Suns' Morris twins arraigned on assault charges

The Phoenix Suns players accused of assault entered pleas of not guilty during a routine initial court appearance Thursday in downtown Phoenix.

Marcus and Markieff Morris, 25, dressed in black suits, approached the bench side by side for their arraignments Thursday in Maricopa Country Superior Court before they were separated to have their cases addressed individually.

The twins were scheduled to appear in court June 30 for their initial pre-trial conference.

The Morris brothers' mother, Angel, and their high school coach, Dan Brinkley, attended the court appearance, along with Suns senior vice president for communications and public affairs Maria Baier.

"Right now, we have no comment," Markieff said upon leaving the courthouse with Marcus after each twin was granted a personal recognizance bond.

The Suns players were each indicted in April on two felony accounts of aggravated assault, months after a man who said he was a longtime family friend told police that the Morris twins attacked him at a Phoenix recreation center.

The assault occurred in January at the Nina Mason Pulliam Recreation & Sports Complex near 15th Avenue and Colter Street, where the victim, Erik Hood, and a woman had been watching a basketball game, records show. The Morrises also attended that basketball tournament, where a club that they sponsor was playing.

Hood, 36, told investigators he and the woman were leaving the facility when they were accosted by a 25-year-old man at the game with the Morris twins, the report said.

During the confrontation, someone punched Hood in the back of the head, and Hood tried to flee, the report said.

On Thursday, Phoenix police released evidence that included a phone conversation between Hood and the Morrises' mother several days after the assault. Hood gave her a long rundown of the incident, starting with being approached by one suspect as he left the gym.

"He said, '(expletive), you know what time it is?' " Hood told Angel Morris. "I look at him. I said, 'What you talking about?' Some (expletive) just socked me from the back. Boom. I take off running. They catch up to me. They're kicking me, punching me, kicking me, punching me. Then when they're holding me on the ground, I hear (one suspect) say, 'Mook (Marcus' nickname), he trying to get up. Mook, he trying to get up.' I know why Marcus decided to come over there but he came over there and started kicking me, Angel. He came over there and started kicking. I didn't see Keef (Markieff's nickname) do anything. I didn't see Keef. But Mook came over there and was kicking me."

Hood continued for six minutes as Angel remained silent. He told her that he loved her sons, that he supported them from a distance after they stopped talking to him and that this was the first time he had seen them in the person since they started playing in the NBA in 2011.

"I don't know why they'd want to do this," Hood told her. "If that's what you want to do, just have (one suspect) and them two other dudes do it for them and then leave."

After he was done talking, Angel only says, "That's crazy," before later commenting how she did not know how much she could say on the phone.

Police said the man with the Morris twins and another person caught up with Hood outside the door near some picnic tables, where someone held Hood down while others kicked and punched him, records show.

Hood, 6 feet 5 and 245 pounds, says he was attacked by five people, in all.

Hood reportedly escaped a second time and was near the front of the complex when the group caught up to him and assaulted him again to the point of unconsciousness, according to the police report.

Witnesses told police they saw the five subjects flee in a Rolls-Royce Phantom, but none of them were able to identify any of the subjects. Investigators reportedly interviewed about two dozen additional witnesses who said they did not see anything or could not identify those involved.

Hood, who later identified the Morris twins and the 25-year-old man with them as three of his five attackers, suffered a broken nose, a large knot on the back of his head and abrasions, records show. In the phone call to the Morrises' mother, Hood also claimed that he needed back surgery. The woman who accompanied Hood to the game also verified the twins and the 25-year-old man as being part of the altercation.

Markieff Morris denied being part of the group of attackers but admitted being at the game. He reportedly told police he and his brother were there because they sponsor one of the teams.

Hood told police he had been a mentor to the twins and supported them financially for a time when they were high school students in Philadelphia. Hood, a former professional basketball player in Europe who now works as a club-level talent scout, also showed police photographs of himself with the Morris twins, the report said.

Hood said he had a falling out with the twins four years ago, before they were drafted into the NBA. At that time, the January assault's 25-year-old suspect misinterpreted a text message that he saw from Hood to the Morris' mother. Hood told police that the suspect relayed to the Morrises that he wanted their mother to be his girlfriend, prompting the falling out over the past few years.

Thursday's released evidence included screenshots of a text exchange that police said was between Hood and Angel Morris. It started the day before the incident and continued until the evening of the assault, including a message from Angel that she was upset with Hood.