Suspended UNC player Allen Artis files motions to dismiss sexual assault charges

CHAPEL HILL, North Carolina (WTVD) -- Suspended UNC football player Allen Artis was in an Orange County courtroom Friday where his attorneys filed a number of pre-trial motions, including one to dismiss the charges against him of sexual assault.

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In September 2016, during a news conference at her attorney's office in Raleigh, fellow UNC student Delaney Robinson publicly accused Artis of sexually assaulting her in an on-campus apartment on Valentine's Day while she says she was intoxicated and unable to consent.

Artis, a reserve junior linebacker from Marietta, Georgia, is indefinitely suspended from the football team. He has consistently denied the allegations, claiming the sex was consensual.

UNC's Title IX Office, which completed its own investigation in April, cleared Artis of any misconduct. Robinson appealed the decision and lost.

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"It was a big relief," Artis said Friday of the decision. "I felt like it was a little bit overdue, but it was a big relief."

When neither law enforcement nor Orange County District Attorney Jim Woodall would pursue criminal charges against Artis, Robinson swore out the misdemeanor warrants herself.

In their motion to dismiss Friday, Artis' attorneys argue a UNC Department of Public Safety officer went to an Orange County magistrate last year who "emphatically" told him the evidence collected was not sufficient for finding probably cause or filing criminal charges.

"This is a bit of an unusual set of circumstances because you have a very serious charge that was brought by a civilian," said Stephen Lindsay, one of Artis' defense attorneys. "And normally these kinds of charges are brought through an investigation that's conducted by a law enforcement officer or agency. So part of what we're asking to do is to look into why that happened here."

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Artis' attorneys also accuse Robinson's attorney, Denise Branch, of manipulating a photo of Robinson which she shared at the September 2016 press conference, which was then widely distributed.

In a letter to Branch, Artis' attorney Kerry Sutton accused her of having the photo, which was taken by a UNC DPS officer the night of the alleged assault, edited to make the marks on Robinson's neck look "more dramatic" in order to "demonize" Artis.

On Friday, District Court Judge Charles Anderson ordered, per the defense's motion, that subpoenas be issued for the original photos.

Anderson will make a decision on other motions, including to dismiss, at another hearing July 12.

A trial date is set for July 18-19; Sutton says it can't come soon enough.

"This has just gone on too long," she said. "It's gone on too long. It's hurting both sides. It's painful to watch. It has to end."

Robinson and her family did not comment to ABC11.