Sofield disorderly conduct trial to go to court today

A freshman charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest will plead 'not guilty' today. A College freshman arrested last October for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest will have his day in court today. Bill Sofield, 18, was arrested following a string of bloody assaults that attracted about 60 police officers to the Phi Gamma Delta house and sent four University Police officers and a former Harvard University football player to the hospital. Sofield was not involved in any of the assaults on police officers. Sofield, who later accused police officers of beating him, is expected to plead not guilty to the charges during the trial, which begins at 9 a.m. in Room 1003 of the Criminal Justice Center at 13th and Filbert streets. Walter Phillips, Sofield's attorney, could not be reached for comment yesterday. A 1 1/2-month investigation conducted by the University found that police officers did not use excessive force when arresting him. The incident began late at night October 30 when a University Police officer approached Sofield and two companions: his brother Richard, 28, and their friend Warnell "Yode" Owens, 27. The men were allegedly intoxicated and cursing loudly outside the FIJI house at 3619 Locust Walk when the officer approached them. When Richard Sofield, an assistant U.S. attorney, was cited for disorderly conduct, both Owens and Bill Sofield allegedly fled into the house. Once inside, Owens fled through the house's back door, while Sofield remained inside. In the alley behind the fraternity house, Owens, a 6'2" 250-pound former college football player, allegedly attacked two police officers who tried to arrest him. Police said he then assaulted two other officers in two separate incidents between the back of the house and the intersection of 36th and Walnut streets. Owens was arrested and charged with aggravated assault. All of the charges against him were upheld at a hearing December 8, although no trial date has been set. Richard Sofield, who did not resist arrest, attended a Disorderly Conduct Alternative Program in the Center City Conference Center November 15 in exchange for the charge against him being dropped. Owens' alleged assault against the officers attracted throngs of police officers from at least four different forces to the crime scene. About 20 of them focused on arresting Sofield, who was inside the FIJI house. Their subsequent conduct prompted Sofield and several FIJI brothers who were eyewitnesses to the incident to accuse Philadelphia and University police officers of needlessly beating him unconscious. According to the accounts of nine FIJI brothers, Sofield did not resist arrest as the officers beat him ruthlessly and taunted others in the house. The investigation conducted in response to the accusations concluded that no officers had acted improperly. Results of the investigation were released last month. Sofield's family never filed an official complaint against the police. According to police, Sofield was extremely drunk. His resistance required officers to strike him several times before they could handcuff him, police said. Det. Commander Tom King said last month that Sofield suffered two black eyes and several welts on other parts of his body. But a nurse who examined Sofield the night of the incident determined that not only did he not require medical attention, but that he was too drunk at the time he arrived at the hospital to receive it properly anyway, King said. Phillips and FIJI President John Ward, a Wharton senior, have both have disputed the report's findings. Ward, who declined to comment yesterday, said in December that he deemed the investigation "questionable" since it was conducted by the same organizations it was investigating. Phillips also has denied that his client was drunk.

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