Micah Bradford charged with two felonies

[agibson]

(In other news, while reviewing the books, I saw that room and board scholarship money is taxable according to VU. I didn't realize. Probably not enough by itself to actually trigger income tax, if the income accrues to the student. But, international students have something like 14% withheld for IRS and have to file to get it back.)

[FWalum]

Allegedly. The kid has due process and an assumption of innocence. A quick drug test will show if he was using or not, and would be known by the game on thurs. Maybe thats what they are waiting on to make an anoouncement.

What happens if they do give a drug test, it comes back clean, and charges are eventually dismissed? Big difference between if he did test positive and is found guilty of a felony. We can't be judge and jury here.

I agree, not ready to convict Micah just yet.  The whole article and police reporting is extremely vague and the timeline is still a problem for me, doubt he was back to apartment by 6:30PM.  Glad the cops never came knocking on my door back in the late 70's.  I was not a user, but my roommate and fraternity brother's did partake occasionally. I would have been guilty just by association because I am sure they left "evidence" behind (I usually took off when that stuff started happening). So they did not catch him actually doing anything other than sleeping with his girlfriend in an apartment that smelled of pot smoke and had some small bags of pot outside of a bedroom window.

the bigger question is what did he do to get felony counts of obstruction of justice AND a "common nuisance."

This is what I don't understand, this all seems pretty simple to me, there has to be more to the story other than they charged him with these felonies because they had to get a warrant and there was some pot on the ground outside his window. What exactly did he do...

It really bothers me. Not only is it against the law whether we like it or not it is also against team rules and it has really hurt the team. Micah needs to be shown the door more for letting his team down at a very crucial time.

Give the kid a drug test and if he is using then he has broken team rules and let his team down in the most egregious way.  A major suspension or potential dismissal is certainly in order.  This is exactly what we did at Indiana Tech, kids took drug tests at the beginning of the season and if needed at random times during the season, if positive they were suspended for a month. Never had anybody arrested, but if they had been I am sure they would have been dismissed.

[VU2014]

valpo95, you nailed it. Micah made things much worse for himself when he didn't open the door and hand over the pot. The felony wasn't for smoking pot. It was for forcing them to get a warrant to search the apartment and then finding the the pot thrown out the window to try and hide evidence. I don't care about kids smoking a little weed or partaking in underage drinking as long as they do it responsibly. There are bigger problems in this world. But Micah let his team down by doing this in season and also at the most important time of the season. He just needs to be smarter then this. Also what the hell is he doing smoking inside an apartment? The article said the incident happened on Sturdy Road so it's probably the View Pointe apartments that aren't exclusively college kids, so your chances of a neighbor getting pissed off and calling the cops is more likely. Just so stupid on so many levels.

Since the felony charges are likely to get dropped it won't lead to him getting kicked out of school and I'd think not off the team. But I'd think he'd not make the Trip to Arch Madness, because this was a little more then just getting busted for smoking pot given his actions of forcing the cops to get a warrant and him trying to hide the weed by tossing it out the window which led to the felony charges. If I'm coach I'd probably leave Micah at home unless there is more to this story we don't know about. Like elephtheria47 said, Micah deserves due process but I'd hope he'd be fully honest with the Coaches so they'll have all the facts to make a decision. I don't envy the spot Coach Lottich or the Athletics Department is in. It won't be the end of the world if he plays but I think it would send the wrong message. Coach needs to clean up all these little incidents.

I think Micah is a good kid who made a really dumb mistake. Kids make mistakes and he'll learn from this.

[elephtheria47]

What makes people think the felony charges may or will be dismissed?

This might be a very easy, legal, decision for the coaches/school. He has pending felony charges and he posted bond. A condition of bond may be that he can't leave the state.

[agibson]

The felony wasn't for smoking pot. It was for forcing them to get a warrant to search the apartment and then finding the the pot thrown out the window to try and hide evidence.

Just to be clear, "forcing" the cops to get a search warrant before letting them into your apartment isn't a felony offense! I'll admit that, as a practical matter, insisting on your rights in this fashion may in some fashion antagonize the police and could perhaps affect what they charge you with.

But, for me, this is a funny grey area. There may be some advantage to "playing along" and making the police's job easier. But, you're certainly entitled to your rights (make them get a search warrant, don't say anything incriminating, ask to talk to a lawyer, etc.). And it seems like you could easily get yourself into trouble by _not_ sticking to your rights.

It's not lost on me that this is a young African-American man (and woman, from the mugshot) in a predominantly white town. This will have an effect on interactions with the police.

[crusader05]

The obstruction is literally just because he threw the pot out the window. Basically he tried to hide evidence from the police investigation. The other is probably because it was an apt and the cops were annoyed they had to get a warrant.

I do tend to think the front page headline et al is a bit excessive for a paper that, if not for Paul's write ups never even acknowledges there is a D I basketball team in the town at all.

Stupid decision, will probably get a misdemeanor and some probation with a chance to clear his record. I also know a bit about how the police work in the area and I agree with Agibson that there is some concern for me with race here. I've been around long enough to see our AA students tend to get a harsher response by the cops

[bigmosmithfan1]

The felony wasn't for smoking pot. It was for forcing them to get a warrant to search the apartment and then finding the the pot thrown out the window to try and hide evidence.

So by asking the cops to, you know, actually DO THEIR JOBS AS THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO UNDER THE CONSTITUTION AND THE LAW, someone deserves a felony charge? That can't be what you're arguing here... is it?

[VU2014]

agibson, good point. I don't know how my 19 year old self would react if I were in the situation but probably with hindsight it would have been best to fess up to the crime if he really was smoking pot and hand it over to cops. It probably would have reduced the charges. Maybe it was just the young lady who was smoking and maybe Micah was just hanging out at the apartment. I don't know. The Coaches and Athletics Department know more then us. I'm curious when the University will have a comment. When is Paul and Michaels Media day with the team? Is normally on Tuesdays or Wednesday?

So by asking the cops to, you know, actually DO THEIR JOBS AS THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO UNDER THE CONSTITUTION AND THE LAW, someone deserves a felony charge? That can't be what you're arguing here... is it?

I'm no lawyer and never claimed to be. I didn't mean to suggest they should be able to just break into the apartment without a warrant. All I meant to say is this probably wasn't handled well by Micah and the young Lady. Really the worse thing was trying to hide the weed, I'd imagine.

[elephtheria47]

You have a right to ask them to get a warrant. It's not your right to try and hide evidence of a crime i.e. flushing marijuana down a toilet. That's where the obstruction charge comes into play imo. And I also believe that the cops would not have to get a warrant and they could have knocked down the door if they had reasonable suspicion that evidence was being tampered with or destroyed. Cops in Porter County, and neighboring Laporte County, are tough on crime. While it can be argued that marijuana should be legal or its not a "major crime" the facts are cops serve and protect.  They were called to a scene where criminal activity was taking place. Now it's time to wait to see how it plays out in the court system and the university.

[VU2014]

Micah's Dad's statement.

https://twitter.com/barrybradford3/status/968523493519306754

It sounds like wrong place at wrong time.

[VU2014]

My apologies to Micah for jumping to conclusions that he may have been smoking. A healthy reminder to wait for all the facts to come out. Sounds like he was at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Micah's dad suggests he was at a teammates apartment.

[FWalum]

Micah's Dad's statement.

https://twitter.com/barrybradford3/status/968523493519306754

It sounds like wrong place at wrong time.

Wow, this certainly changes things, all the "he" did this talk on the board flies right out the window if this is correct.  Certainly why I did not want to pre-judge.

[vuny98]

So then, if true, the question becomes, which teammates apartment was he at and does that become another team problem.

[vu72]

So then, if true, the question becomes, which teammates apartment was he at and does that become another team problem.

That obviously is the question and who was smoking in a teammates apt?  The newspaper didn't say anything about others arrested, just Nailah. So who threw the dope out the window?  Who didn't open the door?  And don't these kids watch gangster movies?  The toilet is the proper disposal method for Pete's sake.

[crusader05]

If no one takes ownership of the weed it becomes communal property in the eyes of the law so whoever was in the apartment gets in trouble.

If someone steps up and takes responsibility for the marijuana and a drug test proves he hadn't smoked he might get all charges dropped. Let's hope that if it's a teammates it's maybe the transfer from Green Bay or someone who is a walk on but doesn't play currently.

My current speculation is that maybe it was the his lady friend and that there was some misplaced chivalry.

Ironically, if all things are true, and if neither of them lived there. If they opened the door and let the police in all charges might have been dropped because only a resident can approve a search without a warrant. (Actual lawyers let me know if i'm right about this?)

[FWalum]

Can we maybe change the Title of this thread, not sure the word "popped" is really appropriate and is very negative.  My understanding has always been that getting "popped" meant you were caught in the act of committing a crime.

[NativeCheesehead]

Not sure about Micah, but whoever thought throwing the pot out of the window rather than flushing it down the toilet was high as a kite.

[crusader05]

Maybe they just didnt' want to waste it

[covufan]

All I meant to say is this probably wasn't handled well by Micah and the young Lady.

Where does it say that Nailah Bush is a young lady?

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter/valparaiso-university-basketball-player-micah-bradford-charged-with-two-felonies/article_64ec9c2e-48ee-5c0b-b173-6e42dc8b941e.html#1

[crusader05]

Thought I saw it on twitter, or I could just be going by the name

[crusader05]

I must have just made an assumption when I read the name

[agibson]

All I meant to say is this probably wasn't handled well by Micah and the young Lady.

Where does it say that Nailah Bush is a young lady?

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter/valparaiso-university-basketball-player-micah-bradford-charged-with-two-felonies/article_64ec9c2e-48ee-5c0b-b173-6e42dc8b941e.html#1

What part of that are we doubting? I mean, I guess you can't really know someone's gender identity without asking them. And a mug shot's rarely flattering. And it's not the most common of names (albeit a little time on google seems to confirm it's a name usually given to girls). But, I don't see much reason for doubt.

[NativeCheesehead]

Perhaps just objecting to the 'young' part?

Maybe Micah caught himself a cougar?

[elephtheria47]

The other person is a young lady.

Formal charges have been filed,  however, they are filed as visiting a common nuisance  (misdemeanor) and possession of marijuana (misdemeanor).

Id imagine that since the charges are now misdemeanors, legally,  he could travel with the team.

[FWalum]

The other person is a young lady.

Formal charges have been filed,  however, they are filed as visiting a common nuisance  (misdemeanor) and possession of marijuana (misdemeanor).

Confirmed in the filing that the Sturdy Road apartment is not Micah's residence.  His residence is listed as 206 E MONROE ST #B in the filing.