-
Jul 13, 2006 12:40 am US/Pacific
-
Digg |
Facebook |
E-mail
|
Print
Former Trojan Faces Spousal Battery Charges
LOS ANGELES (CBS) ―
Former USC defensive end Frostee Rucker was scheduled to be arraigned Thursday on two misdemeanor counts of spousal battery and two counts of vandalism, but it was postponed until Aug. 11.
Rucker, 22, who was charged June 20, was accused of injuring his former girlfriend and damaging her cell phone and Blackberry at a party last August, according to the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office.
The attorney representing Rucker has expressed confidence that his client will be cleared of the charges.
"We're confident when all the evidence is known, he will be exonerated," Leonard Levine told the Los Angeles Times last month.
If convicted, Rucker faces up to one year in jail for each of the battery charges and six months for each of the vandalism charges.
Rucker, listed as 6 foot 3 and 260 pounds, graduated from Tustin High School in 2001 and began his college career at Colorado State.
Rucker missed the 2001 season because of mononucleosis. In April 2002, he was charged in Colorado with sexual assault and indecent exposure. He eventually accepted a one-year deferred sentence on a misdemeanor harassment charge, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Rucker transferred to USC in 2002, began playing for the Trojans in 2003 and was a first-team All-Pacific-10 Conference selection in 2005 and a co-recipient of USC's Most Inspirational Player Award after making 56 tackles, the second most on the team.
Rucker was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in the third round of the National Football League draft in April.
(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)