Player to make court appearance

By Paul Trembacki
Sports Editor

A Purdue football player charged with two felonies last week will plead "not guilty" at his initial hearing Friday morning, his attorney said Wednesday.

Steve Ennis, a sophomore running back for the Boilers, was formally charged with two felonies on Jan. 26. He will appear in Tippecanoe Superior Court at 8:30 a.m. Friday on charges of battery resulting in serious bodily injury and criminal recklessness inflicting serious bodily injury.

The charges stem from an incident that took place around 3 a.m. Oct. 22 outside a State Street bar. Ennis, 21, is accused of striking another student, Matt Alexander, during the altercation.

The battery charge is a Class C felony; the recklessness charge is a Class D felony. Class C felonies are punishable by two to eight years in prison and Class D felonies are punishable by six months to three years of jail time.

"He is innocent until proven guilty, and we have a strong belief that he is innocent of the charges they've filed," said Ed Kennedy, Ennis' attorney.

Kennedy would not discuss the details of the case any further.

Norris Wang, deputy prosecutor for Tippecanoe County, said a trial attorney has not been assigned yet but the prosecutor's office will seek justice.

"We will attempt to prove that Mr. Ennis knowingly and intentionally hit him — that is, the victim — in a rude, insolent manner resulting in serious bodily injury," Wang said.

The victim, Alexander, a sophomore in the School of Liberal Arts, suffered two fractures to the skull and massive brain trauma in the incident.

Alexander, a Valparaiso, Ind., native who turned 22 Jan. 9, spent six days at St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Lafayette after the altercation.

He said he has lost 40 percent of the hearing in his left ear and his sense of taste has dulled considerably.

"There's no way to measure that, but I'd estimate that I lost about 80 percent of my sense of taste," Alexander said.

He said he tried to return to school last semester but his mind was "still really fuzzy" and he withdrew from all of his classes.

Alexander said he has more than $10,000 in medical bills. He said nearly $2,000 in tuition went to waste when he withdrew from his classes in early November.

"And my senses, man. You can't replace your senses and you can't put a price on your senses," Alexander said.

Alexander is back in school this semester but he has already dropped two classes because he said they were too hard for him.

Alexander said he won't be in court Friday, but he is willing to testify about the incident. He said he remembers everything up until the time he was hit.

Prior to Purdue's appearance in the Jan. 1 Rose Bowl, Ennis was suspended from the team in December by Purdue coach Joe Tiller.

Ennis, a Flower Mound, Texas, native who ran for 82 yards and eight short-yardage touchdowns last season, has remained suspended since the incident.

According to Purdue athletic director Morgan Burke, Ennis, a junior in the School of Technology, will remain on scholarship for now.

Player to make court appearance

Boilers prepare to face Illinois

Purdue, Ohio State compete for recruit

SPORTS DESK PHONE:
(765) 743-1111 ext. 251

Sports editor:
Paul Trembacki

Assistant sports editor:
Anne McLaren

To send a letter to the editor, please email opinions@purdueexponent.org