Central Georgia Sports ReportComment

Quintez Cephus's trial drew wide-ranging social media offerings, and pleasant surprise on Friday; read the Tweets

Central Georgia Sports ReportComment
Quintez Cephus's trial drew wide-ranging social media offerings, and pleasant surprise on Friday; read the Tweets

By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com


          There were concerns when an all-white jury was seated.

          Dane County, Wisc. is has nearly 490,000 residents, with a 5.2 percent African American population, according to the 2010 census.

          There were concerns when some text messages were not entered into evidence.

          Throw in the mentions in social media that there was more to the sexual assault charges against Quintez Cephus than simply sexual assault charges, i.e. an influence of power in Madison law enforcement and among University of Wisconsin higher-ups, and the concerns grew.

          So when a jury needed less than three-quarters of an hour to acquit the Maconite on Friday of both felony charges, there was a spectrum of reactions, expressed, naturally, on Twitter.

          Here's a look at offerings starting on Monday with jury selection, and ranging from fans to those in the legal community to just general observers.

          Some are absurd - one references Brock Turner, the Stanford swimmer who received a very light sentence for clearly raping an unconscious woman, and how the accusers should come under the same scrutiny - and some are delusional, the least delusional of which wondered if Cephus might come back to UW, which quickly suspended him from the football team and then expelled him from school long before the trial. The school has opened itself up to legal action on a few fronts.

          There were some locatable Central Georgia offerings, including from former opponents and teammates, aka long-time Macon friends.

          And some were bitter, demanding severe punishments for the two accusers as well as for those who pushed the charges.

          Included are assorted media Tweets. Worth reading are replies to some Tweets, which in a few cases offer much-needed context on a variety of areas.