OU Ruf/nek Assault Trial

[Patrick]

What do you guys think....did the Nebraska lineman run over our ruf/nek on purpose or was it a complete accident?

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"Jury seated in OU assault trial


By The Associated Press

NORMAN -- A jury was seated Tuesday for the trial of a former Nebraska football player accused of assaulting a member of Oklahoma's Ruf/Neks spirit squad before a game last year.
Darren DeLone, 23, faces a felony county of aggravated assault and battery. He has pleaded innocent to the charge, which carries a penalty of up to five years in prison.

The nine-woman, three-man jury was expected to hear opening arguments Tuesday.

The former Cornhuskers offensive lineman is accused of ramming freshman Adam Merritt into a brick wall surrounding Owen Field prior to the game in Oklahoma on Nov. 13, 2004.

Merritt testified in a February preliminary hearing that he temporarily lost consciousness, lost one tooth and broke another in a collision with the 6-foot-5, 315-pound DeLone. He said he and other members of Ruf/Neks -- the group that leads the Sooner Schooner covered wagon onto the field -- were standing in a designated area near where the Nebraska offensive linemen were practicing before the collision.

DeLone's defense attorney, Garvin Isaacs, has suggested that the incident could have been accidental because the players were practicing at a high speed on grass dampened by the rain. "