VENTURA : Football Player Pleads Not Guilty in Fight
A Buena High School football player pleaded not guilty Friday to a misdemeanor charge that he started a fight on campus that led to his stabbing.
Jeremy Addison, 18, is scheduled for trial on the battery charge July 19. If convicted, he could be sentenced to a year in jail and fined $2,000.
Addison is charged with striking a 17-year-old student during a Feb. 22 altercation on campus. Prosecutors say that after Addison struck the first blow, a fight ensued and he was stabbed by the other teen-ager.
The 17-year-old, whose name has not been released because of his age, was acquitted in Juvenile Court of a charge of assaulting Addison with a deadly weapon.
The judge in that case ruled that Addison was the aggressor in the fight and the other teen-ager had tried repeatedly to escape and avoid a fight.
Addison, who outweighed the other youth by 50 pounds, continued to chase the youth even after the knife was displayed, the judge ruled.
Addison was hospitalized following the incident but has since recovered from his wound. He is not in custody.
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