Where is the 'Duke-style' press coverage when it's really needed?...

Jones Case Linked To Ex-Player With Criminal Past

(WCCO) Minneapolis Prosecutors call it rape at a drunken party which was caught on cell phone video and they're charging University of Minnesota football player Dominic Jones in the case.

However, WCCO-TV has confirmed that another U of M football player who'd been kicked off the team actually organized the party.

Robert McField had been convicted of two armed robberies but was somehow still living in campus housing the night of the attack.

On Monday, Jones was charged with sexually assaulting an unconscious woman. The victim's blood alcohol was .30.

A friend of Jones had taken a video of part of the assault on his cell phone at the apartment that night. The file was deleted, but forensic experts examining the phone were able to recover a portion of the deleted file. The female in the video was unresponsive and was identified as the victim. The male in the video was identified as Jones.

Prosecutors said Jones was involved in an incident at the University Village apartments late on the night of April 3 or early April 4. On April 6, a woman told police she was raped in the University Village complex.

The woman was taken to a local hospital and evidence was collected.

"A picture is worth a thousand words and that cell phone video reflects what happened," said Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman.

Freeman stressed that three other players, Alex Daniels, E.J. Jones and Keith Massey, are still suspects in this case months after being arrested and then released.

WCCO has uncovered the role of a former player, Robert McField, named only as "R.M." in the criminal complaint. He's the one who brought the victim and her friend to his apartment in University Village, and court documents claim it was McField who gave the victim eight shot glasses of straight vodka.

However, the question is why was McField still living in University housing? The month before the party, he had pleaded guilty to two felony counts of armed robbery in Missouri.

The University had known for months about the allegations, he had actually been kicked off the football team in October because of them. It was not until several weeks after the party that McField was finally kicked out of the University.

The University of Minnesota's attorney Mark Rotenberg said, "There was a period of time between when this student plead guilty to the crimes and the date to which we got him out of the University. That time lag was unfortunate."

McField is already doing time in prison for robbery.

Jones, a junior, is strong safety from Columbus, Ohio. He is one of the Gophers' best defensive players, a two-year starter who is also a standout kick-returner. He was arrested at his apartment in University Village.

Jones is scheduled to be in court Tuesday morning and will have prominent defense attorney Earl Grey defending him.

All four players being named in the case have been suspended from the football team.

http://wcco.com/topstories/local_story_197225633.html