Hudson County First Assistant Prosecutor Terrence Hull said last week that newspaper reports of an indictment against famed Penn State quarterback and Hoboken native Rashard Casey were premature. Casey, who graduated from Hoboken High School in 1996, was arrested in May for allegedly beating an off-duty police officer outside a Hoboken bar, but a Grand Jury was looking at charges against another man in addition to Casey, Hull noted. The Grand Jury could have indicted either of the men or both of them, he said.
Hull said Friday that a Grand Jury had concluded its investigation and presented its findings to Superior Court Judge Arthur D’Italia, but that newspapers had jumped the gun in assuming there is an indictment. Hull said that the decision could be released as early as this Tuesday.
“As of right now, no indictment has been handed down,” Hull said Friday. “For someone to say that there has been an indictment would be totally inaccurate at this point.”
An indictment is not a determination of guilt or innocence, but is a decision by a federal jury as to whether there is enough evidence against a person to bring a matter to trial.
“Based on its review of the evidence presented, the Grand Jury has taken action,” Hull said. “That’s the only thing the public should know at this point. I don’t know where any of the other stories have come from.” Hull added, “I think everyone should wait to find out. Everything else right now is speculation at best.”
Published reports Wednesday in the Philadelphia Daily News, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and USA Today, among others, said the Grand Jury had decided to indict Casey and former Hoboken High School football teammate Desmond Miller on aggravated assault charges. All of the newspapers cited anonymous sources in reporting the indictment, but the accounts were conflicting.
USA Today said that Casey, the 1996 Hudson Reporter Athlete of the Year, was indicted on third-degree felony assault, which could bring a sentence of five years in jail if convicted.
But the Philadelphia Daily News and the Patriot-News of Harrisburg, Pa. reported that Casey had been indicted on second-degree assault, which could bring a 10-year sentence.
Hull said that he did speak to reporters about the case and revealed that the Grand Jury had taken action, but said that he was not allowed to speak about the results of the findings for a week. He also said that he would be permitted to speak if the Grand Jury had decided not to indict.
So since Hull wasn’t allowed to speak, reporters naturally assumed that an indictment was handed down. However, the indictment could very well be against one of the defendants and not the other, Hull said.
“It was a case of putting the cart before the horse,” Hull said. “Because I said that I couldn’t speak about it, they naturally assumed that an indictment against Rashard Casey was handed down. People are reading into this too much. There are so many variables and options here. The nature of the charges and [who] would receive what charges are just two of them. Anything that has been reported has been clearly erroneous. I don’t know why people jumped to the assumption that it was Rashard Casey.”
Outside the tavern
Casey and Miller were arrested and charged for allegedly beating Hoboken Police Officer Patrick Fitzsimmons outside the River Street Tavern May 14, but both pleaded innocent to the charges upon arraignment.
According to the arrest report, Casey and Miller allegedly got into an altercation with Fitzsimmons outside the bar after Casey, Miller and former teammate Keeon Walker had words with Fitzsimmons over the woman Fitzsimmons was with that night. Some said the argument had to do with the fact that Fitzsimmons, a white man, was with a black woman.
According to the reports, Fitzsimmons was punched and kicked in the head repeatedly by assailants who fled the scene. Reports said that Walker tried to break up the fight. Fitzsimmons was treated for facial lacerations and head trauma. Later, Fitzsimmons filed a civil suit against Casey, Miller and Walker. The suit is still pending. Casey remains the starting quarterback for Penn State. The school has maintained that Casey would remain eligible to participate with the Nittany Lions until an indictment was handed down and the school’s judicial review committee made a ruling about his status.
Casey is coming off his best game of the season, when he threw for a career-high 208 yards and two touchdowns in a 39-25 victory over Illinois. Casey completed 13 of 24 passes and also rushed 12 times for 94 yards, including a spectacular 39-yard touchdown run which was featured on all of the SportsCenter highlight shows. Casey also threw for a school-record five touchdowns in a game earlier in the year against Louisiana Tech. For the season, Casey has completed 91 of 189 passes for 1,1225 yards and nine touchdowns for the Nittany Lions.
But the team as a whole currently owns a disappointing 3-5 record.