February 14, 2012

By Emmy Boyd

Former MU running back and football captain Derrick Washington pleaded guilty to one count of third-degree misdemeanor domestic assault and was sentenced to 90 days in Boone County Department of Corrections on Tuesday, ending more than a year of court proceedings.

Washington, who did not appear in court, was sentenced to five years in prison in November when he was found guilty of felony deviate sexual assault. Circuit Judge Kevin Crane, who also presided over Washington’s previous case, said his 90-day sentence would run concurrent with the sentence already in place.

Prosecutors said that on Sept. 12, 2010, Washington refused to leave the apartment of an ex-girlfriend at 1:30 a.m. He was arrested in his apartment shortly after, and the victim was found with a swollen forehead and bloody nose. She also reported he choked her. He was originally charged with two counts of domestic violence, but the second charge was thrown out.

Washington was found guilty of deviate sexual assault in an unrelated case in September, in which prosecutors said he entered a female victim’s room in the middle of the night and performed digital penetration on her while she slept.

In addition to his two jail sentences, Washington will spend 120 days in the Shock Incarceration Program, which is a Missouri program that focuses on life skills, substance abuse education and the development of a community-based home plan.

Defense attorney Bogdan Susan, who appeared in court on Washington’s behalf, did not make a comment after entering Washington’s guilty plea.

Susan’s partner, Chris Slusher, who was the main defense attorney in Washington’s felony trial, said Washington has plans to appeal his felony conviction and sentence during his sentencing hearing in November.