Whitman County Prosecutor Denis Tracy on Monday declined to charge Washington State safety Shalom Luani in connection with a fight at a Pullman Domino’s Pizza that left one man with a broken nose and Luani with a concussion.

Tracy said the investigation showed that Luani probably threw the punch Aug. 24 that broke the nose of Kyle Medina, but that a jury would also probably believe that Luani was acting in self defense.

In a letter written to the man who suffered the broken nose, Medina, Tracy explained his rationale for not pursuing the case against Luani. While the injury Medina suffered would warrant a felony charge, Tracy said he had to consider other factors.

“In this case, I believe there is enough evidence from which a jury could conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Luani hit Mr. Medina, once, with a fist to the nose, breaking the nose,” Tracy wrote. “In this case, it is my view that no reasonable jury could conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Luani was not acting in self defense.”

Speaking at his 12:30 p.m. weekly news conference, coach Mike Leach was asked about the Luani case. “I don’t have anything to say about it,” Leach said. “I’m just rooting for justice to happen on all fronts.”

In his letter released at 1:35 p.m., Denis wrote that he carefully reviewed police reports and an accompanying video, which showed Luani pushing Medina inside the pizza parlor before the scrum moved outside.

“Although there does appear to be some physical contact in that push, Mr. Medina is not injured in any way,” Tracy said. “Mr. Medina quickly follows Mr. Luani outside, and is in turn quickly followed by a number of other young men”/Thomas Clouse, SR. More here (subscription).

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