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The Wyoming Cowboys basketball season has taken a hit after starting the season 14-0, and being ranked in the top 25. They have lost two straight, including a terrible loss to Fresno State, and now there are more details revolving around guard Luke Martinez.
The early information that was known about Martinez's incident was that he was involved in an altercation at a bar which caused him to break a finger, but it is much worse than that.
Martinez had to appear in court this past Monday due to his involvement, as were teammates Derek Cooke Jr. and Nathan Sobey, all three at the Buckhorn that night where the incident took place.
Ben Frederickson of the Wyoming Star-Tribune was in attendance for the court hearing, and documented what happened. There are so many details about the incident (and they can be found here), but one that is quite disturbing comes from a witness of the altercation:
"Luke ran up to [the victim] and kicked him in the face," the witness said, adding that the kick came "with such force that it made me sick" and that Martinez "booted his face like it was a football."
Cowboy Altitude has a serious of tweets from Frederickson at the hearing, and here are a few of them:
Police say Martinez then admitted he kicked victimin head/face when he was on ground while victim could not defend himself. #gowyo
— Ben Frederickson (@Ben_Fred) January 15, 2013
Same witness said Martinez was approx 15 feet away before kicking victim. Said kick "looked like a perfect soccer kick." #gowyo
— Ben Frederickson (@Ben_Fred) January 15, 2013
Martinez has been charged with aggravated battery and assault under the following definition, that charge means that he attempted to cause serious harm to a person intentionally. If found guilty he could spend up to 10 years in jail, he was released with a $25,000 bond, that allowed him to return to school.
Martinez will have to check in with the Wyoming athletic department and his defense lawyers three times week, can not consume drugs or alcohol and he must refrain from entering establishments that make the majority of their income from sales of alcoholic beverages.
Looks like Martinez is not likely to return to the court this season, but he has much more important things to take care of before he thins about basketball. Up next for Martinez in the cour of law is his preliminary hearing which is scheduled for 11 a.m. MT on Jan. 28.