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Baseball: Wittels case to be dropped
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FIU Panther Fan Offline
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Baseball: Wittels case to be dropped
Wittels case to be dropped
Quote:Garrett Wittels’ high-profile legal nightmare is coming to an end.

Prosecutors announced in Bahamian court Wednesday that rape charges filed against Wittels, FIU’s star shortstop, and friends Robert Rothschild and Jonathan Oberti will be dropped Monday, his lawyer Richard Sharpstein told The Miami Herald.

Wittels and his friends were accused last December of sexually assaulting two 17-year-old American girls while partying at the Atlantis Paradise Island resort.

But authorities apparently decided the evidence gathered did not warrant proceeding with the case, which garnered national attention as it came amid Wittels’ failed pursuit of the NCAA hitting streak record.

Wittels’ father, local physician Michael Wittels, said he was made aware of the development, but declined further comment.

Wittels recently finished his junior season at FIU, but was not among the hundreds of high school and collegiate prospects chosen in last week’s Major League Baseball draft.

“The enormous and drastic effect this had on Garrett Wittels and his career can never be compensated,” Sharpstein said.

It is The Miami Herald’s policy not to make public the names of sexual assault accusers, but the controversial past of one of the accusers’ fathers may have played a factor.

Several years ago, he reportedly planned to hire a woman to falsely claim she was raped at a professional sporting event. The sport’s governing body also accused him of plotting to use actors to stage a racially charged fight in the stands in order to paint the fan base as hostile to minorities in a film he was making.

Efforts to reach justice officials in the Bahamas were not immediately successful Wednesday afternoon. The charges will not formally be dropped until the lead prosecutor signs off on the paperwork. Wittels, Rothschild and Oberti will likely need to be present for Monday’s final hearing, Sharpstein said..


Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/06/15/22...z1PNYFFt7b
06-15-2011 03:35 PM
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Fanof49ASU Offline
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RE: Baseball: Wittels case to be dropped
Wittels should sue the crap out of them.
06-15-2011 03:49 PM
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MaXx Offline
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RE: Baseball: Wittels case to be dropped
(06-15-2011 03:49 PM)Fanof49ASU Wrote:  Wittels should sue the crap out of them.

Wholeheartedly agree.
06-15-2011 08:20 PM
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OsageJ Offline
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RE: Baseball: Wittels case to be dropped
(06-15-2011 08:20 PM)MaXx Wrote:  
(06-15-2011 03:49 PM)Fanof49ASU Wrote:  Wittels should sue the crap out of them.

Wholeheartedly agree.


Year before last when FIU played at stAte I was very impressed with the way he played the game and the way he interacted with his teamates. I could see he was a leader. If he did rape these girls then he should be punished but if he didn't and now looks like that may be the case I hope he can fulfill the potential that it look to me he had. Maybe this nightmare is over with.
06-16-2011 07:23 AM
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FIUFan Offline
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RE: Baseball: Wittels case to be dropped
Love to drag out all the hate threads that were running rampant on this board. Wonder who the guilty culprits would be (i.e. guilty until proven innocent 03-drunk).
(This post was last modified: 06-16-2011 08:18 AM by FIUFan.)
06-16-2011 08:18 AM
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RE: Baseball: Wittels case to be dropped
Bahamas drops rape charges against FIU baseball star WittelsBy DAVID J. NEAL

The Bahamian attorney general officially dropped all rape charges Monday against Florida International University baseball star Garrett Wittels and Wittels’ friends, Jonathan Oberti and Robert Rothschild, according to Wittels’ Miami attorney Richard Sharpstein.

The nolle prosequi (no prosecution) brief was filed before a Bahamian magistrate Monday at 10 a.m. Sharpstein said. Authorities decided the evidence didn’t support prosecution. The three young men, represented in the Bahamas by Thomas Evans and present in court Monday, were accused in December of sexual assault at Nassau’s Atlantis resort by two 17-year-old women.

“It’s over. The fat lady has sung in the Bahamas,” Sharpstein said. “This diabolical scheme to ruin the names of these young men and extort money is over.”

The defendants never denied having sex with the young women. Security camera footage appeared to contradict what the women told Bahamian authorities.

Wittels, a shortstop on FIU’s baseball team, sprung into national sports news a year ago with a 56-game hitting streak that threatened the NCAA record. The streak received coverage on ESPN’s SportsCenter, the nation’s most watched sports news show, and got FIU’s season opener against Southeastern Louisiana live streaming coverage on ESPN3. Wittels went hitless in four plate appearances.

Despite that start, Wittels went on to hit a solid .345 in 2011, a drop from his streak-boosted .412 hitting in 2010. That he wasn’t taken in the 50-round Major League Baseball draft spoke loudly that teams were still worried about the character questions and legal uncertainty brought on by the rape case.

“The negative and drastic effect on Garret is unquestionable and can’t be compensated for,” Sharpstein said. “We have every confidence he’ll be able to get back and slug his way to the major leagues at some point.”



Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/06/20/22...z1PptFtDtu
06-20-2011 11:53 AM
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KAjunRaider Offline
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RE: Baseball: Wittels case to be dropped
(06-20-2011 11:53 AM)FIU Panther Fan Wrote:  Bahamas drops rape charges against FIU baseball star WittelsBy DAVID J. NEAL

The Bahamian attorney general officially dropped all rape charges Monday against Florida International University baseball star Garrett Wittels and Wittels’ friends, Jonathan Oberti and Robert Rothschild, according to Wittels’ Miami attorney Richard Sharpstein.

The nolle prosequi (no prosecution) brief was filed before a Bahamian magistrate Monday at 10 a.m. Sharpstein said. Authorities decided the evidence didn’t support prosecution. The three young men, represented in the Bahamas by Thomas Evans and present in court Monday, were accused in December of sexual assault at Nassau’s Atlantis resort by two 17-year-old women.

“It’s over. The fat lady has sung in the Bahamas,” Sharpstein said. “This diabolical scheme to ruin the names of these young men and extort money is over.”

The defendants never denied having sex with the young women. Security camera footage appeared to contradict what the women told Bahamian authorities.

Wittels, a shortstop on FIU’s baseball team, sprung into national sports news a year ago with a 56-game hitting streak that threatened the NCAA record. The streak received coverage on ESPN’s SportsCenter, the nation’s most watched sports news show, and got FIU’s season opener against Southeastern Louisiana live streaming coverage on ESPN3. Wittels went hitless in four plate appearances.

Despite that start, Wittels went on to hit a solid .345 in 2011, a drop from his streak-boosted .412 hitting in 2010. That he wasn’t taken in the 50-round Major League Baseball draft spoke loudly that teams were still worried about the character questions and legal uncertainty brought on by the rape case.

“The negative and drastic effect on Garret is unquestionable and can’t be compensated for,” Sharpstein said. “We have every confidence he’ll be able to get back and slug his way to the major leagues at some point.”



Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/06/20/22...z1PptFtDtu

The father of the young woman needs to be jailed. He essentially prostituted his daughter and friends. Right ?
(This post was last modified: 06-20-2011 12:07 PM by KAjunRaider.)
06-20-2011 12:07 PM
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RE: Baseball: Wittels case to be dropped
(06-20-2011 12:07 PM)KAjunRaider Wrote:  The father of the young woman needs to be jailed. He essentially prostituted his daughter and friends. Right ?

Right. And probably worse than that as there was a conspiracy to entrap and extort money there as well. International cases, I would assume, would be quite hard to bring to trial given all the necessary 'findings' and local litigants required to prosecute the matter.

Shame our local paper jumped on him with both feet without a shred of evidence. Talk about an agenda.
06-20-2011 02:37 PM
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RE: Baseball: Wittels case to be dropped
I'll probably get absolutely roasted for this, but...

Just because the charges have been dropped, doesn't mean he's innocent. It's an incredibly unfortunate thing that happened and pursuing a lawsuit isn't going to undue the damage done to his name, if anything it will just keep the story going longer.

It's probably in his best interest to just wash his hands of the whole thing and move on... avoiding future relations with underage girls, whether consensual or not, would also probably be in his best interest.
06-20-2011 07:30 PM
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RE: Baseball: Wittels case to be dropped
(06-20-2011 07:30 PM)MTPiKapp Wrote:  I'll probably get absolutely roasted for this, but...
Just because the charges have been dropped, doesn't mean he's innocent. It's an incredibly unfortunate thing that happened and pursuing a lawsuit isn't going to undue the damage done to his name, if anything it will just keep the story going longer.
It's probably in his best interest to just wash his hands of the whole thing and move on... avoiding future relations with underage girls, whether consensual or not, would also probably be in his best interest.

Let's see, if a smokin' hot girl started pulling her tricks with you at a bar, what would you do? You've been drinking (Bahamian drinking age is 18) and you're 20 years old. Tell me, what are you thinking at that moment?

That's right. You're thinking, Yes! Now suppose you've been under surveillance and are being worked over by a con-man and his accomplishes.

Now I'm sure you, PiKapp, have more information on this matter than those of us who live here, but come on. The Herald roasted this kid for being in the wrong place and being quasi-famous at the time. Who in their right mind would have thought about entrapment (they were just kids having a good time). If you say you would have seen this coming, then you need to take your hind-sight glasses off.
06-21-2011 07:46 AM
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MTPiKapp Offline
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RE: Baseball: Wittels case to be dropped
(06-21-2011 07:46 AM)FIUFan Wrote:  
(06-20-2011 07:30 PM)MTPiKapp Wrote:  I'll probably get absolutely roasted for this, but...
Just because the charges have been dropped, doesn't mean he's innocent. It's an incredibly unfortunate thing that happened and pursuing a lawsuit isn't going to undue the damage done to his name, if anything it will just keep the story going longer.
It's probably in his best interest to just wash his hands of the whole thing and move on... avoiding future relations with underage girls, whether consensual or not, would also probably be in his best interest.

Let's see, if a smokin' hot girl started pulling her tricks with you at a bar, what would you do? You've been drinking (Bahamian drinking age is 18) and you're 20 years old. Tell me, what are you thinking at that moment?

That's right. You're thinking, Yes! Now suppose you've been under surveillance and are being worked over by a con-man and his accomplishes.

Now I'm sure you, PiKapp, have more information on this matter than those of us who live here, but come on. The Herald roasted this kid for being in the wrong place and being quasi-famous at the time. Who in their right mind would have thought about entrapment (they were just kids having a good time). If you say you would have seen this coming, then you need to take your hind-sight glasses off.

I didn't say he was guilty either, all I said was charges being dropped doesn't mean he's not guilty. The point is, the kid probably will always be guilty in the minds of some and the lawsuit isn't going to accomplish anything to change that, why keep this story in the public eye?

And as far as what I would do? It's not really relevant as I'm not judging the kid, all I said was it would be in his best interest to avoid underage girls. Doesn't mean I cannot understand his situation, just means that any guy, semi public figure or not, needs to be very careful with women and alcohol, especially if they might be underage.
(This post was last modified: 06-23-2011 09:49 AM by MTPiKapp.)
06-23-2011 09:48 AM
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RE: Baseball: Wittels case to be dropped
(06-23-2011 09:48 AM)MTPiKapp Wrote:  I didn't say he was guilty either, all I said was charges being dropped doesn't mean he's not guilty. The point is, the kid probably will always be guilty in the minds of some and the lawsuit isn't going to accomplish anything to change that, why keep this story in the public eye?
And as far as what I would do? It's not really relevant as I'm not judging the kid, all I said was it would be in his best interest to avoid underage girls. Doesn't mean I cannot understand his situation, just means that any guy, semi public figure or not, needs to be very careful with women and alcohol, especially if they might be underage.

Aint that the truth. From Politicians to Athletes to everyday Joe's...it's a classic tale.
06-23-2011 11:27 AM
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