Quinnipiac men’s basketball players James Johnson and Ike Azotam will appear in Meriden Superior Court this morning at 10 to continue the hearing that was postponed pending a supplemental Hamden Police report at the request of defense attorney Thomas Lynch.
“I called the prosecutor last Thursday and he was still waiting to get the supplemental police report from the Hamden Police,” Lynch said. “We may get there [today] and it will be in the state’s file.”
Hamden Police could not confirm or deny any details pertaining to the police report as the case is ongoing.
Lynch said that they are still in the stages of speaking with the state’s attorney and hope to come to a resolution soon.
“Wednesday is the next court date and sometime in the near future there will be a resolution of how we will proceed,” Lynch said. “On Wednesday I will be speaking to the prosecutor and we will start the process of how we will resolve this case. But, as of right now, I do not know how it will play out.”
Johnson and Azotam were involved in a Sept. 18 on-campus fight, according to Hamden Police. Both men pleaded not guilty to the charges at their arraignment Sept. 26. Lynch is sticking to his argument that Azotam was misidentified in the police report and that Johnson was assaulted prior to the conflict.
Both Johnson and Azotam were suspended from the basketball team temporarily by coach Tom Moore, but were both reinstated on Oct. 6. Johnson was issued a one-game suspension for the season opener at Mohegan Sun Arena on Friday for disciplinary reasons.
Both players are expected to play in their team’s home opener against Yale Tuesday night at TD Bank Sports Center.
