Moore returns to court, wants charges dismissed

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A lawyer for fired Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore said Thursday that she is seeking to have home invasion and other charges against him dismissed.

Authorities say Moore entered a woman’s apartment Dec. 10 and blamed her for him losing his job that day, then grabbed butter knives and kitchen scissors and threatened to kill himself.

Moore was fired for having a personal relationship with the woman — who was a football staff member — and for lying during the investigation, the university’s athletic director said in the dismissal letter.

Moore, 39, faces three charges, including felony home invasion and stalking. He has pleaded not guilty and must wear a tracking device while free on bail.

The probable-cause conference was adjourned until March 19 as the defense continued to collect evidence that Moore’s attorney, Ellen Michaels, said would focus on accounts of the situation. Michaels said she filed a motion Thursday seeking to toss out the arrest report in a separate hearing scheduled for Feb. 17 in front of Washtenaw County 14A-1 District Court Judge J. Cedric Simpson.

Moore will next appear in court March 19 for the probable-cause hearing.

Michaels later told reporters that Moore was arrested based on “misleading statements.”

When the charges were filed, Washtenaw County assistant prosecutor Kati Rezmierski quoted Moore as telling the woman, “My blood is on your hands.”

Michaels, who spoke outside the courthouse after the status conference, took issue with that account, saying statements from the staff member were misleading and “full of omissions.”

“The arrest should be quashed, meaning the arrest is not valid, and any evidence taken or received as a result of that arrest should be quashed and suppressed,” Michaels said. “We are asking that the complaint be dismissed. It’s our belief … that without these misleading statements and omissions, there would be no probable cause for these charges.”

Moore stood nearby, but he declined to comment.

Moore arrived at court Wednesday with his family, including his wife, Kelli, with whom he shares three young children. The courthouse is less than 4 miles from Michigan Stadium, where Moore led the Wolverines the past two seasons, earning a salary of nearly $6 million.

That all ended Dec. 10, when the university said the staff member revealed the inappropriate relationship. The school’s human relations department had conducted a previous investigation into the situation, but both Moore and the staff member denied it then, and no evidence was discovered.

The staff member told authorities that she broke off the relationship with Moore on Dec. 8 but that she began to fear for her safety when he continued to try to contact her via phone and text. That led to her going to school officials, according to the prosecutor’s narrative.

Michaels said in court that the defense is seeking school phone records and information from a Title IX investigation, hence the need for delay. Prosecutors have until Feb. 2 to respond to that request.

Kyle Whittingham, who coached Utah for two decades, is the new Michigan coach.

ESPN’s Dan Wetzel and The Associated Press contributed to this report.