Collin Finnerty, one of the Duke lacrosse players charged with raping an exotic dancer, was convicted Tuesday on separate assault charges stemming from a Georgetown brawl.
U.S. Superior Court Judge John H. Bayly gave Finnerty a 30-day sentence, but suspended the jail time on the condition that Finnerty completes a six-month probation. Finnerty, 19, is barred from being around alcohol and from hanging around Georgetown.
Finnerty faced six months of jail time for the misdemeanor assault.
Finnerty, of Garden City, N.Y., still faces charges from the alleged rape of a woman during an off-campus party with his Duke lacrosse teammates. Finnerty, wearing a yellow tie with a blue blazer, didn’t answer questions after the trial. His attorney Steven McCool said the teen was nervous about the upcoming trial in North Carolina. Finnerty will appeal the conviction, he said.
During the two-day bench trial, prosecutors described Finnerty and two friends as the instigators in an unprovoked attack on two Arlington men on Wisconsin Avenue in Georgetown.
“Collin Finnerty and his friends were looking for a fight and would not be deterred,” prosecutor George Verghese said in closing arguments.
Finnerty agreed to participate in a first-time offender program that would allow him to erase his record if he performed 25 hours of community service and stayed out of trouble, but authorities removed him from the program after he was charged in the rape case.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
