The felony assault case of Robert Barber will continue into the trial phase, and this could cost the former Washington State defensive lineman a chance to join an NFL team in rookie mini camps that begin this weekend.
In court Wednesday afternoon, a Whitman County judge denied a motion filed by Barber’s attorney to dismiss the second degree felony assault charges against his client. Barber’s attorney, Stephen Graham, argued that there was insufficient evidence to show that Barber caused serious physical harm to the WSU student he allegedly knocked unconscious at an off campus party last July.
Graham argued that it’s impossible to say whether the victim, who, according to police records, was extremely drunk the night of the incident, lost consciousness that night due to his heavy consumption of alcohol or from the blows Barber allegedly delivered.