Lower Bail Denied for CSUN Pair : Altercation: Judge rejects plea that $12,000 bonds place burden on football players’ families.

A judge rejected a defense attorney’s request Wednesday to lower bail for two Cal State Northridge football players who have pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from a brawl at an on-campus apartment complex in September.

San Fernando Municipal Court Judge Stephen Marcus said bail for Ken Jackson and Tom Berry will remain at $12,000, rejecting attorney Donald Goldsobel’s argument that the men do not pose a flight risk and that the bail amount places a financial hardship on their families.

Goldsobel said both families posted their homes to secure the release of Jackson, 21, of Stockton, and Berry, 23, of La Palma. He argued that the two students should be released on their own recognizance.

Jackson, a 6-foot-4, 245-pound reserve defensive lineman, earlier pleaded not guilty to one felony count, two misdemeanor counts of battery and one count of resisting an officer. Berry, a 6-4, 260-pound defensive tackle, on Wednesday denied similar charges stemming from a Sept. 14 altercation with campus police and security officers outside the University Park Complex.

According to investigators, Jackson punched Marlin Hines, a campus security officer, and pushed Mike Kaufman, a resident dorm adviser, in an incident that started when Kaufman asked the two students not to drink beer in front of the apartment complex. Berry also allegedly wrestled with Hines and resisted attempts by police to break up the altercation.

A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Dec. 5.