Ex-Montana gridder sentenced in WSU campus assault case

Justin Steve Aaron Strong, 22, was sentenced to two days in jail after he entered an Alford plea to a reduced charge of fourth-degree assault Friday in Whitman County Superior Court.

Strong was sentenced to 90 days in jail with all but two days suspended and credited for the two days he was in jail after his arrest. The sentence was suspended for a year while he is on unsupervised probation.

Strong was originally charged with second degree assault. Under an Alford plea, a defendant does not admit the charges brought against him, but concedes the state’s case against him could lead to a conviction.

Strong will be allowed a year to withdraw his plea and petition the court to dismiss the case.

Strong, then a member of the Montana Grizzly football team at Missoula, was charged with hitting Bradley Meyring, a WSU student, last Oct. 20 after Meyring was chased down after leaving a party in the 1200 block of NE Stadium Way in Pullman.

The Pullman Police investigation report said an officer initially responded when they received a report of three men who had knocked a man down and were hitting him.

The investigation report said Meyring was chased from a party where a fight had broken out. Witnesses said he was chased by three people. The report said Meyring stopped running near NE Lybecker and Stadium Way, faced his pursuers and held out his hands with his palms up, but Strong allegedly punched him and knocked him down. The report said Meyring sustained a fractured skull probably when his head hit when he was knocked down.

Strong had been scheduled for a trial here last Monday, Sept. 7. Strong played as a defensive back for the Grizzly team and was suspended for two games, according to a report in The Missoulian after his arrest here. Strong trained in Texas after finishing his college career and tried out for NFL teams in pre-season camps.

He was ordered Friday to pay $400 restitution to Meyring.

Meyring was a member of the WSU track team last year.

Friday’s plea also ended a civil suit which Meyring filed against Strong for damages allegedly sustained from the assault. The suit listed Strong and two “John Does” who also allegedly chased Meyring from the apartment that night.

Meyring’s attorney filed the suit, which did not cite an amount of damages, Jan. 18, but dropped it Aug. 28.

Strong filed an answer to the suit March 18 in which he contended he sustained mouth and eye injuries when he was allegedly assaulted by Meyring at the party. Among other damages, he contended he sustained a financial loss because he was unable to play in front of NFL scouts when he was suspended by his team in Montana. His answer also alleged he was subjected to cyberbullying after the charges were filed against him.

Strong’s counter-charges were dropped Friday.

Strong was allowed pre-trial release Oct. 23 last year after he was jailed here in the early hours of Oct. 21 following his arrest in Pullman. He was later exonerated from conditions of pre-trial release when formal charges were not filed against him within 72 hours. The formal charge of second degree assault was filed June 28.