Anwar Phillips, who is accused of sexually assaulting a female acquaintance when he was a Penn State football player, waived his right to a preliminary trial while coach Joe Paterno refused to answer questions regarding the situation.
Tony DeBoef, the lawyer defending Phil-lips, entered a not guilty plea yesterday before District Justice Carmine Prestia at the Centre County Courthouse, Bellefonte.
Phillips, who sat in a vehicle outside the courthouse, faces a pre-trial conference May 22 on charges of sexual assault and aggravated indecent assault.
The trial date will be set after jury selection on June 9.
The Office of Judicial Affairs expelled Phillips from school for two semesters, beginning this semester, on Dec. 12 after he accepted responsibility for the Nov. 12 sexual assault of a woman in her Nittany Hall apartment on campus.
According to the official police complaint, Phillips admitted to having intercourse with the woman even though he did not think she wanted to.
Penn State sports spokesman Jeff Nelson said that, although members of the athletic staff knew of the expulsion shortly after it was handed down, he was unsure whether they were aware that it stemmed from sexual assault charges.
Paterno, who held his annual pre-spring practice press conference yesterday, refused to comment on what he knew about the case.
He said that he did not want the press conference to focus on Phillips after the first question dealt with Phillips' status on the team.
"I really would prefer to talk about the kids that are on the team right now and are at spring practice and those kinds of things," he said. "What happens will happen. I've got very little control over that. I'm just going to let it go right now. We'll see what happens."
When asked if he was aware that Phillips had admitted to the sexual assault in the judicial affairs case, Paterno reiterated that he would have no comment on any aspect of the situation.
"If you want to talk about our Penn State football team, fine, that's what I'm here for," he said.
He was then asked why he allowed Phillips to play in the Capital One Bowl on Jan. 1 and said, "Next question, you're just wasting your time."
As questions about the situation continued, Paterno deflected the inquiries and attempted to defend the honor of the program by talking about the team's impressive graduation rate, particularly for African-Americans athletes.
"The image of the program is that we bring kids in here and give them an opportunity to get a good education and play on a good, competitive football team," Paterno said. "And if down the line, out of 125 kids, once in a while something happens that none of us are glad about, it happens. If I could change that, I'd change it. But I'm not gonna be able to change it. If you said to me, as [you could with] one of our Big Ten colleagues, 39 percent of their football players graduate, I'd say, 'Yeah, I'm embarrassed about that.' "
The questions about Phillips continued, though, and Paterno became irritated and made sure reporters knew he would not answer any question about the situation.
"Look, if we can't talk football, I don't want to continue to be evasive," he said. "I'm not going to answer any questions that relate to the person you're talking about. I'm just not going to do it. If you want to keep asking, fine, we'll waste time. I'll just keep saying I'm not going to answer. It's as simple as that."
Phillips is not listed on the Nittany Lions' roster given to the media yesterday, and Paterno said he would not make any decision about Phillips' status with the team soon.
"I'm not going to make that decision until I have to," he said.
DeBoef, who did not return a call to his office yesterday, has defended Penn State athletes before. He was linebacker T.C. Cosby's lawyer last summer during a trial on charges of aggravated assault. Cosby was acquitted.
DeBoef also defended former Penn State wrestler Jean Celestin, who was convicted of sexual assault in November 2001 and sentenced to six to 12 months in jail. He was expelled from the university for two years.
