UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Friday, February 23, 1996
3B
Moon acquitted of assault on his wife
Vikings quarterback faced a year in prison
The Associated Press
RICHMOND, Texas — A jury took just 27 minutes yesterday to acquit Warren Moon of assaulting his wife, in a verdict that catapulted the couple into each other's arms.
Felicia Moon, 39, was forced under a new Texas law to testify against her husband. She insisted that she had started the July 18 fight that led to the charges.
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"The women who think I betrayed them were not in my bedroom on July 18," Felicia Moon said, referring to criticism about her refusal to press the charges.
The 30-year-old Minnesota Vikings quarterback could have been sentenced to serve a year in jail and to
pay a $4,000 fine if convicted.
Felicia Moon, her family and friends jumped out of their court benches and cheered upon hearing the verdict from the jury of four women and two men. As she cried, "Warren! Warren!" Warren Moon rushed into his wife's open arms.
As Felicia Moon sobbed, the couple held each other in a tight embrace.
"It's been quite an ordeal," said Warren Moon, who played for 10 years with the Houston Oilers and still lives in nearby Missouri City. "It's taken a large toll on our family. We can all say it's over now as far as the criminal part of this case and we can rebuild our family and rebuild our marriage in the best way we can."
The couple said that on July 18, they scuffed at their home after an argument about credit cards. They said that the fight provoked Felicia
Moon to throw a 2-pound candle holder at Warren Moon's back. Felicia Moon ended up with scratches and bruises around her neck and shoulders.
Warren Moon said that he was probably responsible for the injuries but that he was trying to calm his wife, not harm her.
Felicia Moon likewise insisted that her husband had never intended to hurt her. She had pleaded with prosecutors not to press charges, but was instead forced to take the stand under a 1995 law forcing spousal testimony. More than 40 states have made similar laws.
In closing arguments, Warren Moon's lawyer portrayed the football player and his wife as a normal married couple with normal fights about money. He insisted the Moons' testimony told "a love story."
Prosecutor Mike Elliott scoffed at
the theory, pointing at five police photographs of Felicia Moon's injuries.
"These photographs are a love story?" Elliott asked incredulously. "That book won't sell."
"I make no apologies for prosecuting," Elliott said after the verdict. "I would prosecute this case with these facts 100 times again."
The couple testified that Warren Moon's multimillion-dollar signing by the Houston Oilers in 1984, which made him the NFL's highest-paid player at the time and gave his family instant wealth, caused difficulties.
He didn't like her free-spending habits, and she didn't like being left alone to raise their four children. Felicia Moon said she had made her husband angry by constantly shopping and running up $160,000 in credit card bills.
Men's golfers tee up in Florida tournament
By Spencer Duncan Kansan sportswriter
After a three month layoff, the Kansas men's golf team is back in action this weekend.
The Jayhawks begin the spring season today at the Ron Smith Invitational in Tampa, Fla., at the University of South Florida Golf Course. Florida will play host to the 21-team invitational, which begins with 18 holes of play today and 18 holes tomorrow and Sunday.
The team struggled in the fall and is hoping the new season will bring better play.
"We played two good tournaments in the fall, but we were inconsistent in our other three, and that really hurt us," Kansas men's golf coach Ross Randall said. "We learned some this fall, and now we're looking forward to the spring."
Kansas will be taking five golfers to the pat-72 tournament. Making the trip will be defending Big Eight Champion, senior Slade Adams, who led the team with four top 10 finishes in the fall.
Also competing will be freshman Chris Thompson, who had two top 10 finishes, and seniors Dan Rooney, Alan Stearns, and Jason Seeman.
The Jayhawks ended the fall season with a second place finish at the Stanford Invitational in November but had trouble placing in the top five of most of their tournaments. The team thinks it underachieved and hopes the spring will bring better play.
"We did not do all that we felt could do as a team or as individuals," Rooney said. "We just hope the spring is better for us."
JAYHAWKS: Intrastate rivalry important for Kansas native McGrath
outright, which would mark their fifth regular-season conference title in six years.
Continued from Page 1.
The only way the Jayhawks would have to settle for a tie is if they lose their three remaining conference
games and the Cyclones win all three of theirs.
Clinching the title tomorrow would mean just a bit more to McGrath.
"Any road victory is important," he said. "But to clinch a title on K-State's floor would be sweeter."
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