On Friday, ESPN’s Paula Lavigne and Mark Schlabach released a bombshell report that revealed a good amount of information regarding the nature of Antonio Callaway and Treon Harris’ suspensions. Now, we take a look at the key points of the report.
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--Callaway and Harris were both accused by a woman of sexually assault in early December 2015, and that incident led to both players’ indefinite suspension in January for violating the school’s code of conduct policy, according to a letter obtained by ESPN. The woman reported the incident to UF’s student conduct and conflict resolution office but never to police. Back in March, Callaway’s attorney, Huntley Johnson, wrote in a press release that “there is no good reason why this investigation has not been closed” and “this allegation has no merit.” Both players’ suspensions were modified in June to where they could attend classes and use team facilities at UF. Harris has since transferred from UF, while Callaway has participated in fall camp.
--The woman is boycotting her Title IX hearing because UF appointed a Gators football booster to adjudicate the case, according to the report. The complainant, her parents and five witnesses will not attend Callaway’s student conduct code hearing on Friday in Gainesville because of what her attorney, John Clune of Boulder, Colorado, called a “fundamentally skewed process.”
--The appointed hearing officer is attorney Jake Schickel, a founder partner of a Jacksonville, law firm who has a bachelor’s degree in political science from UF and is also a past trustee of Florida's Levin College of Law. Schickel is a former track and field athlete at Florida, a Scholarship Club donor to Florida Football Boosters and a 3-Point Club donor to Florida basketball.
--Harris agreed to leave Florida as part of a plea deal related to the Title IX case, according to ESPN’s report. While Harris has apologized to the woman, Callaway has maintained his innocence and had intentions of fighting the allegations at his student conduct code hearing on Friday.
More info, including statements from the complainant’s attorney, can be found here in ESPN’s report on the situation.
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UPDATE (1 P.M.): Johnson fired back Friday with a press release, calling Clune's actions "an attempt at intimidation." You can read the press release below:
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UPDATE (3 P.M.): The University of Florida released a statement regarding Callaway on Friday afternoon:
"The University of Florida is prohibited to comment on the existence or substance of student disciplinary matters under state and federal law. However, I can tell you that our student conduct process may be handled by a hearing officer, who could be a university employee or an outside professional, or by a committee of faculty and students. Any hearing officer and all committee members are trained and vetted for their impartiality. A hearing officer or committee member would not be disqualified or lack objectivity simply because he or she had been a student athlete decades earlier or purchases athletic tickets as more than 90,000 people do each year."
