Dezmine Wells averaged 9.8 points and 4.9 rebounds as a freshman for Xavier last season.
AP Photo
Former Xavier star Dezmine Wells will not be charged with any crimes stemming from a recent investigation, the office of Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters announced Tuesday.
Wells, who was supposed to be Xavier’s top returning player this season, was expelled from the university earlier this month for violating the student code of conduct.
In the release, Deters says he hopes the university will “revisit this situation.”
A couple of hours after the release from Deters’ office, Xavier University released its own statement and said its decision was “final.”
Kentucky is one of several schools who expressed interest in Wells after his expulsion.
But CBS Sports analyst Jon Rothstein tweeted later Tuesday that Wells “will likely land at Louisville, Memphis, or Texas.” He said the decision could come as early as this week.
Wells played his final season of high school at Hargrave Military Academy under head coach Kevin Keatts, who is now an assistant coach at Louisville.
The full release from the Hamilton County prosecutor’s office:
Today, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joseph T. Deters announced that the Hamilton County Grand Jury heard the case alleging sexual assault against former Xavier University basketball player Dezmine Wells. After hearing all of the evidence, the Hamilton County Grand Jury ignored the case.
Prosecutor Deters commented, “We always take allegations of this nature very seriously. I assigned senior assistant prosecutors to this case to review all of the evidence and to conduct a complete presentation to the Hamilton County Grand Jury.
After this office conducted an independent review of all of the evidence, it was presented to a Grand Jury yesterday. The Grand Jury declined to charge Dezmine Wells with any criminal offense.
I have nothing but the greatest respect for Xavier University, and in particular Fr. Graham. I would sincerely hope the institution would revisit this situation.”
And the full release from Xavier University:
Federal law (Title IX) and federal regulations and guidances prohibit universities from ceding student conduct matters to the criminal justice system. The federal law requires schools to act quickly and all schools, by law, must use the “preponderance of the evidence” standard, whereas the criminal justice system uses the “probable cause” standard to indict, and the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard to convict.
The process used by the Xavier University Conduct Board is the standard used in American universities. The conduct board heard evidence that may or may not have been heard by the Grand Jury. After the conduct board reached its decision, the matter was considered and upheld by an appeal board of members of the student body, faculty and staff and is final.
