Kansas basketball player Arterio Morris pleaded no contest Thursday in Denton County, Texas, court to a Class C misdemeanor assault — a lesser offense than the Class A misdemeanor he was facing. That means Morris will not go to trial for the assault case, which stemmed from an altercation with an ex-girlfriend in June 2022.
The case against Morris was filed on Nov. 15 of last year, when Morris was in his first season playing basketball for the University of Texas. After several continuances, Morris had been scheduled to go to trial on Oct. 2. Thursday’s plea resulted in the cancellation of that trial.
Morris will have to pay a $362 fine but will face no other legal penalties.
The complainant in the case had put forth an affidavit of non-prosecution — a signed document stating they no longer want to seek charges in a given case — on July 24, but the Denton County Criminal District Attorney’s Office said the following day that it intended to continue pursuing the case regardless.
Since then, Morris traveled to Puerto Rico for the KU basketball team’s preseason exhibition trip and the court issued several subpoenas. There had been no additional significant action until the plea was entered Thursday.
Kansas Athletics had no comment.
Morris’ attorney Justin Moore and Denton County First Assistant District Attorney Jamie Beck did not respond to requests for comment Thursday afternoon.