Ole Miss basketball coach's assault trial delayed

A Cincinnati judge agreed Friday to delay University Mississippi men's basketball coach Andy Kennedy’s assault trial until after the basketball season in April.

Kennedy was arrested Dec. 18 and charged with assaulting a local cab driver in an early morning dispute. He will be due in court April 20.

It was also announced Friday the cab driver, Mohamed Jiddou, has filed a countersuit to the defamation lawsuit Kennedy filed against Jiddou and Michael Strother, a witness who supported Jiddou’s claims.

The Associated Press reported Jiddou filed the countersuit because the defamation case was only meant to “harass him and cause him needless costs.”

The Rebels' 81-53 loss to LSU on Saturday came only 36 hours after a Cincinnati television station WLWT reported Kennedy’s wife, Kimber, filed a loss of consortium claim as a part of the defamation suit. The station reported the claim said the accusations have harmed the couple’s sex life.

Kennedy said the ongoing lawsuit has had no effect on the play of his team on the court.

“For me personally I have to deal with it, but our players are not caught up into this,” Kennedy said after Saturday's game.

Freshmen players Terrico White and Murphy Holloway said they and their teammates have not paid attention to the accusations.

White noted that Kennedy did look more tired during practice.

“His attitude toward the game is still the same, but you can tell he has changed,” White said. “The way he talks to us, and the way things go in practice.”

“I don’t think it is a distraction for us at all,” Holloway said. “We don’t really hear about it. It might be a distraction for him as far as family and all that, but I don’t think it’s a distraction to us,”

Bill Armstrong, coordinator of basketball operations, was also arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct in the same incident. Armstrong allegedly also made comments to Jiddou “in which his conduct was likely to cause a violent response,” according to a report. However, the report also states that Kennedy “was the aggressor” in the incident and has hired former Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen to represent him in the case and has entered a plea of not guilty. Allen said Kennedy “emphatically denies this and emphatically denies making any racial slurs.”

Joe Webb, news reporter in Cincinnati, talked to the Jiddou, who claimed Kennedy became “verbally abusive” after Jiddou refused to allow five people into his cab, breaching his four-person limit around 1 a.m. The names included “Osama Bin Laden” and “Saddam Hussein” after Jiddou refused to allow five people into his cab. Jiddou has been in the country legally for eight years. According to Webb, Jiddou was not seriously harmed and the punch did not hurt.

According to the police report from the Cincinnati Police Department, Kennedy “was the aggressor that punched listed victim with a closed fist. [Kennedy] also was using racial slurs while punching the victim. There was an unrelated witness that observed the whole incident.” The report also states that Jiddou sustained injuries described as a “swollen left face.”

Ole Miss athletics director Pete Boone issued the following statement after Kennedy's arrest:

“Clearly, this is an unfortunate situation. However, after a full discussion with Andy Kennedy and his staff, who were with him, I have the utmost confidence that once all the facts are known, Coach Kennedy will be cleared of all charges."

Kennedy said in a statement:

“I regret this situation. The focus should be on the players and the game, not on me. I vehemently deny the charges levied against me, and am completely confident that I will be fully exonerated of all charges.”