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Everson's trial ends in assault conviction
IOWA CITY - Former University of Iowa football player Cedric Everson III is free to play football again after he was found guilty Thursday of assault, the lowest level of offense he faced as part of an alleged 2007 sexual assault in a UI dorm room.
“He's been offered an outstanding athletic and academic opportunity for next year,” said his attorney, Leon Spies. “This will open the door to those opportunities.”
Spies would not say where Everson will play: “You'll be reading about it soon.”
Everson's misdemeanor conviction carries up to 30 days in jail and no registration as a sex offender. Sentencing is set for Feb. 25.
Everson, 21, could have been convicted of third-degree sex abuse, punishable by up to 10 years in prison without the possibility of probation. With this charge, he also would have had to register as a sex offender.
A jury of eight men and four women returned with the verdict at 11:45 a.m. Thursday after nearly nine hours of deliberations over three days. Jurors ranged in age from mid-20s to 70s.
Jurors declined to comment as they walked quickly out of the courthouse.
Everson was accused of sexually assaulting a female UI swimmer while she was passed out. The woman testified last week but has not appeared in the courtroom since. She was not present for the verdict.
Everson, who now lives in Atlanta, has had several family members, including his sister and mother-in-law, with him throughout the trial. His wife and 10-month-old daughter have not been in the courtroom.
“I'm just glad it's all over with, I'll be able to move on with my life,” Everson said after the verdict.
Everson's sister, Reese Everson, linked arms with her brother as they left the courthouse. “We believed this would be the outcome,” she said. “We're so glad to have him with us so we can begin the next chapter.”
Assistant Johnson County Attorney Anne Lahey, who tried the case, said sexual assaults are always difficult to prove.
“The shame is in not trying,” she said. “If they (women alleging abuse) are willing to put themselves out there, we tell them we will be behind them 100 percent.”
The simple assault conviction “doesn't make a lot of sense legally,” Lahey said. Assault usually stems from a non-sexual act, like a slap or a punch, she said. Yet the charge was one of the options for the jury.
Prosecutors originally charged Everson with second-degree sex abuse and his teammate Abe Satterfield second- and third-degree sex abuse, alleging they collaborated to assault the woman while she was passed out in a room in Hillcrest Residence Hall.
Satterfield, 22, took a plea deal in April that allowed him to plead guilty to assault with intent to commit serious injury if he testified against Everson. His testimony, expected to help the state, did not convince Miller that the second-degree charge against Everson was warranted. Miller downgraded the charges earlier this week.
The UI's handling of the sex abuse case spurred an investigation by the Iowa Board of Regents. When it was later discovered the UI had failed to turn over all documents to the regents, the board ordered another inquiry, this time by an out-of-state agency.
That report cast blame on two senior UI leaders, whom university President Sally Mason later fired. Marc Mills, former general counsel, and Phil Jones, former vice president for student services, both have pending lawsuits accusing the UI of unlawful firing.
More Coverage:
Former University of Iowa football player Cedric Everson (left) hugs his sister Reese Everson after being convicted of assault at the Johnson County Courthouse. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
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