Bail reduced for two Coachella Valley men involved in Vanderbilt rape case

A judge today reduced bail for two Coachella Valleymen accused of tampering with evidence in connection with the alleged rape ofan unconscious woman in a Vanderbilt University dormitory.

Miles Joseph Finley, 19, of Bermuda Dunes, and Joseph Dominick Quinzio,20, of Palm Desert were previously held without bail on warrants issued inTennessee, but a judge today reduced their bonds to $15,000 each at hearings atthe Riverside Hall of Justice.

Finley and Quinzio, who are charged with felony counts of tampering withelectronic evidence in the Vanderbilt case, were arrested Friday near theirhomes.

Riverside County District Attorney’s Office spokesman John Hall saidFinley declined today to waive extradition and is due back in court on Oct. 18.He said Finley’s attorney, Virginia Blumenthal, has been in contact withauthorities in Tennessee, but Blumenthal couldn’t be immediately reached.

Quinzio appeared in court Monday and also declined to waive extradition.His attorney, Brett Greenfield, told City News Service today that the judgeruled that Quinzio wasn’t a flight risk or a danger, and that Greenfield’soffice has been in contact with prosecutors in Tennessee.

He said his client would post bail today, and there has not been anextradition warrant filed for him in Tennessee.

“I don’t expect there’s going to be an extradition. I expect thismatter to be resolved one way or another,” Greenfield said this afternoon.

He said Quinzio is a college student and collegiate football player whowas “dragged into a very terrible situation … he wants nothing to do withthis, he wants to get as far away as possible. He’s done nothing wrong, he’sinnocent.”

His client “simply received a communication by way of cell phone whatwas unsolicited, unprompted, unasked for in any way,” Greenfield said, addingthe case has been “very damaging” to Quinzio.

Quinzio is also due back in court Oct. 18.

Finley also appeared in court in Indio on Tuesday, where he pleadedguilty to an unrelated misdemeanor charge of driving with a suspended license.Hall said the misdemeanor case needed to be resolved before the extraditionhearing on the Vanderbilt case could occur.

Finley and Quinzio are former teammates of Brandon Vandenburg, a 20-year-old Indio native charged with aggravated rape and aggravated sexual battery.Vandenburg and three other former Vanderbilt football players are accused ofsexually assaulting the unconscious 21-year-old student on June 23. All fourpleaded not guilty today in a Nashville courtroom.

Finley, Quinzio and Vandenburg all attended Xavier College PreparatoryHigh School in Palm Desert and played football there.

Finley and Quinzio were indicted Friday in Nashville, as was Vanderbiltwide receiver Chris Boyd, 21, who is charged with one felony count of being anaccessory after the fact, according to Nashville police. Boyd also pleaded notguilty today.

The indictment states that Finley and Quinzio, “knowing that aninvestigation or or official proceeding was pending, or in progress, didintentionally or knowingly alter, destroy, or conceal any record, document, orthing with intent to impair its verity, legibility, or availability as evidence…”

Nashville police Chief Steve Anderson said Friday that detectives werelooking at everyone who may have had some involvement in the alleged rape,before, during and after the fact.