Jones pleads not guilty in U rape case

By ROCHELLE OLSON, Star Tribune

Last update: February 7, 2008 - 8:23 PM

Former University of Minnesota football player Dominic Jones formally pleaded not guilty on Thursday in Hennepin County District Court to third-degree criminal sexual conduct for an alleged assault on a drunken woman last April.

In a 30-minute hearing before District Judge Marilyn Rosenbaum, Jones' lawyer, Earl Gray, argued for the suppression of an interview Jones had with two police officers on April 24, 2007, at the university's Bierman Athletic Building. In the presence of a coach, Jones spoke with the officers for about 30 minutes and asked for a lawyer four times, according to Gray.

Gray said Jones didn't "say anything" in the interview, but he doesn't want a jury to see Jones declining to answer questions and requesting counsel. Gray also argued that the interview should have ended with Jones' request for an attorney.

Jones also spoke with police after his arrest, but that interview ended when he requested a lawyer, Gray said.

Jones was charged in July with third-degree criminal sexual conduct for having sex with a woman who allegedly was too drunk to give consent.

According to the complaint, the 18-year-old woman and a female friend went on April 3 to Robert McField's room at University Village, where she drank eight shots of vodka. Sometime later, football players Alex Daniels, E.J. Jones and Keith Massey "took turns having sex" with her, the complaint said. According to the complaint, Dominic Jones arrived later and also had sex with the woman, and Daniels recorded the act on his cell phone. Police also identified Jones through DNA.

In response to Gray's motion to suppress the video, Assistant County Attorney Marlene Senechal said the court should conduct a hearing on the request. Rosenbaum scheduled the hearing for 9 a.m. on Feb. 29.

The case is scheduled to go to trial March 31. Rosenbaum has yet to rule on key issues, including the admission of the cell phone video.

Daniels, Massey and E.J. Jones haven't been charged. All were kicked off the Gophers football team. McField, also a former Gophers football player, was given immunity in exchange for his testimony. In March, he pleaded guilty in Missouri to two armed robberies, and a judge allowed him to return to Minnesota to finish his academic term before reporting to prison.

Gray is also still trying to obtain a video from Massey's phone. McField has previously said one existed, Gray said, but he now denies it.

Rochelle Olson • 612-673-1747