IU’s Willis not suspended by Office of Student Ethics

IU running back Darius Willis will not be suspended by the University for an alleged domestic assault, a source close to Willis said Thursday. The woman involved in the case filed a protective order against Willis on Jan. 14.

Willis was facing a possible six-month suspension from the Office of Student Ethics, which would have prohibited him from playing football for the Hoosiers during the 2011-12 season, according to the source.

The sophomore met with a representative from the Office of Student Ethics Thursday afternoon where he was told he was “not responsible” for the allegations against him, according to the source.

The source said the ethics board was close to suspending Willis at the preliminary hearing on March 4, but discrepancies in witness statements caused the case to be extended to this week.

According to the source, the woman’s two witnesses were allowed to hear each other’s testimony during the hearing. Even so, the witnesses stories didn’t match, the source said.

“Every time we think there’s a fact in the case, it gets overturned by a discrepancy,” the source said Monday. “Every time it appears to be case closed, there’s a discrepancy found that forces it to continue.”

The source said Willis first learned of the allegations Jan. 18 when he received the protective order in the mail. The initial protective order lasted for two years, according to the source. Willis challenged it and had it reduced to six months because he was “not a threat of any kind in the future,” the source said.

According to court documents, the female said Willis choked her and pushed her on the bed, then threw her across the room. She said Willis looked down at her and said, “That felt good. I ain’t felt like that in a while.”

The source said all of that information about the alleged encounter on Dec. 14 is untrue. According to the source, the woman went to Willis’ house to confront him about cheating on her with another woman.

The source said the woman hit Willis in the head and he laughed. When Willis leaned down to pick up the headphones the female student had knocked off, she slapped him across the head, according to the source. That’s when Willis told the woman to leave.

According to the source, Willis and the woman never went into the bedroom. The source also said the woman didn’t have any belongings at Willis’ residence, disputing her statement that Willis threw her belongings at her.

After filing a protective order 30 days after the alleged incident, the student first went to Middle Way House, which assists victims of domestic violence. According to court records, the woman was accompanied by two friends. Staffers at the Middle Way house told the student to go to the emergency room.

The source said records at Middle Way House describe two friends carrying the student, but at the hospital, she had no one carry her according to hospital records. The student said she received a wheelchair, but the hospital said she declined the wheelchair and left under her own power, according to court documents.

According to the source, the student refused to have the hospital collaborate with Middle Way House on the conflicting reports.

The emergency room report acquired through court documents showed that the student complained of pain in her lower back, right knee and neck. She had no bruising or broken bones.

But according to court documents from a visit to a doctor later that week, she developed bruises on her right elbow, left upper arm and right knee.

Willis, an Indianapolis native and former Franklin Central High School standout, won the Indiana Mr. Football award in 2007. He missed most of last season with a knee injury.