Andrew Joseph Douglass, 18, of San Clemente, Calif., was charged with felony aggravated assault.
Justin Richard Montelius, who graduated this spring from Missoula's Big Sky High School, and Cody Alexander von Appen, 18, of Kailua, Hawaii, were charged with aiding and abetting an aggravated assault, also a felony.
All three redshirt freshmen face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $50,000 fine. The case will proceed in Missoula County District Court.
Judge Karen Orzech ordered the three to abide by all university restrictions, including possibly being restrained from campus, as part of expulsion proceedings. She also told the players not to discuss the case with witnesses or each other.
“If you discuss the case, you could be charged with another felony ... felony tampering,” she told Montelius. “You don't want to go there.”
The three were allowed to remain in contact with teammate Joshua Stuberg, who witnessed the assault. But Orzech said they were restricted from discussing the case. Stuberg is von Appen's roommate.
Depending on the university's actions, “they may not be roommates much longer,” said Colin Stephens, von Appen's lawyer.
Marks said as part of the university's expulsion proceedings, the three were restricted from certain areas of campus and instructed to not associate with people involved with the incident. Marks said he could not discuss specific restrictions.
In a phone interview Wednesday, UM Dean of Students Charles Couture refused to discuss the incident, citing student privacy.
UM Vice President Jim Foley said, “It's in the county attorney's hands now. ... The proceedings in court today speak for themselves.”
The alleged assault occurred outside Dunaway Hall at about 1:30 a.m. Sept. 19 and was caught on a university surveillance camera.
According to the affidavit, the video shows von Appen punch the alleged victim, Jesse Johnson, 18, in the back of the head, knocking him to the ground. Douglass then hit and kicked Johnson while he was on the ground, the affidavit said.
Johnson was knocked unconscious, suffered several cracked and chipped teeth and a broken jaw, which had to be wired shut, according to the affidavit. He also had contusions on his head and face.
Von Appen's father, Fred von Appen, was an assistant coach for the Grizzlies before retiring in 2003.
The assault, which occurred the day before Homecoming, was the most recent in a string of violent crimes involving Grizzly football players.
Last November, three Grizzly football players and a former player were among a group who broke into a rental home near campus to steal money and drugs. All three were suspended from the football team and were convicted in the home invasion.
Missoulian intern Chris Arneson can be reached at 523-5259 or at chris.arneson@
missoulian.com.
Watch a video of three redshirt Grizzly players' court appearance Wednesday
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perenfeld wrote on Oct 9, 2008 3:31 PM:
" How can they face possible expulsion from UofM. It should be automatic expulsion if they are found guilty. "
fred wrote on Oct 9, 2008 4:18 PM:
" Hey Marge Larson, they were apparently caught on video committing this felony. They deserve several years in prison as well as many more years of supervised release. These thugs kicked and beat the victim while he was lying on the ground unconscious, which you, Marge Larson, think is acceptable behavior. I'm wondering why they haven't been arrested, kicked off the football team, expelled from school, and banned from campus. It's rather obvious at this point that George Dennison and his cronies feel that the good of the football team is more important than the safety of the population of the University. To the pieces of human garbage who committed the felonies: good luck with the lawsuits! "
pat wrote on Oct 9, 2008 10:06 PM:
" The thing about your comment, Fred, is that ONE of the young men beat the victim while he was unconscious. ONE hit him before. And ONE didn't physically touch anyone.
Yet, they're still all 3 "thugs"? "
Yet, they're still all 3 "thugs"? "
Seth A. Bloom wrote on Oct 9, 2008 10:49 PM:
" For crying out loud Marge, are you delusional? A group of young men viciously beat an individual and somehow their youth, football player status and the fact that they have "families' should mitigate their punishment? What a stupid argument....uh everybody comes from some family or another. Their inability to get a good "job" later in life should be our societies main concern? They should have thought about that before, as a group, they assaulted a man, broke his jaw, and kicked him while he was down. This does not appear to be a fair fight, or a bar fight, or "scrapping it out" on the quad ....what they did was brutal, evil, and contemptible. Three on one. Don't forget stupid too.... cameras on a campus,....wow big surprise. Put down the football, and pick up sack; to the thugs I say, "adopt a highway" and get comfortable with bright orange jumpsuits for a few years. "
BRL wrote on Oct 9, 2008 11:29 PM:
" I keep reading so many comments from UNinformed people. As a life long resident, and graduate for UM, I am outraged how fast you ignore the facts of the situation, and how fast you react and judge these 3 kids before knowing the facts.
This is what you will learn:
1. Justin was attacked FIRST by 4 kids from the dorm, one of them is the kid who got beat up.
2. One of these 4 kids physically assaulted Justin without any provocation from Justin.
3. Fearing for his safety, Justin broke away for these "thugs" and called a few friends to come to his aid. Just like we all did in High School.
4. When the friends encountered one of the "thugs" they reacted.
5. Justin did NOT touch, punch, or inflict harm on the one beat up.
Save your comments and judgement until you learn of all the facts. Otherwise, you just sound like a stupid-lazy-uninformed looser. "
This is what you will learn:
1. Justin was attacked FIRST by 4 kids from the dorm, one of them is the kid who got beat up.
2. One of these 4 kids physically assaulted Justin without any provocation from Justin.
3. Fearing for his safety, Justin broke away for these "thugs" and called a few friends to come to his aid. Just like we all did in High School.
4. When the friends encountered one of the "thugs" they reacted.
5. Justin did NOT touch, punch, or inflict harm on the one beat up.
Save your comments and judgement until you learn of all the facts. Otherwise, you just sound like a stupid-lazy-uninformed looser. "
really wrote on Oct 11, 2008 6:43 PM:
" BRL, i have one question for you: Were you there the night it happened? No I don't think so. you should listen to yourself considering you already "sound like a stupid-lazy-uninformed looser." This is apparent in your contradicting statements: "Justin was attacked FIRST by 4 kids from the dorm" and "One of these 4 kids physically assaulted Justin." Answer me this how can four people attack him and then have one of them do it. Oh yeah haven't you read the first article that said Justin lied about being assaulted. Also while he appeared in court how bad off was he in his highpriced suit? must not have been assaulted after all was he? GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT YOURSELF! "
hard times wrote on Oct 11, 2008 8:52 PM:
" Hey BRL...Justin M. graduated last year and he's still hanging around freshmen? He need to grow up in more ways than one.
Football players have egos the size of football fields. And the steroids don't help. If you check the bg of these guys, you'll find they were bullies in high school, too.
Kids are struggling to get into any college and this is the best these thugs can do? They don't deserve scholarships...they deserve a sentence... "
Football players have egos the size of football fields. And the steroids don't help. If you check the bg of these guys, you'll find they were bullies in high school, too.
Kids are struggling to get into any college and this is the best these thugs can do? They don't deserve scholarships...they deserve a sentence... "
UMStudent wrote on Oct 22, 2008 8:03 PM:
" I just wanted to say that I know Justin, who was involved in this incident. Justin had some trouble with some other guys, and he called his 2 buddies from the football team to back him up. This is the same crap we used to do back when we were kids in school. The kid that got beat up helped aggrevate the situation. I'm not defending the boys that attacked him, but there is much more to this story than a lot of you people know. So, before you make comments and say that these kids deserve to go to prison, you need to take a more objective look at what ACTUALLY happened, and not just listen to a story from an obviously half-informed media source. It's people like you guys that would have been in a lynching mob just because someone cried wolf. "
Marge Larson wrote on Oct 9, 2008 3:23 PM: