person that accused them? It's bad for all involved.

The bottom line is you don't know who is the victim in this situation, so no, Von should not be banned from campus.

 

[WilliamDuVOL]

So you think it's okay for someone accused of rape to be in close proximity to the person that accused them? It's bad for all involved.

Doesn't that perpetuate an atmosphere of guilty until innocent? I can kind of see your view point a little more when thinking of it this way, but if this is still literally a he said she said thing, and no charges have been filed, I still have mixed feelings on this being fair to the accused.

I understand it's a sensitive situation, and this can go both ways (if he's accused/found guilty), but if we are to operate on a premise of innocent until proven guilty, how is potentially jeopardizing one party's future (academically) fair? Could the school perhaps make accommodations for him? Maybe swiftly enroll him in online courses anonymously, then if charges are filed he can be suspended, and if they're never filed/dropped he can at least pick up where he left off and finish his degree now, not years later potentially.

 

[Grey_pilgrim]

Doesn't that perpetuate an atmosphere of guilty until innocent? I can kind of see your view point a little more when thinking of it this way, but if this is still literally a he said she said thing, and no charges have been filed, I still have mixed feelings on this being fair to the accused.

I understand it's a sensitive situation, and this can go both ways (if he's accused/found guilty), but if we are to operate on a premise of innocent until proven guilty, how is potentially jeopardizing one party's future (academically) fair? Could the school perhaps make accommodations for him? Maybe swiftly enroll him in online courses anonymously, then if charges are filed he can be suspended, and if they're never filed/dropped he can at least pick up where he left off and finish his degree now, not years later potentially.

Online would be an excellent option.
And I was speaking with both parties I mind. If complete innocent it probably wouldn't for Von to bump into his accuser.

 

[drylo]

Doesn't that perpetuate an atmosphere of guilty until innocent? I can kind of see your view point a little more when thinking of it this way, but if this is still literally a he said she said thing, and no charges have been filed, I still have mixed feelings on this being fair to the accused.

I understand it's a sensitive situation, and this can go both ways (if he's accused/found guilty), but if we are to operate on a premise of innocent until proven guilty, how is potentially jeopardizing one party's future (academically) fair? Could the school perhaps make accommodations for him? Maybe swiftly enroll him in online courses anonymously, then if charges are filed he can be suspended, and if they're never filed/dropped he can at least pick up where he left off and finish his degree now, not years later potentially.

The entire idea of him being removed from campus at all at this stage is absolutely repugnant to me--and to American ideals like justice and due process.

I can only assume volfan_89 would feel differently if he were wrongly accused of a crime and then essentially put on indefinite house arrest until he was cleared.

 

[KBVol]

I'm sure you feel differently if it was someone related to you.

Perhaps. But he's presumed innocent until proven guilty. What if she falsely accused him and he has his life turned completely turned upside down for something he didn't do. No more football, no school, no nothing associated with the University of Tennessee for something he did not do. For crying out loud, he hasn't even been charged at this point, much less tried and convicted. There's something called the law here.

 

[Ace]

This seems to suggest he is banned from going to class:

"Sources have indicated that Pearson hasn’t been allowed to operate as usual on campus, and with UT’s spring-semester exams scheduled to end Tuesday, he likely will have some work to do in the classroom even if he’s cleared to rejoin the team in the not-too-distant future."

It could be that he is banned from using tutors within the athletic department. UTK has a tutor system available to all students who wish to take advantage of this free service, but student/athletes have additional resources that may no longer be available to him under suspension.

 

[LA Vol]

So you think it's okay for someone accused of rape to be in close proximity to the person that accused them? It's bad for all involved.

As long as both are UT students, both have a right to be on campus. Their paths could cross anywhere in Knoxville. It's easy to turn and walk away should they come in close proximity-- and I'm sure that's what both have been advised to do.

 

[KBVol]

I'm sure you feel differently if it was someone related to you.

Btw, I have a daughter at UT, just took her last exam this morning, packed up her stuff from her sorority house and is headed home as I write this. If something like what this girl is accusing Von of legitimately happened to my daughter, I would move heaven and earth to protect her and get the perp put away forever. I also have a 17 year old son, and I pray to GOD that if he's ever accused of something like this that he is given the presumption of innocence, not ostracized and thrown off of campus and is given the right to face his accuser in a court of law and defend himself....not be made to take a freaking online course because he might otherwise run into the accuser walking to class.

 

[drylo]

Btw, I have a daughter at UT, just took her last exam this morning, packed up her stuff from her sorority house and is headed home as I write this. If something like what this girl is accusing Von of legitimately happened to my daughter, I would move heaven and earth to protect her and get the perp put away forever. I also have a 17 year old son, and I pray to GOD that if he's ever accused of something like this that he is given the presumption of innocence, not ostracized and thrown off of campus and is given the right to face his accuser in a court of law and defend himself....not be made to take a freaking online course because he might otherwise run into the accuser walking to class.

Bingo.

 

[drylo]

Maybe Von should accuse her of rape and get her banned from campus.

Discuss.

 

[ainge10heisman]

Why are you making sh*t up?

Because I can...'Merica....'nuff said!

 

[sjt18]

I'm sure you feel differently if it was someone related to you.

No. A restraining order that specifies that he cannot be near her or a building that she has a scheduled class in would suffice.

Maybe he's a serial rapist and not a stupid young guy that got drunk and went too far... if so then ban him from campus. Otherwise, he's not much of a threat as long as they're kept apart.

 

[Grey_pilgrim]

I was thinking of both parties involved. If he's innocent then it's probably best for him not to see her. If he's guilty then it's definitely best for them not to see each other. Maybe suspend both parties till the investigation is over.

 

[Crazy Ivan]

This is good news, assuming that no rape actually took place. However, Pearson wouldn't necessarily be completely out of trouble if he isn't formally charged by the police. Prosecutors only bring criminal charges if they believe they can legally establish guilt "beyond a reasonable doubt," as the Constitution requires. Universities, however, may conduct their own disciplinary hearings related to sexual assault and adopt a much more lenient evidentiary standard, and that's exactly what UT's done. According to page 30 of UT's Sexual Misconduct policy:



"Preponderance of the evidence" means that somebody is deemed guilty if the evidence shows it more likely than unlikely (51% or greater) that misconduct took place. This is the standard most often used to determine civil liability, and explains why somebody might be found liable in a civil trial but not criminally guilty for the exact same thing (e.g., like O.J. Simpson's civil liability for Nicole Brown's "wrongful death"). "Beyond a reasonable doubt" is something approximating 95% certainty.

So if the accuser's story is even slightly more believable than Von's, he may still be in huge trouble with the university. For what it's worth, Jameis Winston was involved in a similar he-said-she-said incident, and while he wasn't criminally charged with anything he still had to undergo a disciplinary hearing at FSU, which he subsequently won. FSU also had a "preponderance of the evidence" standard, as this excerpt from the university's decision to acquit Winston indicates:



Unlike FSU, however, I doubt Butch would reinstate Pearson and let him play football before a disciplinary hearing is over.

I believe that is what happened to Lloyd Tubman at UK. It was determined there was not enough evidence to charge him, but some sort of committee of conduct ruled he could not return to the fb team.

 

[Coug]

Doesn't that perpetuate an atmosphere of guilty until innocent?

That atmosphere CLEARLY already exists at UT! Make no bones about it.

Btw, I have a daughter at UT, just took her last exam this morning, packed up her stuff from her sorority house and is headed home as I write this. If something like what this girl is accusing Von of legitimately happened to my daughter, I would move heaven and earth to protect her and get the perp put away forever. I also have a 17 year old son, and I pray to GOD that if he's ever accused of something like this that he is given the presumption of innocence, not ostracized and thrown off of campus and is given the right to face his accuser in a court of law and defend himself....not be made to take a freaking online course because he might otherwise run into the accuser walking to class.

Best not send him to UT then.

 

[Volinnooga]

Some of you are confusing innocent until proven guilty with preponderance of the evidence. I'm not talking specifically about Von's case but cases in general. One is innocent until proven guilty in criminal law but not necessarily in other contexts.

 

[JohnMcA60]

.

 

[StarRaider]

"Sources have indicated that Pearson hasn’t been allowed to operate as usual on campus, <snip>"

Dang the kid is a doctor?

 

[KBVol]

Some of you are confusing innocent until proven guilty with preponderance of the evidence. I'm not talking specifically about Von's case but cases in general. One is innocent until proven guilty in criminal law but not necessarily in other contexts.

Please elaborate. Are you saying she's gonna bring a civil lawsuit? A bit (honestly) confused.

 

[tennrich1]

Sooooooo no charges have been filed against him, and he isn't even allowed to attend class or take exams? Am I misunderstanding this?

Getting suspended from the team I agree with, but academics seem like something important enough to allow him to continue with unless charges have been filed. Maybe I'm misinterpreting this.

What I read on 247 mentioned he was having an academic issue before all this....but I still didn't quite understand all the issues in play here i.e. no team activity etc...

 

[EZE]

You'd care if your daughter or wife was the victim, unless you're a total moron.

I think you can safely remove the "unless" from your statement.

 

[drylo]

Some of you are confusing innocent until proven guilty with preponderance of the evidence. I'm not talking specifically about Von's case but cases in general. One is innocent until proven guilty in criminal law but not necessarily in other contexts.

Umm... what?

Nobody is innocent or guilty EVER "in other contexts"--that is a criminal law concept. But more importantly, I'm not sure what your point is--that "in other contexts," everyone should automatically assume Von is a rapist and kick him off campus and out of school?

 

[smokey0625]

You'd care if your daughter or wife was the victim, unless you're a total moron.

Was he found guilty? Do you know he did anything? I don't care because I don't know what happened. The same reason I don't care is the same reason you shouldn't care. Everything you know is hearsay and speculation. i don't care because UT pays millions of dollars to coaches whose sole purpose is to worry about this crap so that people like you and I can worry about stuff we know (like your own kids). I care about my family and I watch UT if I so choose. Kids makes mistakes and so did I growing up. I dont feel its my place to judge a kid based on something I have no idea what the facts are and probably will never know. Feel sorry for you bums freaking over a dam thing.

 

[wolfej]

I seriously hate the "if it was your daughter/wife". The people that say that are going in assuming the male did it, and that the female is a victim. What if your daughter/wife is a sociopath with no regard for another person's life, and is falsely accusing them?

Most people would instantly assume their daughter/wife is a victim, but that isn't always the case and the people saying "you'd care if the victim was your x" are being moronic. Of course if I believed my daughter was raped I would be furious and if I knew who did it I would probably end up going to jail for assaulting the man, but throwing it out there that we should side with the female, because "what if it were your daughter/wife" is ridiculous.

Women do just as many messed up things as men do, it's just not as commonly physical (at least from my experience).

 

[terrypedigo]

Is this becoming the standard defense for all the rape charges the past year and a half or so? UT's image continues to take "rape" hits and few seem to care as long as recruiting is good. Sad.

Its bad if he is guilty but half of these young women that cry rape are drunk and when they come down, they wont there 15 minutes of fame, now the ones that are guilty of RAPE give them 20 years to life but if the one that is crying rape and just made it up, they need to get the same sentence as the male would have got if they just made the story up, if the man is not guilty it still will follow him the rest of his life, he is already guilty in the public eye and the man has not been charged with anything.