Court date set for preliminary hearing in case involving ex-KU athlete Arterio Morris
Former Kansas men’s basketball player Arterio Morris, who was dismissed from the Jayhawks after being arrested on a felony rape charge in late September, has a preliminary hearing in the case scheduled for 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., March 1 in Douglas County District Court.
The hearing date was set Wednesday during a brief status hearing presided by Division Two judge Sally D. Pokorny in the Division II courtroom at the Judicial and Law Enforcement Center.
Morris, who did not appear in court in person — he was made available remotely via a large video screen in the Div. II courtroom — agreed to the date and time of the hearing when asked by the judge if they were acceptable.
There were no comments regarding details of the case from Morris, the judge, or attorneys in the courtroom Wednesday. Morris’ attorney, Hatem Chahine, was in person at court Wednesday.
The penalties for the charge — “a severity level 1 person felony,” per court documents — range from 147 months (12 years, 3 months) to 653 months (54 years, 5 months) in prison and/or a fine of up to $300,000 and 36 months of post-release supervision.
Morris was arrested on Sept. 29 and released shortly after on a bond of $75,000, according to Douglas County logs. He has not publicly commented on the case since the allegation was uncovered.
Morris arrived at KU last summer with legal issues regarding a different case pending in Texas, where he played basketball for the Texas Longhorns during the 2022-23 season. A misdemeanor assault charge stemming from an alleged altercation with an an ex-girlfriend in June of 2022 in Texas was settled with Morris entering a nolo contendere (no contest) plea. He was instructed to pay a fine of $362.
