They can have their records expunged after a few years if they stay out of trouble.
NEW BRUNSWICK — The lawyers for three ex-Rutgers University football players signaled in court Wednesday that their clients would likely apply for pre-trial intervention in an alleged assault near the New Brunswick campus.
The probationary program would require the three defendants to plead guilty to a lesser offense, in exchange for avoiding jail time and having their records expunged if they stayed out of trouble for several years.
Daryl Stephenson, Nadir Barnwell and Razohnn Gross were charged with second-degree aggravated assault and riot in an alleged fight in April 2015 that left a fellow Rutgers student with a broken jaw. The fight, on Delafield Street, was over a parking spot, according to Superior Court Judge Dennis Nieves, sitting in New Brunswick.
Three other former football players were also charged in the assault, but it is unlikely that they would be accepted into pre-trial intervention, attorneys said. Tejay Johnson is also charged with first-degree crimes in a series of alleged home invasions; Ruhann Peele was arrested again for an unrelated aggravated assault in October; and Delon Stephenson is alleged by police and prosecutors to have thrown the jaw-breaking punch.
Stephenson's attorney said that an early plea offer had mandated prison time, which Stephenson would not accept. Attorney Michael Orozco said he's seen a video of the brawl, and it's difficult to identify the people in the video.
"The one that I saw," Nieves responded, "it'll blow your mind."
Nieves said that after the punch was thrown — he likened it to an HBO prize fight blow — other defendants kicked the victim when he was down.
But, he said in general of the defendants, most of whom were Rutgers students with full scholarships: "The system should have some mercy. ... They had everything going for them, and their world was turned upside down."
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The court session on Wednesday offered a stark illustration of the complicated and widespread nature of a case that roiled the Rutgers University community. Eleven defendants in total, plus their lawyers and families, packed a courtroom to hear the latest about the alleged assault, plus a series of alleged home invasions that hit Rutgers University students in the late winter of 2014 and the spring of 2015.
Along with Johnson, Andre Boggs and Lloyd Terry were in court to get an update about their cases. They're alleged to have taken part in off- and on-campus robberies. Johnson and Boggs are still in custody, while Terry has posted bail.
Also in court were Kaylanna Ricks, alleged to have driven the getaway car during the robberies, and Dylan Mastriana and Jianan Chen, accused of planning the home invasions. Ricks is going back to school in January, her attorney said.
An attorney for Boggs, Jim Donohue, chided the Middlesex County prosecutor's office for the lack of information that has been available to him. Neither he nor his client know the alleged victims' names, he said, nor the weapons that Boggs and others are said to have used. He asked for Nieves to throw out the complaints or to force prosecutors to amend them.
But Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Deborah Hay said that the county does not produce the types of documents Donohue was seeking — called probable cause affidavits.
Some of the cases will be presented to a grand jury on Dec. 9. All of the players who were still on the team at the time of their arrests were immediately dismissed.
Brian Amaral may be reached at bamaral@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @bamaral44. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Sue Epstein may be reached at sepstein@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @susan_epstein. Find NJ.com on Facebook.