By Paul Quinn
The Daily Mississippian

Recently obtained court records reveal that a Lafayette County grand jury voted not to indict a University of Mississippi student accused of sexual assault by a female student.

Heath Nettles, 41, had been arrested by University Police in March after a female came forward saying Nettles assaulted her months before at his on campus apartment.

In a released statement, Nettles’ attorney Kevin Frye said, “The grand jury has been thought of as a shield to protect innocent people accused of crimes - in this case the grand jury clearly fulfilled that role by finding no probability that Mr. Nettles committed the crime.

“The judicial system worked. It protected Mr. Nettles from an allegation that simply was not credible.”

Frye said he and Nettles were exploring a possible suit against the female for malicious prosecution but could not say if a suit would come to fruition.

Shortly after his arrest, Nettles denied all of the female’s allegations made against him.

At the time, he believed the female made the sexual assault allegations out of retribution because he reported to campus police that the woman’s boyfriend possessed a gun on campus.

The female denied Nettles’ claims.

She told The Daily Mississippian that Nettles groped her in October but she waited six months to come forward with the allegations because other neighbors had complained about Nettles.

She said she had several witnesses who were told about the alleged sexual assault.

There is no way to know what evidence was presented to the grand jury because proceedings are secret.

District Attorney Ben Creekmore said he cannot comment about cases presented to the grand jury for at least six months.

Nettles opted not to comment on this story, but Frye said a grand jury votes not to indict when a majority believes there isn’t enough evidence for a conviction.

“(That’s) better than being found not guilty . . . he’s innocent,” Frye said.