Trial of roughed-up Ruf/Nek begins in Norman

NORMAN, Okla. -- Nine Nebraska football players and three coaches are on a witness list submitted by defense attorneys for a former Cornhuskers offensive lineman on trial on a felony aggravated assault and battery charge.

John Blake -- a former Oklahoma head coach -- and fellow assistants Angus McClure and Dennis Wagner are named on a witness list submitted by Garvin Isaacs, the attorney for former Nebraska player Darren DeLone.

Jury selection began Monday in Cleveland County District Court for DeLone, 23. A freshman member of the University of Oklahoma's Ruf/Neks spirit squad, Adam Merritt, claims DeLone rammed him into a brick wall surrounding Owen Field prior to Oklahoma's football game against Nebraska on Nov. 13, 2004.

DeLone, who has pleaded innocent, could face up to five years in prison if convicted on the charge.

Isaacs has called for testimony from the three coaches as well as defensive linemen Titus Adams, Adam Carriker, Wali Muhammad, Le Kevin Smith and Benard Thomas and offensive linemen Greg Austin, Mike Erickson, Seppo Evwaraye and Nick Povendo.

"If these people know the facts, you need to hear from them, right?" Isaacs asked potential jurors.

Cleveland County District Attorney Tim Kuykendall said Nebraska coach Bill Callahan and athletic director Steve Pederson were among 13 witnesses he had subpoenaed to testify.

Only one of the 46 potential jurors sworn in by Judge Michael C. Hetherington Jr. was dismissed. Kuykendall granted a peremptory exemption for a medical doctor who had surgery scheduled on a cancer patient on Tuesday.

Twenty-two of the jurors were separated from the main group for questioning by the attorneys. Nine indicated they had attended the University of Oklahoma at some point and three said they were graduates. Two were current students.

Hetherington, Kuykendall and Isaacs each questioned the potential jurors on whether they'd be able to be fair and impartial in the trial. Most said they were sports fans who had at least a limited knowledge of the case. Both attorneys noted that the proceedings were not ultimately about football.

"We're not going to decide this case based on some football rivalry, but rather on the facts as they come from witnesses," Isaacs told the potential jurors.

Merritt, 19, attended part of the afternoon session of questioning wearing a dark, pinstriped suit. DeLone, accompanied by his parents and fiancee, wore a light-colored shirt with dark pants and a dark tie. He intently watched the jurors much of the time with hands folded, and occasionally looked over at his family seated in the front row.

Merritt testified in a February preliminary hearing that he temporarily lost consciousness, lost one tooth and broke another in a collision with the 6-foot-5, 315-pound DeLone. He said he and other members of Ruf/Neks -- the group that leads the Sooner Schooner onto the field -- were standing in a designated area near where the Nebraska offensive linemen were practicing before the collision.

Isaacs suggested at the time that the incident could have been accidental because the players were practicing at a high speed on grass dampened by the rain. He questioned the potential jurors Monday whether any of them had witnessed players colliding with referees and other personnel when they headed to the sidelines out of control.

Hetherington said he expected jury selection to conclude early Tuesday with opening statements to follow immediately.