Scholarship on Line, Woods Wants His Felony Reduced

Rodney Woods’ dream is to play college football for Oregon.

Michael O’Leary’s nightmare is that Woods is allowed to play for Oregon.

Who will sleep more easily may be determined today in Lancaster Superior Court. Judge Thomas R. White is expected to rule whether a felony on Woods’ record will be reduced to a misdemeanor, allowing him to accept the college football scholarship he has been offered.

Joining Woods’ junior college coach and probation officer in asking for leniency are Oregon Coach Mike Bellotti and defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti, each of whom has written the judge on the player’s behalf.

Contesting the change are the district attorney’s office and O’Leary, whose 18-year-old-son, Christopher, died of injuries he suffered in a fight at a birthday party in Palmdale in May 2000.

Woods, then a senior in high school, was not convicted of charges directly connected to Christopher O’Leary’s death. Two of his former Littlerock High football teammates were convicted of involuntary manslaughter and each received a four-year sentence.

Pleading no contest to felony assault -- chasing and punching another man minutes after the fatal altercation -- Woods got a year in jail and five years’ probation.

Still, prosecutors said at Woods’ January 2001 sentencing that Woods was the one who got “the ball rolling” by arguing with O’Leary and then summoning two friends.

Neither the NCAA nor Oregon has a written policy prohibiting felons from accepting scholarships or participating in sports. But Oregon athletic officials said the letter of intent signed by Woods is contingent on the player’s conviction being changed to a misdemeanor.

O’Leary’s parents are determined to stop that from happening and say they are stunned that a college football team would want such a player in its lineup, even a two-time junior college All-American cornerback like Woods. They believe he instigated the fracas and are angry that he was not convicted of murder.

“Is winning a championship so important that universities are willing to accept felons on their football team?” Michael O’Leary asked. “Can’t they find somebody that’s a decent human being that has gone through school all year without any problems and has a community standing?

“It’s sickening to me and my family. It keeps me up at night. Just so that a young man can play football.”

Judgment

In high school, Woods was the toast of Littlerock, a wind-swept bedroom community of 9,100 at the southernmost portion in the Antelope Valley. He was a two-sport star whose success in football was matched by track and field championships in the long jump and triple jump.

According to court documents, Woods and football teammates Richard Newton and Marcus Raines were at the birthday party when O’Leary arrived to pick up his girlfriend.

At trial, witnesses differed in their accounts of what started the fight, but prosecutors said it went this way: Newton threw the first punch, striking O’Leary in the jaw and causing him to fall and hit his head on the pavement. Raines then kicked O’Leary in the head.

Woods, held back by a friend during the first altercation, subsequently scuffled with another partygoer, Kevin Walker, who, according to court records, had confronted O’Leary’s assailants, and asked “Why did you do that?”

Walker was chased down by 10 to 15 people, Woods among them, and was punched repeatedly in the face. He escaped with cuts and bruises.

O’Leary was helped away from the scene by friends, but he was hospitalized the next morning and died two days later of head trauma.

About the time O’Leary was being rushed to the hospital, Woods and Raines were competing in the Southern Section divisional track and field championships. Woods won the long jump and triple jump in Division I. Raines won both hurdles events.

But within a week they, along with Newton, were in custody. Though minors, Newton and Raines were tried as adults.

Woods accepted a plea bargain, avoiding prosecution in O’Leary’s death by pleading no contest to charges of assaulting Walker.

Woods was credited with 155 days served in a juvenile facility, was transferred to Los Angeles County Jail and was freed on good behavior after serving a total of seven months.

He enrolled at Fresno City College and showed little rust. At 5 feet 11 and 185 pounds, he is fast and a sure tackler. As a sophomore last season, he was one of four team captains for one of the state’s top junior college teams.

Fresno City Coach Tony Caviglia said, “I was a little bit concerned with the circumstances when he came in here, but we have a lot of kids who are looking for second chances coming in here. Whatever happens, he’s going to make it.”

Recruiting

Oregon’s Bellotti has met Woods twice. He has not seen police reports or transcripts relating to his court case.

Bellotti wrote to the court in support of Woods on Jan. 18, asking for an expedited hearing because the school’s fourth quarter begins March 31 and he wants Woods on campus for the start of spring football practice.

“Obviously we are not asking the court to change the law or do anything that is out of the ordinary,” Bellotti wrote. “However, according to Rodney’s coaches and professors at Fresno City College, he has done everything asked of him in terms of his probation, his behavior, his citizenship in the community, and represented Fresno City College very well.”

Last week, in a telephone interview, Bellotti added, “We obviously did a great deal of homework.... Before we ever committed to recruiting him or offering him a scholarship, I felt very, very comfortable he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

In his letter, Aliotti wrote that Woods, 20, was looking for “a fresh start” at Oregon.

“Rodney has an excellent chance to become part of the Oregon family this spring [April] if this charge is dropped by then to a misdemeanor,” he added. “If the powers that be can please address this issue in time to allow this young man a second chance, that would be awesome.”

Oregon President Dave Frohnmayer said in a written statement that he should have been alerted to Woods’ recruitment “earlier in the process” and that “administrative review will occur in future recruiting cases that may affect the reputation of the program and the university.” He added, though, that Bellotti and Aliotti had demonstrated “due diligence” in investigating Woods’ character and his behavior while on probation.

That is of no comfort to the O’Learys.

“We’ll go all the way to Oregon to protest that boy getting on that team,” Michael O’Leary said. “There’s a lot of people that will go with us and hang signs up. This boy was involved in my son’s murder.”

Plenty of Support

Oregon is not the only team that was interested in Woods.

Fifteen schools offered Woods a scholarship, said Caviglia, and Woods had accepted one from California last October before that university’s administration scuttled the deal, according to a letter Cal Coach Jeff Tedford wrote to the court in December.

“I have done extensive research on Rodney’s character and believe he would be a quality addition to our program as a student-athlete,” Tedford wrote.

“Our administration has agreed to review Rodney’s case, if his criminal record was adjusted. I would hope that this is a possibility, because Rodney deserves an opportunity to achieve a quality education and compete as a student-athlete.”

Through a spokesman, Tedford declined further comment.

Woods and his parents, through their attorney, James Blatt, also declined to be interviewed.

In court documents, Richard Shumsky, Woods’ probation officer, recommends the felony be reduced, saying Woods has met all the terms of his probation.

“The defendant always maintained an appropriate demeanor and exhibited respectful behavior,” Shumsky wrote. “The defendant does not appear to be a threat to the community.”

Said Blatt: “He’s earned the right to have this matter reduced. He’s humble, he’s respectful....

“He worked very hard for this opportunity. He did not commit any acts of violence on the person who is deceased.”

O’Leary’s relatives disagree. They consider Woods as guilty as Raines and Newton.

“To me, it’s like driving the getaway car when you’re in a bank robbery,” said Kathleen Harris, O’Leary’s mother.

“You drive the car, you’re just as responsible as the two that went in there and pulled the trigger. If Rodney Woods would have never talked that night to Marcus Raines and Richard Newton, Chris would still be here today.”

A History

Woods did not have a prior criminal record, but he allegedly had had other fights at school. In August 2000, three months after O’Leary’s death, the Antelope Valley Union High School District investigated whether Newton and Woods had been properly disciplined for earlier incidents of aggressive behavior. The results of that probe have never been publicized.

The investigation was prompted by police reports in which Newton and Woods were accused of throwing paint on a student and punching him during a graffiti cleanup project in July 1999.

The O’Leary family is suing the school district and administrators at Littlerock, claiming Woods and Newton were not properly punished for previous altercations.

“[Woods] and his particular group of football players were treated with a great deal of favor,” said David L. Margulies, an attorney representing O’Leary’s family. “It’s symptomatic, I guess, of the importance of athletics in the high school he came from.”

School and district officials had no comment.

O’Leary’s family is also asking for unspecified damages in a pending wrongful-death suit against Woods, Raines and Newton.

They will also appear in Judge White’s court next week, and they don’t want to hear much about lost chances.

“All I ever hear is, he needs a second chance, that he likes football,” Harris said.

“You know what? My son liked to do a lot of things. He’s not here to do anything. He’s gone.”