The University Judiciary Committee will try Antwoine Womack, former Virginia running back and third-year College student, on assault charges Saturday, two sources close to the case confirmed yesterday.
Womack, along with five other individuals, was arrested Feb. 7, 1999 after an incident behind Kerchoff Hall in which former University students Jonathan Dean and Cabral Thornton were assaulted.
An Albemarle County Circuit Court jury convicted Womack of misdemeanor assault and battery Dec. 16.
Committee charges were previously filed against Womack and the other students involved in the assault.
Committee Chairman Brian Hudak declined to confirm the trial date or comment on any case specifics because of confidentiality guidelines.
"I can't confirm or deny anything," Hudak said.
He said the Committee's options for sanctions in assault cases range from "oral admonition to expulsion" -- the same options the Committee is able to exercise in any case it hears.
Physical assault is a violation of Standard One of the Standards of Conduct, which apply to all University students.
The Committee "treats all cases with the same care, responsibility and attention," Hudak said, and is not effected by any publicity that may come before a case goes to trial.
Michael Colley, assistant athletic media relations director, also said that he was not aware of the Committee trial date.
"I wasn't aware of anything," Colley said.
He said Womack took a leave of absence from the football team beginning in April 1999 and has not played or practiced with the team since.
Colley said Athletic Department officials have decided to let "the law run its course" in the criminal case proceedings but have not taken an official stance on any Committee proceedings.
Two of the other students involved in the case, Devon Simmons and John Duckett, both received one-year suspensions from the Committee for their roles in the assault.
Duckett and Simmons both pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and battery charges in Circuit Court and cooperated with the prosecution in Womack's criminal trial.
Womack originally was charged with two felony counts of malicious wounding by the court, but those charges were reduced to misdemeanor assault and battery.
Womack was tried in court along with former University defensive back Adrian Burnim and Charlottesville resident Kevin Cromartie.
Burnim and Cromartie also were convicted of misdemeanor assault with jury-recommended sentences of six months of jail time.
The jury recommended that Womack receive a $1,000 fine but no jail time.
Circuit Court Judge Bill Berkley has not yet sentanced Burnim, Cromartie or Womack.
Womack had previously been convicted of assault and battery for improperly touching then second-year College student Nefertiti Leach after a Nov. 9, 1997 party at the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity house.
At that time, Womack received a 30-day suspended jail sentence pending two years of good behavior.
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