STrib: Philip Nelson to plead guilty in Mankato assault

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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per the STrib:

Former University of Minnesota quarterback Philip Nelson will plead guilty to fifth degree assault in the Mankato fight that left Isaac Kolstad severely injured in May, according a statement released by Nelson’s attorney Tuesday morning.

“I am saddened by what happened on May 11, 2014,” Nelson said, according to the statement. “I still don’t remember what happened that night after I was hit in the head, but I recognize that I let down my family and friends by my actions. I offer my sincere apologies to everyone involved, and I wish Isaac Kolstad the best as he continues in his recovery.”

Nelson has executed a petition to enter a plea of guilty to a misdemeanor, and felony charges against him have been dropped, the statement said.

http://www.startribune.com/local/289153461.html

Go Gophers!!
 

Makes last night's interview make more sense.
 


Now that he just had misdemeanor charges against him, it makes you wonder where he will be on campus soon. Probably guessing it will be a Division II school that is probably not Mankato. If I was a coach, I don't think I would be making that move to bring him on the program.
 

Main thing missing in the article is what kind of punishment is associated with 5th degree assault? With it being a misdemeanor does that = probation and community service....I assume that takes jail time off the table. Also curious to see what Shelly is charged with and to see if they will have the guts to charge Kolstad with anything for his role in the fight.
 



MNVCGUY said:
Main thing missing in the article is what kind of punishment is associated with 5th degree assault? With it being a misdemeanor does that = probation and community service....I assume that takes jail time off the table. Also curious to see what Shelly is charged with and to see if they will have the guts to charge Kolstad with anything for his role in the fight.
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Lots of moving part in this now it seems like.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Main thing missing in the article is what kind of punishment is associated with 5th degree assault? With it being a misdemeanor does that = probation and community service....I assume that takes jail time off the table. Also curious to see what Shelly is charged with and to see if they will have the guts to charge Kolstad with anything for his role in the fight.
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I believe the maximum sentence for Assault 5 is 30 days in jail and/or a $1,000 fine. Given his clean record prior to this incident, he will likely have a 30 day sentence which will be stayed (he won't have to serve it, except for the time he spent in jail when first arrested which he will be credited with as time served towards the 30 days) with a few conditions, including no same or similar offenses, and possibly some restitution for medical expenses or community service. I don't think this deal is particularly surprising, the prosecutor gets a conviction, and with the video footage of Kolstad charging Nelson from behind, its very possible that a jury looks at that and says "he had it coming" and doesn't convict Nelson of anything (you only need one holdout to hang a criminal jury).

As for whether Kolstad gets charged, it certainly seems like his conduct was every bit as blameworthy (if not more) as Nelson's. It does raise an interesting philosophical question about whether the prosecutor should consider extra-judicial consequences when making a decision. Certainly, a fair mind could reach the conclusion that Kolstad's injuries are punishment enough for his actions. At the same time, another fair mind could say "we are supposed to be equal in front of the court's eyes, and it is not fair that Nelson gets labeled a criminal while Kolstad gets to retain the 'victim' label despite his significant contributions to the incident."
 

bleedsmaroonandgold said:
I believe the maximum sentence for Assault 5 is 30 days in jail and/or a $1,000 fine. Given his clean record prior to this incident, he will likely have a 30 day sentence which will be stayed (he won't have to serve it, except for the time he spent in jail when first arrested which he will be credited with as time served towards the 30 days) with a few conditions, including no same or similar offenses, and possibly some restitution for medical expenses or community service. I don't think this deal is particularly surprising, the prosecutor gets a conviction, and with the video footage of Kolstad charging Nelson from behind, its very possible that a jury looks at that and says "he had it coming" and doesn't convict Nelson of anything (you only need one holdout to hang a criminal jury).

As for whether Kolstad gets charged, it certainly seems like his conduct was every bit as blameworthy (if not more) as Nelson's. It does raise an interesting philosophical question about whether the prosecutor should consider extra-judicial consequences when making a decision. Certainly, a fair mind could reach the conclusion that Kolstad's injuries are punishment enough for his actions. At the same time, another fair mind could say "we are supposed to be equal in front of the court's eyes, and it is not fair that Nelson gets labeled a criminal while Kolstad gets to retain the 'victim' label despite his significant contributions to the incident."
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Good summary BM&G.
 



bleedsmaroonandgold said:
As for whether Kolstad gets charged, it certainly seems like his conduct was every bit as blameworthy (if not more) as Nelson's. It does raise an interesting philosophical question about whether the prosecutor should consider extra-judicial consequences when making a decision. Certainly, a fair mind could reach the conclusion that Kolstad's injuries are punishment enough for his actions. At the same time, another fair mind could say "we are supposed to be equal in front of the court's eyes, and it is not fair that Nelson gets labeled a criminal while Kolstad gets to retain the 'victim' label despite his significant contributions to the incident."
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That last part is the one part of all this that still bugs me to a certain degree, especially in light of the video that was released recently. Kolstad has been given the victim/hero treatment on the basis of getting injured and his subsequent recovery from those injuries. But this isn't one of those tragic cases where someone suffers a serious injury through no fault of their own, Kolstad played a major role in what happened and had he just walked away from the drunk in the bar accusing him of going after his girl then the whole thing could have been avoided. He chose to assault Nelson and while he (Kolstad) certainly got the worst of everything that happened in those 8 seconds he also isn't an innocent victim as he has been made out to be by many.
 


Time for Jerry Kill to call Nelson

The script writes itself.
 







MNVCGUY said:
In fairness there are some new developments/info and there really isn't much else to talk about until signing day.
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New developments - yes.
New things being said about fault/who should pay/etc - not yet.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Imagine for a moment that you walk out of a bar. A guy comes up to you, appears to be drunk, and accuses you of fooling around with his girlfriend - when you had nothing to do with it. That's how this whole thing started. Nelson confronted the wrong guy. Regardless of what happened after that, he started the ball rolling - and he was drinking underage. Nelson has to bear his share of responsibility for the incident, and in my book, he's getting off fairly easily. (with the exception of the damage/harm to his reputation and FB career).
 

short ornery norwegian said:
Imagine for a moment that you walk out of a bar. A guy comes up to you, appears to be drunk, and accuses you of fooling around with his girlfriend - when you had nothing to do with it. That's how this whole thing started. Nelson confronted the wrong guy. Regardless of what happened after that, he started the ball rolling - and he was drinking underage. Nelson has to bear his share of responsibility for the incident, and in my book, he's getting off fairly easily. (with the exception of the damage/harm to his reputation and FB career).
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Nope, can't even come close to agreeing with you on this one. It's one thing to falsely accuse/confront someone; and completely another thing to bum rush someone from behind and sucker punch them.

Nelson was wrong to kick the man while he was down, but in the words of Chris Rock "I understand!"

Kolstad punishment (life long head trauma), by far out weigh what he did. I wouldn't wish that on almost anyone. But Nelson's punishment (what he went through publicly), while not as bad (remember he didn't throw the first punch/kick) also out weighed what he actually did (hit someone back for sucker punching him.)

The guy who hit Kokstad first? In my opinion he should not face any punishment; it was self defense (considered that when defending someone).
 

short ornery norwegian said:
Imagine for a moment that you walk out of a bar. A guy comes up to you, appears to be drunk, and accuses you of fooling around with his girlfriend - when you had nothing to do with it. That's how this whole thing started.
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And that is how the whole thing could have ended as well.....but it didn't because Kolstad elected to attack Nelson from behind after he (Nelson) was clearly not a threat to him any longer. None of the parties involved are blameless for what happened that night, and that includes Kolstad.
 

bleedsmaroonandgold said:
I believe the maximum sentence for Assault 5 is 30 days in jail and/or a $1,000 fine. Given his clean record prior to this incident, he will likely have a 30 day sentence which will be stayed (he won't have to serve it, except for the time he spent in jail when first arrested which he will be credited with as time served towards the 30 days) with a few conditions, including no same or similar offenses, and possibly some restitution for medical expenses or community service. I don't think this deal is particularly surprising, the prosecutor gets a conviction, and with the video footage of Kolstad charging Nelson from behind, its very possible that a jury looks at that and says "he had it coming" and doesn't convict Nelson of anything (you only need one holdout to hang a criminal jury).

As for whether Kolstad gets charged, it certainly seems like his conduct was every bit as blameworthy (if not more) as Nelson's. It does raise an interesting philosophical question about whether the prosecutor should consider extra-judicial consequences when making a decision. Certainly, a fair mind could reach the conclusion that Kolstad's injuries are punishment enough for his actions. At the same time, another fair mind could say "we are supposed to be equal in front of the court's eyes, and it is not fair that Nelson gets labeled a criminal while Kolstad gets to retain the 'victim' label despite his significant contributions to the incident."
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5th degree can be up to 1 year and/or $3000.00 fine.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
Imagine for a moment that you walk out of a bar. A guy comes up to you, appears to be drunk, and accuses you of fooling around with his girlfriend - when you had nothing to do with it. That's how this whole thing started. Nelson confronted the wrong guy. Regardless of what happened after that, he started the ball rolling - and he was drinking underage. Nelson has to bear his share of responsibility for the incident, and in my book, he's getting off fairly easily. (with the exception of the damage/harm to his reputation and FB career).
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Not going to look it up right now, but I recall Kolstad's BAC being substantially higher than Nelson's. He "easily became defensive" and joined in a "heated argument" according to his friend, before insulting Nelson's girlfriend to her face, which further escalated things. When this issue first came to light there was lot's of talk about Nelson's failure to deescalate the incident. It's clear Kolstad had no desire to deescalate either and in fact did everything he could to provoke Nelson once he felt disrespected. They both made several mistakes, but Nelson was the only one who actually tried to deescalate things, when he turned and walked away prior to Kolstad attacking him from behind.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
They both made several mistakes, but Nelson was the only one who actually tried to deescalate things, when he turned and walked away prior to Kolstad attacking him from behind.
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Nelson kicked a guy in the head who was lying on the ground and not moving a muscle. Anyone who tries to excuse his behavior is clueless. He is extremely lucky that he didn't kill Kolstad. Nelson's actions were far more egregious than Kolstad's and he deserved significantly more punishment than he is going to get.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
Not going to look it up right now, but I recall Kolstad's BAC being substantially higher than Nelson's. He "easily became defensive" and joined in a "heated argument" according to his friend, before insulting Nelson's girlfriend to her face, which further escalated things. When this issue first came to light there was lot's of talk about Nelson's failure to deescalate the incident. It's clear Kolstad had no desire to deescalate either and in fact did everything he could to provoke Nelson once he felt disrespected. They both made several mistakes, but Nelson was the only one who actually tried to deescalate things, when he turned and walked away prior to Kolstad attacking him from behind.
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I agree with all this CRG.

UpnorthGo4 said:
Nelson kicked a guy in the head who was lying on the ground and not moving a muscle. Anyone who tries to excuse his behavior is clueless. He is extremely lucky that he didn't kill Kolstad. Nelson's actions were far more egregious than Kolstad's and he deserved significantly more punishment than he is going to get.
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Kolstad also slugged a guy who had walked away and wasn't looking (sucker punch).

We could do this all day. Hence, the other threads that have gone on forever.
 

UpnorthGo4 said:
Nelson kicked a guy in the head who was lying on the ground and not moving a muscle. Anyone who tries to excuse his behavior is clueless. He is extremely lucky that he didn't kill Kolstad. Nelson's actions were far more egregious than Kolstad's and he deserved significantly more punishment than he is going to get.
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This would have been better if it had a drum riff in the background.
 

Good for Nelson. I think he will bounce back well. Boo the large contingent on here who had him headed straight to Stillwater. Good kid, bad circumstance, fair resolution.
 

e.bigelow said:
Kolstad also slugged a guy who had walked away and wasn't looking (sucker punch).

We could do this all day. Hence, the other threads that have gone on forever.
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Let's take a survey of GopherHolers. How many of us have witnessed someone sucker punch another guy who ended up in the hospital with brain damage and fighting for their life? Not me or anyone I know. There is a world of difference between a sucker punch of a guy who verbally initiated a confrontation and someone who deliberately breaks away from a friend (or a girlfriend) to kick a defenseless human being in the head. If you don't agree you need to examine your conscience, review your biases, and reorder your priorities in life. You have mental health issues that should be of great concern to your family and friends.
 

UpnorthGo4 said:
Let's take a survey of GopherHolers. How many of us have witnessed someone sucker punch another guy who ended up in the hospital with brain damage fighting for their life? Not me or anyone I know. There is a world of difference between a sucker punch of a guy who verbally initiated a confrontation and someone who deliberately breaks away from a friend or a girlfriend to kick a defenseless human being in the head. If you don't agree you need to examine your conscience, your biases, and your priorities in life. You have mental health issues that should be of great concern to your family and all of your friends.
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You ought to know. :)
 

Sportsfan24 said:
The guy who hit Kokstad first? In my opinion he should not face any punishment; it was self defense (considered that when defending someone).
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Shelley is definitely going behind bars. Kolstad was moving away after toppling a couple drunks with a non-damaging punch/shove. It wasn't a fight.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

AO54 said:
Shelley is definitely going behind bars. Kolstad was moving away after toppling a couple drunks with a non-damaging punch/shove. It wasn't a fight.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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Well if you are correct it certainly won't the first or last time I'm wrong:D
 

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