Attorney for former UGA linebacker Anderson files motion to dismiss rape charge

Adam Anderson

By Joe Johnson

An attorney for a former University of Georgia football player has filed a motion to dismiss a rape charge against him for lack of prosecution.

Adam O’Neal Anderson, 22, a star linebacker for the UGA Bulldogs, was arrested on Nov. 10, 2021, after Athens-Clarke County police obtained a warrant for his arrest on the rape charge.

According to an ACCPD incident report, a 21-year-old woman filed the rape complaint against Anderson in which she claimed that early the morning of Oct. 29, 2021 “she went to a residence after having some drinks and awoke to (Anderson) penetrating her while she was lying (in) a bed. She stated that it was nonconsensual and that she was able to leave.”

The woman filed the report the afternoon of the alleged rape, which the arrest warrant said occurred at The Retreat on Milledge student apartments.

Following the woman’s complaint, Anderson was suspended from the number one ranked Georgia Bulldogs and missed the opportunity to play in the 2021 College National Championship game, which UGA won for the first time in 40 years. He was expected to be a first-round pick in the NFL draft, to be held in late April.

On Thursday, four months after Anderson was charged, his defense attorney filed the motion to dismiss the case prior to indictment because “There is no legitimate reason why the District Attorney’s Office has not proceeded to prosecute this case, other than the inability of the prosecution to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.”

The attorney, Steven H. Sadow, also stated in the motion that while the case is awaiting the DA’s decision on whether to present the rape case to a grand jury, Anderson’s future, which includes a career in the NFL, was on indefinite hold.

The attorney previously said that his client told him that the allegations by the alleged victim were “unfounded and unsupported.”

In the motion filed Thursday in Athens-Clarke County Superior Court, Sadow stated that “NFL scouts have made it clear to (me) that Anderson will not be drafted until this case is resolved.”

Sadow asked Western Judicial Circuit Chief Judge Eric Norris to hold a hearing to decide the motion, but a hearing was not immediately scheduled.

Meanwhile, Anderson remains free on a $25,000 bond, with the condition he is barred from Athens-Clarke County, except to attend court proceedings or attend legal meetings with UGA or his attorney.