Two former NM State basketball players plead not guilty to felony charges, other issued bench warrant
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (KTSM) – Former New Mexico State men’s basketball players Doctor Bradley and Deshawndre Washington pleaded not guilty on all 13 of the felony charges filed against them on Wednesday at their arraignments in Las Cruces.
However, fellow former NMSU player and defendant Kim Aiken Jr. did not appear in person as directed by the court, as he is currently living and playing professional basketball in Luxembourg and was issued a $20,000 bench warrant for his arrest by the court. He has been indicted on 11 felony charges.
Bradley and Washington, both 22 years old, appeared in person in Third Judicial District Court and were released with conditions and with waivers of extradition.
Through an attorney, Aiken Jr., 24, asked to appear telephonically or for a continuance to have the arraignment moved to a later date, but presiding judge Douglas Driggers denied the request, instead issuing a bench warrant.
Aiken Jr.’s attorney, Lara Smalls, told KTSM that she would be moving to quash the bench warrant and reset the arraignment for a later date. She told the judge in her request for continuance that Aiken was, “not making an attempt to elude or impede the court.”
“We are obviously very disappointed that the court was not accommodating in any way considering the proximity to the Thanksgiving holiday as well as the complications involved international travel,” Smalls told reporters after the arraignment. “Mr. Aiken is in no way trying to avoid these charges. He is seeking justice in this matter.”
Smalls said she’d be filing the motion with the court and asking for at least two weeks time for Aiken Jr. to be able to get a plane ticket and appear in person. He would have pleaded not guilty as well, as is standard for defendants to do in arraignments.
“If I don’t ask for a bench warrant, I risk dismissal of the indictment and also he wasn’t here,” said John Duran, the Assistant Attorney General who is prosecuting the case. “Not being in court, that’s an automatic to request the bench warrant, it’s the court’s decision and the exercised their authority in doing it.”
Aiken Jr. initially requested to appear telephonically on Monday, but Judge Conrad F. Perea denied that request, as well as a request for continuance to move Aiken Jr.’s arraignment to a later date.
Bradley and Washington did not speak to reporters before or after their arraignments. Attorneys for Bradley and Washington also declined comment.
“It is very early in this process, and we all have to remember that we never get the full story this early,” said Smalls, Aiken Jr.’s attorney.
The trio’s afternoon arraignment was their first court appearance, after they were all indicted on Nov. 8 on multiple felony counts, including false imprisonment, second degree criminal sexual penetration and fourth degree criminal sexual contact.
Bradley and Washington were charged with 13 felony crimes and Aiken Jr. was indicted on 11 felony charges after a seven month investigation by the New Mexico Attorney General’s office.
Bradley and Washington appeared with their attorneys, then released, Washington on his own recognizance, Bradley on a $7,500 unsecured bond. If Bradley breaks the conditions of his release, he will be charged $7,500 and arrested.
As part of the conditions of their release, the defendants are not to have any contact with each other, or any victims, witnesses or anyone that might testify in a potential trial.
Bradley told the court he will be living in Los Angeles County and seeking gainful employment as part of the conditions of his release. Washington is living in Chicago and will be seeking employment as part of his conditions of release.
Bradley and Washington signed waivers of extradition, meaning they must return to New Mexico for any future court dates if it is requested of them. If they do not appear in person for future court dates, Duran said bench warrants would be issues for their arrests, too.
A second hearing for the three defendants will be scheduled within the next 30 days.
The charges against Bradley and Washington, if convicted, carry a maximum sentence of 27 years in prison, along with a $25,000 fine; for Aiken, a maximum sentence would be 24 years in prison, with a $25,000 fine, if convicted. The count of second degree criminal sexual penetration also carries with it the requirement to register as a sex offender, according to the Attorney General.
The three former NMSU players are accused, “of holding younger players and student staff against their will while they violated them. Alleged acts included multiple incidents in which they forcefully restrained victims while violently grabbing their genital area,” according to a press release from the AG’s office. Washington has been described as the “ringleader” in multiple documents and investigations including an NMSU Title IX report.
It’s the first time criminal charges have been filed against anyone from the 2022-23 NMSU team, but it’s far from the first time that Aiken Jr., Bradley and Washington have been implicated in alleged wrongdoing. There are now two lawsuits accusing them of improper conduct, as well as an NMSU Title IX report obtained by KTSM that found the trio responsible of university sexual misconduct violations.
In June, NMSU agreed to pay an $8 million sexual assault and hazing lawsuit settlement to former players Deuce Benjamin, Shakiru Odunewu and Deuce’s father, William Benjamin, after NMSU’s 2022-23 season was cancelled and Heiar was fired when accusations of hazing, sexual assault and harassment surfaced in a New Mexico State University police report filing. Aiken Jr., Bradley, Washington and former coaches Heiar and Dominique Taylor were listed as defendants in that lawsuit, as was NMSU at-large.
A second lawsuit was filed by three completely different members of the 2022-23 NMSU team, in the hours before NMSU opened its 2023-24 season on the road at Kentucky on Nov. 6. In the second lawsuit, former player Kyle Feit, another former player and a former manager who chose to remain anonymous made many of the same sexual assault allegations as Benjamin and Odunewu, but also alleged that guns were constantly present in the NMSU locker room last season. Washington is one of the players the lawsuit alleges brought guns in the locker room.
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