Nate Oats tries to walk back his comments on Miller
(Reviving this topic because the OP of yesterday's thread acted like a moron and got it deleted.)
If you've missed the story: Alabama basketball player Darius Miles was charged with murder a month ago. This week, court testimony alleged that his teammate, Brandon Miller, brought the murder weapon to the scene after Miles texted him, in the middle of the night, asking for it. (Other allegations are that Miller's car blocked the victim from leaving the scene.)
Miller is Bama's star player and has remained on the team, with no punishment. Yesterday Nate Oats casually responded:
“We knew about that. Can’t control everything everybody does outside of practice. Nobody knew that was going to happen. College kids are out. Brandon hasn’t been in any type of trouble, nor is he in any type of trouble in this case. Just in the wrong spot at the wrong time.”
To Oats's surprise, this didn't go over well. He's now trying to walk it back:
“We were informed by law enforcement of other student-athletes being in the vicinity, and law enforcement has repeatedly told us that no other student-athletes were suspects — they were witnesses only,” Oats said in his statement. “Our understanding is that they have all been fully truthful and cooperative.
“In no way did I intend to downplay the seriousness of this situation or the tragedy of that night. My prayers continue to go out to Jamea Harris’s family.”
The media (justifiably) was taken aback by Oats's first comments, but are they going to let him off the hook now?
Bama plays tonight and apparently, Miller is still in the lineup.
February 22nd, 2023 at 7:50 AM ^
So in Alabama you can take someone their loaded weapon, block in the victim's car with your car, and have the DA say "there's nothing we could charge him with"?
Then your coach also does absolutely nothing and completely downplays the severity of a young mother being murdered?
Amazing.
February 22nd, 2023 at 7:53 AM ^
I am sure that the DA being an Alabama alum has nothing to do with this either.
February 22nd, 2023 at 8:21 AM ^
The street that they were on is basically an alley. It would be functionally impossible to park there without blocking the victim's car. Agree about the gun thing though, although it would be very difficult to prove intent. I'm assuming that aiding and abetting murder in Alabama requires an intent aspect to it so I understand why he wasn't charged.
February 22nd, 2023 at 8:31 AM ^
A few questions:
Did he need to park right there? Wasn't this right in the middle of the "Strip" in Tuscaloosa? Seems like there would be other places to park.
How high is the threshold for proving intent? In the text exchange Miles apparently told him the gun was loaded.
What if Miller were averaging 1.5 ppg this season, like Miles? Would he have gotten the same benefit of the doubt?
February 22nd, 2023 at 8:55 AM ^
Each element of each crime needs to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. That would include an intent element.
February 22nd, 2023 at 9:03 AM ^
But we're not talking about a criminal conviction. We're talking about pressing charges.
A guy allegedly gets a text at 1 in the morning asking him to bring a loaded gun to a bar, and parks his car in such a way as to block another person - who gets murdered with said weapon - from escaping?
I feel like most guys in that situation get booked. But maybe not if they're future NBA draft picks.
February 22nd, 2023 at 11:34 AM ^
You don't charge unless you think you can convict, that's prosecutor 101.
February 22nd, 2023 at 11:57 AM ^
I guess from the standpoint that an Alabama jury probably wouldn't convict him, that might make sense. But I don't think a non-athlete would get off with this evidence - to which we can probably add transporting a loaded weapon not belonging to him.
Regardless, he sure as hell shouldn't be playing in tonight's game.
February 22nd, 2023 at 4:16 PM ^
Do you know how many APAs look at a bunch of warrant requests and supporting police reports that they barely skim over to see if some evidence exists for the request for charges? I can assure you that a lot don’t look to see if they’ve got BARD before issuing charges; they charge and see where the case develops, at best.
February 22nd, 2023 at 10:31 AM ^
Yeah, I don't get the argument being made that bringing a loaded gun to a teammate at 1 am (ignoring the additional information about parking in such a way as to block someone from leaving) isn't, at the very least, enough to justify at least charges being placed. Again, I'm not a lawyer in Alabama so maybe the laws are such that accessory charges are hard to stick/not applicable but it still feels like that should be left to a jury/judge to determine and not even brought to a hearing.
What gets me is the somewhat cavalier way certain people (not saying the OP or anyone in this thread) are treating this situation. This isn't two guys getting into a fight, or drunk driving, or even a weapons possession - all serious crimes but also not unheard of with college students. This is a murder that involved the victim's boyfriend returning gunfire as well in a mjaor-ish area of a town. The DA being like "nothing I can do about this star player being involved in a real way with a killing" and his coach acting like he was just a bystander to it all is insane to me.
February 22nd, 2023 at 7:28 PM ^
Obviously there is Alabama Law and then there is Alabama Athlete Law.
February 22nd, 2023 at 8:50 AM ^
It might be an alley, but they used two cars to block the victim in. Did both cars need to make sure her vehicle was trapped?
February 22nd, 2023 at 10:32 AM ^
proviso that i don't know alabama law, but in general one who aids and abets a crime is not only guilty of what they did, but also the reasonably foreseeable consequences of that crime. So, for instance, let's assume miller violated the law by bringing the gun to him (unlawful transport? unlicensed? was it loaded while transporting? all questions we'd need to know), he would not only be liable for that crime, but also the murder committed with the gun if it is reasonably foreseeable.
i know nothing about the facts, but if you bring a gun to a dude in an alley at night (guessing at the facts) and it's not for any good reason, and you know there is a fight/problem/domestic issue, you could be on the hook for the murder. and that's before you get to the common law 'felony murder rule'.
February 22nd, 2023 at 9:03 AM ^
This was a preliminary hearing, so final charges and disposition have yet to happen. A pretty good summary of the hearing, and what Nate Oates reacted to, can be found here.
The only conclusion I have reached so far is that multiple young lives have been ruined.
February 22nd, 2023 at 9:09 AM ^
S-E-C…
February 22nd, 2023 at 10:07 AM ^
it just means more…
February 22nd, 2023 at 9:23 AM ^
Cheeseburgers
February 22nd, 2023 at 10:59 AM ^
Ray Lewis sees nothing wrong with this.
February 22nd, 2023 at 11:31 AM ^
I'm not sure if this is specifically what you were alluding to, but yeah... holy shirtballs, this is a real thing that he said:
Alabama head coach Nate Oats also said he initially sought advice for handling the fallout from the murder from Ray Lewis. https://t.co/oObShooj5p
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) February 21, 2023
February 22nd, 2023 at 12:14 PM ^
yah, i saw the reference to ray lewis in his post and thought he just forgot to type that part.
he called...ray MFing lewis. he couldn't call john lucas or tony dungy, like a normal person? i mean, i guess if you need to find someone who knows how to downplay your presence at the scene of a murder, he's your guy, i guess?
February 22nd, 2023 at 1:17 PM ^
Shoulda called Saban. He probably knows all the best "fixers" and burial spots around Tuscaloosa...
[Just kidding actually. But I attribute the "cleanliness" of that program to the fact that he recruits robots with no personality or flavor whatsoever so they never get in trouble. I don't really think he's a running a Florida-era Urban Meyer type program (but then again, his program IS curiously devoid of scandals, hmm....).]
February 22nd, 2023 at 7:57 AM ^
Nate oats
February 22nd, 2023 at 8:03 AM ^
I saw the moms covered up yesterday's thread.
February 22nd, 2023 at 8:10 AM ^
The OP yesterday ruined his own thread by making accusations against the rest of the board.
February 22nd, 2023 at 8:21 AM ^
After seeing in the first few comments that he was getting all pissy, I left it up on the board so the OP could reap a nice harvest of well-deserved neg votes.
February 22nd, 2023 at 8:42 AM ^
Are you saying the OP wasn't happy with the instant response to his Oats thread and got upset when he got rolled by the board? Welp, that's the way the cookie crumbles.
February 22nd, 2023 at 8:57 AM ^
He went on the attack from the beginning. His original post was bashing people for ever saying anything good about Oats. Obviously those posters were supposed to know in advance that Oats would go to coach murder suspects.
February 22nd, 2023 at 9:01 AM ^
Too bad he's not the coach at University of Pennsylvania. Then he'd be Quaker Oats.
I'll show myself out ...
February 22nd, 2023 at 10:45 AM ^
Seton Hall would be a good fit also.
February 22nd, 2023 at 9:35 AM ^
He called everyone dorks. Several times in fact.
It was all quite unsettling.
February 22nd, 2023 at 12:32 PM ^
And insulting. Frankly, I was quite hurt.
Granted, I'm not saying he didn't have a point in my case, but still ... ouch.
February 22nd, 2023 at 8:15 AM ^
Farming oats
February 22nd, 2023 at 8:45 AM ^
Rob, nice cutting head. Covetous….
February 22nd, 2023 at 8:53 AM ^
It's quite satisfying until you realize it never gets to the end of the row. I feel like I'm watching Sisyphus.
February 22nd, 2023 at 8:20 AM ^
Hall and Oates were so much better....
February 22nd, 2023 at 8:27 AM ^
I Can't Go for That, their music was so Out of Touch with what I was listening to back then.
February 22nd, 2023 at 9:37 AM ^
Me too, but got into them when I dated a Rich Girl because she told me “You Make My Dreams Come True.” Something felt off though and I hired some Private Eyes and turns out she was a Maneater. Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid. Like this post of mine.
February 22nd, 2023 at 9:39 AM ^
I'm Sorry, but Who Said the World Was Fair? In my opinion, Do What You Want, Be Who You Are.
February 22nd, 2023 at 9:47 AM ^
FFS, I am so disappointed with all you people. This is a serious crime and you're all here making lame puns instead of talking about someone who'd likely have been suspended if not for his One on One skills at hoops.
February 22nd, 2023 at 8:29 AM ^
You're out of touch. I'm out of time.
February 22nd, 2023 at 8:53 AM ^
2121, based on your profile picture, my private eyes are certainly watching you.
February 22nd, 2023 at 8:57 AM ^
Say it ain't so!
February 22nd, 2023 at 9:31 AM ^
Clearly all you guys are rich bitches.
And you've gone too far!
February 22nd, 2023 at 9:33 AM ^
And you know it don't matter anyway.
February 22nd, 2023 at 9:38 AM ^
Maneater?
February 22nd, 2023 at 10:44 AM ^
What you want is an Adult...Education.
February 22nd, 2023 at 9:04 AM ^
"Yeah we knew about it, who cares?" Is a wild reaction to 2 of your players being implicated in a murder. Bama gonna Bama.
February 22nd, 2023 at 9:06 AM ^
Nate Oats is not good for diabeetus.