Gambrell Case Casts a Shadow Over Football Team at Moorpark

It was late afternoon and the sun danced across the Moorpark College athletic field as another football practice began. It was, as the long shadows plainly showed, nearly the end of another day. But for James Gambrell, this day, this very long day, was about to begin.

Gambrell had loosened up with his teammates and was preparing to break off into his specialty group with the other receivers. But before the first pass was thrown, the field became smothered in silence. Two men in suits and ties were striding slowly but purposefully toward midfield. Toward Gambrell.

In seconds, one of them brought out a pair of handcuffs and snapped them smartly onto Gambrell’s wrists. Then, flanking the 19-year-old football player, they led him off the field as his teammates and coaches looked on in stunned silence.

Gambrell, Moorpark’s leading receiver, faces a felony charge of assault for his alleged role in the beating death of a fellow student earlier this year. His preliminary hearing is Nov. 17. If convicted, he faces as many as four years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

He is not the first Moorpark football player to be charged in the attack on John Flores, 19, who died from massive head injuries sustained during a brawl at a party in Thousand Oaks on Jan. 20.

In August, Larnell Bush, a defensive back who starred for the Raiders last season and was expected back this year, was sentenced to 90 days in jail after being convicted of assault against Flores. He is due to be released from jail later this month after serving 60 days.

The cloud hanging over the Moorpark team in the wake of Bush’s felony conviction and the felony charges against Gambrell has apparently not affected the team’s play, however. The Raiders are 4-1 this season, their lone defeat a one-point loss last week to Bakersfield, the junior college national champion in 1988.

And Gambrell, a sophomore from Clovis, Calif., who was the team’s top receiver last season, is having another outstanding season. He has 20 receptions for 263 yards.

“We’ve all learned how to leave our personal problems off the field,” Moorpark receiver Pete Marine said. “We can hang up our problems in our lockers when it’s time to play.”

The first repercussion--Bush’s arrest and conviction--from that ill-fated party in January shocked Moorpark administrators, students and coaches during the winter and again in the summer. The second stark reminder swept down on Moorpark’s campus with a heavy hand Oct. 5, the day of Gambrell’s arrest on the practice field.

“That was tough,” Marine said. “When they took James off the field that day, it was a real shock.”

Mack Humphrey, a defensive back, said that the action left his teammates speechless.

“We had heard about the trouble from the party,” he said, “but we really didn’t think much of it. We figured it was all over and done with. But then, when those two guys in suits walk across our practice field and handcuff your starting receiver and take him away, that was a real shock. I think a lot of us were stunned.”

Gambrell was released later that day on $5,000 bail and he returned to practice the next day. He played a fine game a day later against Pierce College, leading the team in receptions with three for 49 yards.

Through it all, Moorpark’s coaching staff and administration have taken this simple approach to the problem: It is not a problem.

“There has been no discussion of James Gambrell’s situation among the administration,” said Paul Dunham, Moorpark’s athletic director. “I’m sure all of us have given it some thought, but we have never discussed any possible measures. There has never been any talk of suspending him.

“But my thought is that a person is innocent until proven guilty. I don’t know how anyone else at the school thinks about it, but that’s what I think.”

The football coach, Jim Bittner, had similar thoughts when he spoke with a Times reporter five days after Gambrell’s arrest.

“As far as I’m concerned, James is still on the team,” he said. “Nothing will change unless he’s brought to trial and convicted. Then, naturally, he won’t be on the team. When you are only accused of something, that doesn’t mean a lot to me.”

Bittner has declined further comment.

“We have never faced this kind of situation before,” Dunham said. “It is new territory for all of us.”

Indeed, Moorpark College, nestled in the grassy hills at the end of the Simi Valley Freeway and seemingly far from the frenetic life of Los Angeles or the San Fernando Valley, would appear to be an unlikely place for such an ugly drama to unfold.

But, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard Holmes, the scene at the Jan. 20 party in nearby Thousand Oaks was ugly. There was a lot of drinking at the party, according to Holmes, and an argument broke out between Flores and Bush. After the two got into a second argument, they went outside to fight, Holmes said.

But Bush was pushed aside by another party-goer, John Terry Yurek, 20, of Northridge, who is the brother of Moorpark football player Scott Yurek. John Yurek threw Flores to the sidewalk and began slamming Flores’ head against the pavement, the prosecutor said. At that time, Holmes alleges, Bush and Gambrell waded through the crowd and began kicking the already-injured Flores in the head.

Yurek was charged with manslaughter for his alleged role in the attack, but he was acquitted in September. During Yurek’s trial, however, the jury heard testimony from a Chatsworth woman, Jaime Franco, that linked Gambrell to the beating. Franco, also a student at Moorpark College, testified that later that night, when she returned to an apartment shared by Gambrell and her boyfriend, Gambrell gave her a pair of heavy hiking boots and told her to dispose of them. She further testified that Gambrell told her that he had kicked Flores while wearing the boots.

Gambrell was later called to the witness stand in the Yurek trial, but he refused to testify on the grounds that his testimony might be self-incriminating.

“We have those hiking boots,” Holmes said. “They are currently being analyzed for any further evidence.”

Through it all, Gambrell has been silent. But even as his football success continues, teammates can see a change.

“I know he’s worried about it,” Marine said. “I know that he thinks about it all the time. He somehow puts it aside when we play football, but I can tell that it’s on his mind all the time.”