The Mbakwe Conundrum

by Buck Bravo on Jun 17, 2010 5:01 AM CDT in Gopher Basketball

Trevor Mbakwe is a 6'6, 280 pound power forward with talent. He's exactly the muscle that Tubby's Gophers need under the net. He wants to play for the Gophers. Yet, uncertainty regarding a pending charge clouds his future. The resolution of the Mbakwe conundrum could determine whether this year's Gopher basketball team will be a Top 25 contender, or just another middle-of-the-pack Big Ten team.

Apparently, Mbakwe has asked for and been given permission to consider transferring to other schools such as Memphis. You can't blame him for wanting to put himself in a position to play ball. At the same time, you can't blame the University of Minnesota for insisting to wait until his legal issues are resolved. Never fault an organization for taking the high road. This is a no-win situation, unless the unexpected happens and his charges are dropped within a very short time frame.

I will never speculate about any student-athlete legal issues until there has been a verdict. That would be irresponsible journalism, and as a blogger I'm already just a pseudo-journalist at best. I will say that if there is any blame to be rightfully cast at this point, it is with the legal system that prevents this case from reaching resolution. A young man's future, another person's uncertainty, and a basketball team's season are all compromised by a laggard legal system. To clarify, I'm not equating those three parties. But it is a reality that all three are suffering from the lack of a speedy trial.

So the Mbakwe conundrum continues.

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Lawyers on both sides mutually agreed to delay the trial — most recently scheduled for June 7 — because they weren’t prepared for trial, Miami district attorney spokesperson Terry Chavez said Tuesday.

There are a million reasons that the attorneys in this case were not ready for trial. First off, it may only be one side. Second off, if it’s Mbakwe’s, they could be having trouble lining up witnesses, might need more evidence, or his attorney simply is too busy.

I know people don’t like to hear about this, but the legal system, especially when it comes to criminal cases, is overburdened. A typical judge, at least in Minnesota, has dozens of cases before him/her at any one time, with the expectation that he can also handle emergency motions every day. Also, he/she probably has one or two clerks, and so on top of handling daily motions and the daily calendar, they’re also expected to do the legal research and memo writing to decide those other dozens of cases.

All while their budgets are being cut and staff is being eliminated.

So, I’m not surprised this case has been delayed, and the last place that should shoulder any blame is the ambiguous “justice system.” These people do great work and don’t get paid enough for what they do, given the grief they get for doing it.

by JG2112 on Jun 17, 2010 7:21 AM CDT reply actions

Gee, that looks great.

by JG2112 on Jun 17, 2010 7:22 AM CDT up reply actions

I've heard witness depositions have been the problem

Mbakwe has a couple witnesses willing to speak for him. Both played with him at the Miami JUCO and both were playing for other schools last season. Their schedules and distance from Miami have made things difficult.

I heard Myron talking about it on KFAN the other day and he says that both sides are blaming the other for the delays, but the witness depositions seem to be the biggest hangup.

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by GopherNation on Jun 17, 2010 8:25 AM CDT up reply actions

Right on

I fret whenever I read “speedy trial” is a hangup, because that is a constitutional violation that possibly lets someone walk free. If a defendant’s own defense attorney is the reason a defendant isn’t getting a speedy trial, well, you can’t blame the justice system for that.

by JG2112 on Jun 17, 2010 8:47 AM CDT up reply actions

Can't fault the legal system here...

Agreed – By all accounts the delays have to do with Defense Counsel’s cluelessness and inabilty to schedule depositions of witnesses from out of state. Mbakwe has a right to a speedy trial but its his side that has sought delays. First, Samms (Trevor’s attorney) pushed the trial back to the end of the basketball season, believeing it better to delay the case until after the basketball season due to the large number of witnesses playing/coaching basketball across the nation (plus the delay might have been strategic considering that there was a slight possiblity discussed in the news concerning the charges being dropped and the victim being AWOL for a period of time).

Second, Samms has been unable to schedule depositions in a timely fashion. There is a procedure for subpoenaing out-of-state individuals for trial and depositions. It appears that Samms (Trevor’s attorney) has been reluctant to put his foot down and actually subpoena potentially favorable witnesses who have not voluntarily scheduled their depositions within a reasonable timeframe.

It does take some time for these trials to go forward, but by all accounts Samms is the one taking his time and delaying the process rather than hurrying it along. He didn’t think the delays would keep Trevor from playing and now he’s farting around schedule depositions rather than simply telling his deponents that they need to commit to a deposition date within the next XX days or else he’ll subpoena them and force them to show up at a time he determines.

by Tubtastic on Jun 17, 2010 8:38 AM CDT reply actions