Matt Boermeester's USC Expulsion Case Ruling Reversed by CA Court of Appeals

Rick Scuteri/Associated Press

A 2017 ruling that led to the expulsion of former USC Trojans kicker Matt Boermeester following a Title IX investigation by the school into alleged domestic violence was reversed by the California Court of Appeals on Thursday, according to Ryan Kartje of the Los Angeles Times. 

The ruling found that USC's findings in its investigation "were unfair because they denied Boermeester a meaningful opportunity to cross-examine critical witnesses at an in-person hearing." Boermeester sued the school following his expulsion.

The court also wrote that USC's investigation "prevented Boermeester from fully presenting his defense, which was that the eyewitnesses misunderstood what happened between him and [his girlfriend] on Jan. 21, 2017."

Boermeester will now be given the chance to cross-examine witnesses at the superior court. 

USC expelled Boermeester in 2017 after two USC students said they saw him push his girlfriend, Zoe Katz, against the wall and put his hands around her neck. Boermeester had argued that the pair were simply "horsing around."

According to Kartje, Katz initially confirmed that accounting of events when she was questioned by investigators, though she later said the statement she made to the school was "misrepresented, misquoted, and taken out of context."

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"I made it very clear to USC that I have never been abused, assaulted or otherwise mistreated by Matthew Boermeester; not on Jan. 21, 2017, and not ever," she added.

Boermeester spent two seasons with USC's football program (2015-16), appearing in 17 games.