Hardy pleads not guilty

IU wide receiver James Hardy will appear in court June 5 following charges that he allegedly battered his girlfriend and prevented her from making a 911 call. \nHardy was released from an Allen County jail on a $1,500 bond Monday morning after spending three nights for the alleged battery of his girlfriend of seven years, Kyra Nolan. \nHardy was apprehended last Friday night and charged with two class A misdemeanors -- domestic battery and interfering with the reporting of a crime. He plead not guilty to both charges.\nHardy's attorney, Randall J. Hammond, said in a press release Wednesday that Hardy's situation was the product of miscommunication and misunderstanding. \n"We are confident that Mr. Hardy is not guilty of these charges, and we believe that ultimately he will prevail in the defense of these allegations," Hammond said in the statement.\nAccording to Hammond's statement, he is adamant that his client's arrest was "based solely on misunderstandings and an unfortunate communication collapse between the parties involved." Hammond "insists that law enforcement authorities based the arrest on assumed and inferred facts that are not only untruthful but also impossible for the State to prove beyond a reasonable doubt," the statement read.\nFort Wayne police officers were called to the scene around 4:30 p.m. Friday by Nolan's 911 call. According to the 911 dispatch log, an operator heard yelling and swearing before the line was disconnected. After calling back once and receiving no answer, a different operator heard Nolan say that Hardy had "hit her and her baby."\nAccording to court documents, when police responded, an officer asked Nolan about red marks on her neck. She said the red marks were from an altercation earlier in the week with another female. \nWhen police asked Hardy about the tears in his shirt and the red marks on the Nolan's neck, Hardy said he and Nolan had only been arguing verbally and that his shirt was torn from wrestling with her brother. He maintained that the marks on Nolan's neck were from them wrestling earlier before he wrestled with her brother.\nAt the scene, police also saw a telephone broken into four pieces with the cord unplugged from its outlet, according to the documents. Hardy said that his infant son had probably broken the phone when he was playing with it.\nAccording to the court documents, Hardy then told the officers that Nolan had gotten "into his face" and that he "pushed her away with his hand into her neck and that is where the red mark came from." He also admitted that he attempted to disconnect the phone, on speaker phone mode at the time, but that he didn't know who Nolan was trying to call, according to the documents.\nBesides Hardy and Nolan's infant son, the couple were the only people in the house. The documents listed no prior history of violence between the two.\nMonday, a spokesman for the athletics department said the department will be monitoring Hardy's situation.\n"We are aware of the situation and are still in the process of collecting facts on the matter," said Pete Rhoda, IU director of athletic media relations. "If and when the matter is resolved, we will take the appropriate actions."\nHardy was IU's leading receiver in the 2005 season with 61 catches for 893 yards and 10 touchdowns. He was chosen as second team all-Big Ten and was a Rivals.com Freshman All-American. \nIn 2004, Hardy came to IU as a two-sport prospect. The 6-foot-7-inch, 216-pound forward started three games for the IU basketball team in his freshman year after redshirting on the football team.\nAfter his 2005 football success, however, the IU sophomore missed the entire 2005-06 basketball season and has since made no indication he wants to continue to play basketball for IU.