Those who follow college basketball may remember that a Rice University basketball player, Jonathan Bailey, was stabbed to death in a bar fight in College Station, Texas in April, 2007.

In the interest of full disclosure, it must be stated that we knew Jon Bailey personal

ly.  Jon was a member of a big, loving family, who walked on at Rice as a soph

omore, after putting together an outstanding application to transfer to the school from Texas State.  He had known Willis Wilson, then the coach of Rice basketball, now an assistant at Memphis, for many years, having attended his camps as a kid, and Wilson encouraged him to come to Rice.

Jon was a thoughtful person, both personally and academically.  He cared for his mother and brothers more than anything else–that was the first thing one noticed.  Quiet in class, he nevertheless more than kept up with the philosophical discussions that come with being in humanities classes at one of the country’s most challenging universities.  Jon said he wanted to be President. People believed him.

On the court, Jon was the first off the bench to congratulate a teammate.  While he didn’t play much at Rice, his minutes on the court–even in shootaround–were clearly filled with joy, which he passed along to teammates and spectators alike.

In 2007, he and his twin brother Janson were celebrating their birthday at a bar in College Station. A former Marine and veteran of Iraq, Ronald Andrew Johnson, was also in the bar that night, with his friend Michael Fuller.

After that, the undisputed facts are these:

–The Bailey twins and Fuller got into a fight, and took it outside.

–The twins were beating Fuller when Johnson stepped in, pulling a knife.

–He stabbed both brothers, who were unarmed.

–Janson suffered a gash in his side and a punctured lung.

–Jon’s wounds were fatal.

Bailey was arrested and jailed, but his trial has been delayed until now, for various legal reasons. His lawyer has periodically made it clear that self-defense was the order of the day.

Yesterday, Johnson was acquitted of both the murder charge and the aggravated assault charge.

These are the questions we leave you with, readers:

1. Why would a combat-tested Marine need to pull a knife in a bar fight? (Jon was a basketball player, but a small one.)

2. Why did both brothers need to be stabbed to stop the fight?  The two were by all accounts close enough that one would immediately help the other, not continue a fight.

3. Why did Johnson, acting in self-defense, need to stab the Baileys more than once each?

We’re not usually ones to second guess the justice system, readers. What do you think?