Things Becoming More Uncomfortable For Ole Miss....

[Vantage 8 dude]

According to a Friday article authored by ESPN Senior Writer Mark Schlabach the whole Houston Nutt/Ole Miss saga continues to grind along with more and more public airing of legal issues. According to Schlabach the lead attorney for Houston, Thomas Mars, claims the university is trying to postpone the release of Hugh Freeze's phone records by redacting personal information from the calls, which isn't permitted under state law open record laws. In a letter sent to Ole Miss assistant general counsel Rob Jolly on Friday, Mars accused the school of a "pattern of concealing information from the public by manufacturing bogus exemptions and illegal roadblocks that plainly violate the FOIA". He further indicated that Ole Miss estimated the cost of searching, reviewing, redacting and duplicating Freeze's cell phone from June 2012 to present (estimated to be some 33,000 calls) will be $25,000. The school is still estimating the costs for records of Freeze's landline calls.

"I've been involved in media law and FOIA cases for thirty years" Mars told ESPN. "I've unsealed court records for the Wall Street Journal in the Whitewater matter and used the FOIA to obtain public records for countless cases involving government agencies. In all those years I've never encountered a government entity that was so defiant and so willing to just make up groundless reasons for keeping public records under wraps".

Frank LoMonte, executive director of the Student Press Law Center in Washington, D.C., also questioned whether Ole Miss  officials were legally allowed to redact Freeze's personal calls from the records. "The billing records for a university-owned cellphone are not 'exempt from disclosure'-they are classic public records that any requestor is entitled to inspect and copy. Nothing in the law explicitly authorizes what the university did-selectively removing material categorized as exempt from otherwise public records".

In a counter move, late Friday Ole Miss and its Board of Trustees filed a motion to have the lawsuit dismissed, arguing that they are immune to such legal actions due their being an "arm of the state of Mississippi" under the 11th Amendment. This prohibits such action against either the school or its Board of Trustees as "alter egos" of the State and therefore not 'citizens' for diversity jurisdiction purposes.

All these legal wrangling and maneuvers, not to mention the resignation of Freeze, just makes me wonder how much a refusal to make any apology, justified or not, to Nutt is ultimately going to end up costing Ole Miss. Seems to me the school would have been better off just "cutting its losses", make the apology-no matter how distasteful-and get on with its business. Seems a whole ton of pride (on both sides) are at play here and a prime example of the old saying that "Pride cometh before the fall".

[HappyFan]

"Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall".

[depressed_fan]

go nutt go !

[bphi11ips]

Tom Mars was a law school legend when I attended in Fayetteville not long after he graduated.  He was first in his class, Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review, and made the top score on the bar exam.  Ole Miss has a mess on its hands.

[hobhog]

The cover up is usually worse than the actual crime. They are digging a deeper hole.

[GuvHog]

The cover up is usually worse than the actual crime. They are digging a deeper hole.

I believe before its said and done more heads will roll at Ole Miss.

[go hogues]

I believe before its said and done more heads will roll at Ole Miss.

Hope so. Biggest collection of dbags on earth.

[clutch]

$25,000 to review phone records? Send them to me, I'll do it for $15,000. May take me a little longer since I'll be doing it on the side, but hey, they can't complain when they are getting that kind of discount.

[longtimeHogfan]

Jus' gets interestinger and interestinger....

[KlubhouseKonnected]

$25,000.00

My arse. They are trying to include their time in that. Not allowed. It's only actual cost of copy, print or production.

Not surprised Ole Miss is acting like this, the University of Arkansas is also able to get away with FOIA stuff that the in-state media would crucify any other state entity for doing. Ole Miss's problem is that it's not just their neighbors paying attention anymore.

[The_Iceman]

I think Nutt would get a standing O at Razorback stadium now after all this.

[Pig in the Pokey]

Tom Mars was a law school legend when I attended in Fayetteville not long after he graduated.  He was first in his class, Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review, and made the top score on the bar exam.  Ole Miss has a mess on its hands.

that is down-right frightening if you are ole miss i would imagine/

[bphi11ips]

that is down-right frightening if you are ole miss i would imagine/

And he has the Friday firm to back him up. 

The first three questions any seasoned defense lawyer asks when he gets a case are (1) who is the lawyer, (2) where is it filed, and (3) who is the judge?  Ole Miss should know better than to play games here.

[KlubhouseKonnected]

And he has the Friday firm to back him up. 

The first three questions any seasoned defense lawyer asks when he gets a case are (1) who is the lawyer, (2) where is it filed, and (3) who is the judge?  Ole Miss should know better than to play games here.

So few people can actually afford a good defense. I have only ever had one client that could pay me to go all the way to the mats for them. However I recently took a defense case for free just because I don't like the cut of the Plaintiff's (client or attorney but I am more motivated by the attorney's conduct) jib.

I am going to file and brief every possible motion, make every reply in meticulous detail and bury them in discovery.

Defense is the grind, plaintiffs just want to make it to court with as little work as possible.

I make these boys (and girls) work.

[Vantage 8 dude]

As I said earlier this whole thing has turned into a true nightmare for the retards. Not only have they lost Freeze, not that they likely are all that upset with what's still hanging over them with the NCAA, but every bit of dirty laundry is likely to be aired in public or at least in court records. "Cut your losses while you can" is often a wise move. However, you have to be willing to set aside your hubris; unfortunately for OM given their traditional arrogance I'm not sure that's even possible.

[247Hog]

This was reported right after he resigned. It's in the other threads about him.

[ricepig]

This was reported right after he resigned. It's in the other threads about him.

And unless it's been substantiated, it's message board fodder.

[clutch]

So far Briarcrest is saying they've never had reports of it by any parents, students, or faculty from the time he was there, but they are going to investigate if they have something substantial.

Sounds like this could be people just trying to pour on while he's vulnerable. Seems like someone would have came forward long before now if there was much truth to this. Especially after they watch him preach about how godly he is on TV everyday.

[MissippHog]

So far Briarcrest is saying they've never had reports of it by any parents, students, or faculty from the time he was there, but they are going to investigate if they have something substantial.

Sounds like this could be people just trying to pour on while he's vulnerable. Seems like someone would have came forward long before now if there was much truth to this. Especially after they watch him preach about how godly he is on TV everyday.

There was a girl that made a public post to Facebook stating she was glad to see him finally being held accountable for his actions and that he "was able to prey on underage girls at Briarcrest in a variety of ways."  She went on to say that it was reported at the time.  There were a couple of other girls that responded to her message with their own personal accounts as well.  That post has since been deleted.  There was also a closed Facebook group called Briar-B-Q Patch, not sure who had started it but they were looking for girls that were a "victim of Coach Hugh Freeze."

[Sivad]

Hugh Freeze and Ole Miss obviously intend to play every cheap litigation trick in the book.

[kodiakisland]

So far Briarcrest is saying they've never had reports of it by any parents, students, or faculty from the time he was there, but they are going to investigate if they have something substantial.

Sounds like this could be people just trying to pour on while he's vulnerable. Seems like someone would have came forward long before now if there was much truth to this. Especially after they watch him preach about how godly he is on TV everyday.

There have been public allegations for years.  People didn't care then.  Maybe they do now.

[Vantage 8 dude]

$25,000 to review phone records? Send them to me, I'll do it for $15,000. May take me a little longer since I'll be doing it on the side, but hey, they can't complain when they are getting that kind of discount.

Got 'ya beat 'cause I'll do it for $12.5k with a promise that all calls, embarrassing or not, have been accounted for. Can't beat that!

[Pig in the Pokey]

So few people can actually afford a good defense. I have only ever had one client that could pay me to go all the way to the mats for them. However I recently took a defense case for free just because I don't like the cut of the Plaintiff's (client or attorney but I am more motivated by the attorney's conduct) jib.

I am going to file and brief every possible motion, make every reply in meticulous detail and bury them in discovery.

Defense is the grind, plaintiffs just want to make it to court with as little work as possible.

I make these boys (and girls) work.

i love it. i may seek you out someday if needed