#ALLEN IVERSON BANNED CROSSOVER TRIAL#

I don't believe there is any constructive purpose to be served in continuing the prosecution.' 'I would hope that everybody would put this matter behind us and allow these young men to pursue their goals and ambitions,' he said. 'Bobby' Scott (D-Va.), a Hampton Roads area native who has been briefed by the lawyers for all three defendants, said he was pleased with the court decision. The appeals court does not indicate if rulings are unanimous. Wynn and Simmons also were granted conditional clemency by Wilder and were released about a week after Iverson. In addition to Iverson, the appeals court also reversed the convictions of two other defendants, Samuel Wynn and Michael Simmons, who also spent four months in jail. You'll just hear about him being a student and basketball player at Georgetown.' I hope that from now on, you won't be hearing anything about Allen needing lawyers. We will undertake to get his record expunged and hopefully this is the end. Woodward Jr., another attorney for Iverson, said the appeals court decision means Iverson 'no longer has a felony conviction. 'When the president of an university does what he did, I couldn't call him fast enough to thank him.' 'More than anybody else, he took an awful lot on his shoulders to give this young man an opportunity,' Thompson said. When he learned of yesterday's ruling, Thompson said the first person he called was O'Donovan. What is important is, this mistake has been corrected, and he has a chance to go on with his life.' The important thing is for him to move on, put this behind him and do something successful with his life. Thompson said he told Iverson's mother that 'this is not a time to gloat. 'I'm convinced that this further justifies the confidence we placed in him.' 'Allen has worked very hard here at Georgetown,' said O'Donovan.

#ALLEN IVERSON BANNED CROSSOVER TRIAL#

Douglas Wilder, who said conflicting trial testimony shed some doubt on Iverson's guilt.Īt Georgetown University, where Iverson enrolled last fall, Coach John Thompson and Georgetown's president, Rev. Iverson was convicted of the charges in July 1993 and sentenced in September that same year to five years in prison.īut, in December 1993, four months into his sentence, he was granted conditional clemency from then-Virginia Gov. O'Donnell said, 'I would hope that the attorney general's office and commonwealth attorney's office would consider the fact that Allen has already spent several months in jail and consider some of the evidence that has come to light since the time of the trial and decide that it wouldn't be in anyone's best interest to pursue this matter any further.' 'We are reviewing the opinion to determine what our next step, if any, will be,' Miner said. The Virginia attorney general has 14 days to decide if the office will ask the full, 10-judge appeals court to rehear the case.īy law, the commonwealth's attorney for Hampton can't appeal the decision, but the prosecutor could bring other charges against Iverson in circuit court, said Mark Miner, a spokesman for the attorney general's office. It was unclear yesterday if the prosecution will pursue further action. We all felt confident that ultimately these convictions would be overturned.' I just got off the phone with his mother is very excited. O'Donnell, said: 'We are obviously thrilled with the decision. No evidence proved that Iverson was a member of any mob that later formed.' In yesterday's ruling, Benton wrote that 'Iverson's confrontation with Forrest was an incident that may have precipitated a brawl, but was separate from any mob activity. On appeal, Iverson's attorneys argued that the prosecution had failed to prove that a mob existed, as defined by the law, and that even if a mob had formed, the evidence showed that Iverson wasn't part of it. Others who were involved in the brawl are white. Iverson, then 18 and a student at Bethel High School, and his friends are black. Forrest, exchanged words at the bowling alley.Īt their trial, witnesses said the brawl was triggered by racial slurs. The case against Iverson stemmed from a chair-throwing brawl that erupted after Iverson and another man, Steven W.

wrote for the court, 'Although the evidence would have been sufficient to prove individual assaultive conduct, it was insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Iverson acted as part of a mob.' A three-judge panel of the Virginia Court of Appeals yesterday reversed the 1993 conviction of Georgetown basketball player Allen Iverson on three counts of maiming by mob related to a 1993 fight at a bowling alley in Hampton, Va.

Allen iverson banned crossover