University Judiciary Committee charges against former Cavalier running back Antwoine Womack have been dropped, according to UJC sources close to the case and Womack's attorney.
Womack was scheduled to stand trial last Saturday for violation of Standard One of the Standards of Conduct, which prohibits physical assault.
The case was postponed by UJC and then complainant Jonathan Dean dropped the charges early this week.
Womack was one of three men involved in the Feb. 7, 1999, assault of then-fourth-year students Dean and Cabral Thorton near Clark Hall. He was convicted of misdemeanor assault and battery in an Albemarle County Circuit Court and fined $1,000 on Dec. 16. Since then he has been under investigation for assault charges by the UJC.
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Laurence Woodward of Virginia Beach, one of Womack's attorneys, said his firm received word from University officials that the charges in the UJC case would not be pursued.
Devon Simmons and John Duckett, two of the other students involved in the case, received one-year suspensions from the Committee.
Womack's mother, Ella, said her son's lawyers told her the case no longer would be pursued and that Dean had not shown up for the UJC trial.
UJC Investigator Nicole O'Brien declined to comment on case specifics but acknowledged she no longer has to write a report on Womack's case.
Committee Chairman Brian Hudak also declined to comment on the case but explained the three circumstances under which a UJC case may be dropped. A case can be dropped if the complainant does not show up to trial, the complainant chooses to drop his charges or if the Committee decides the charges of the case are outside the jurisdiction of the UJC.
Rev. Jack Linkous, who described himself as a close Womack family friend who has been following the case, said he and the Womack family "were happy to hear that Jonathan Dean had decided to drop the [UJC] charges against Antwoine."
Linkous said he was surprised the case went as far as it did in the district court and in the UJC hearing.
"I've known Antwoine since high school, and he has never been in any trouble," he said.
Woodward said his firm has filed a motion asking Judge Paul Peatross to vacate the jury's $1,000 fine against Womack. He said the hearing is planned for March 24.
In November 1997, Womack was convicted of assault and battery after an incident involving then-second-year College student Nefertiti Leach at the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity house. He received a 30-day suspended jail sentence pending a term of good behavior. That term expired two weeks before his involvement in the February assault.
Womack has been on a leave of absence from the football team since spring of last year. Although the Athletic Department has declined to state whether Womack will return to the football team next year, there are no regulations prohibiting his participation.
Womack's UJC Counsel, Blase Iaconnelli, said he could not comment on the current state of the case. UJC members Caroline Fidyk, Dustin Burke and Corrie Hall all declined to comment. Womack could not be reached for comment.
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