Basketball players’ court cases continue

University of Minnesota police expect to wrap up their investigation this week into the Nov. 7 theft of a laptop allegedly involving first-year basketball player Royce White.
“We have just one or two more interviews to do with some potential victims,” University police Deputy Chief Chuck Miner said.
Miner said they have not had a chance to speak with the involved students who have been out of town over break.
Miner expects to turn the case over to the Minneapolis City Attorney’s Office by the end of the week. The City Attorney’s Office will then review the case to determine whether criminal charges will be filed — a process that according to Miner usually takes about a month.
On Nov. 17, White’s attorney F. Clayton Tyler said he hoped the case would be resolved within a week.
However, two months later, a resolution does not appear imminent.
Meanwhile, the Gophers are six games into conference play, but White, who was considered Tubby Smith’s prize acquisition in this year’s recruiting class, has yet to log a minute. The talented forward has been suspended indefinitely pending the outcome of his legal matters. Smith has said White’s suspension cannot end until his legal matters are resolved.
In December, White issued a series of YouTube videos voicing his frustration and promoting his record label, “White and Brown Entertainment.”
In the third installment, White announced that he would be departing from college basketball before his career ever really started.
“I want to play for the Gophers. I still wish I could … I wish I could bring banners to The Barn. I wish I could be a great teammate to my teammates … I wish I could do all those things, but I can’t wait for the justice system to go in the right direction anymore,” White said in the video.
White said he was suspended for two exhibition games for an Oct. 13 incident at the Mall of America in which he later pleaded guilty to theft and disorderly conduct. After being implicated in the laptop theft, he was suspended indefinitely.
White cited the stress the situation was putting on his family as the reason for his decision.
“It would take something big for me to go against the decision to leave college basketball,” White said. “As of right now, I’m leaving college basketball.”
Despite the Dec. 17 YouTube announcement, White did not file papers asking for his release and has since attended — without participating — team practice, though it is unknown if and when he will play this year.
White’s teammate, junior forward Trevor Mbakwe, has also been riddled with slow legal proceedings.
Mbakwe faces a felony aggravated assault charge in Miami-Dade County, Fla., stemming from an incident that took place in April 2009.
Like White, Mbakwe has not played a game this year while the legal process runs its course, though he has been consistently practicing with the team.
“At this point, there has yet to be a trial date set,” Ed Griffith, spokesman for the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office, said.
A report date has been scheduled for Feb. 8, at which a trial date could potentially be set. The report hearing is simply to ensure that both sides are making progress in the case.
There have been reports that the trial has been delayed in part because Mbakwe’s lawyer, Gregory Samms, has had difficulty obtaining depositions from important witnesses, including Mbakwe’s former roommate and teammate Darnell Dodson, who now plays basketball at the University of Kentucky.
Samms declined to comment on the case.
Griffith said most dilatory issues pertain to the defense’s ability to mount an adequate defense and that such delays are not uncommon.
“It’s not like ‘Law & Order.’ ‘Law & Order’ moves very quickly. Those cases come from crime to trial in 60 minutes,” Griffith said.
“Even your sense of watching the show, in six months they’re at trial. That never happens anywhere in America.”