Reported Knoxville rape, sexual assault involves Vol football players

[oldbear]

The statement from the plaintiffs' lawyer reads like a UT advertisement. That was probably negotiated too. I just hope they clean this crap up so young girls can be safer at college. Speaking as a father of two college daughters it is disgusting and I wish they would let the girls' dads give out the punishment.

[Mike_e]

The statement from the plaintiffs' lawyer reads like a UT advertisement. That was probably negotiated too. I just hope they clean this crap up so young girls can be safer at college. Speaking as a father of two college daughters it is disgusting and I wish they would let the girls' dads give out the punishment.

Never happen.

That would be too much like right.

[dhizzle]

What a shame, I was hoping the vols would go down.

[Hog_Swanson]

UT will still be on a watch list somewhere, but this is their chance to straighten up and fly right.

[KlubhouseKonnected]

They must have got a "courtesy call"

[Karma]

Has anyone checked on Pig in the Pokey? I think he was expecting them to close their campus.

[razoredge178]

The lawsuit wasn't scheduled to start until May 2018? Our government is a fine-tuned machine isn't it...?

[KlubhouseKonnected]

The lawsuit wasn't scheduled to start until May 2018? Our government is a fine-tuned machine isn't it...?

The discovery process on a lawsuit of that magnitude would be immense. The plaintiffs would need that time. Federal District courts do a pretty good job in my experience.

[Pig in the Pokey]

Best part is the independent review. Hopefully it will be some bulldogs like Baylor hired. Slime Vols settled like we all predicted.

[jbcarol]

University of Tennessee-Knoxville has reached a settlement in a lawsuit about sexual assaults involving student-athletes, ending a dispute that pitted eight young women against the $126 million football program.

UT will pay the plaintiffs $2.48 million, a sum that also includes fees for their attorneys.

School officials also agreed to the appointment of a special independent commission to review the response to sexual assaults at all universities within the UT system. Under the terms of the settlement, the university did not admit to "guilt, negligence or unlawful acts."

The plaintiffs, in turn, agreed to withdraw two complaints over the university's handling of sexual assaults filed with the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights in 2015, but it's unknown whether that will end the ongoing probe of possible violations of federal Title IX rules that govern how colleges and universities must respond to sexual assaults. Withdrawing a complaint does not necessarily end federal action, an Education Department spokesman said Tuesday. The women and their parents also agreed not to comment on their allegations or the settlement.

The cost of the settlement will be split equally between the university's central administration and the athletics department —

It is the third financial settlement involving the athletics department under the leadership of Dave Hart in two years.

The lawsuit encircled UT football coach Butch Jones, who was accused of calling a player a traitor after the young man helped a woman who said she had been raped. Jones never directly denied using the word "traitor," but said he would never belittle someone for helping a rape victim. Weeks later, the player transferred to UT-Chattanooga.

The lawsuit put UT in the national media spotlight. In a display of unity, all 16 UT head coaches spoke at a news conference two weeks after the suit was filed to praise the athletics program and its culture, and reassure current and potential students that the campus was safe.

The settlement means that prominent UT coaches including Jones, athletics director and vice chancellor Hart, outgoing Chancellor Jimmy Cheek and President Joe DiPietro will not be deposed or face questioning at a trial.

Only two of the six former athletes — five football players — implicated by the lawsuit faced criminal charges. Former UT players A.J. Johnson and Mike Williams pleaded not guilty to rape charges and are awaiting trial.

However, five of the implicated athletes and one nonathlete named in the federal lawsuit were found by the university's own internal investigation to have committed sexual assaults, but were allowed to remain on campus, graduate or transfer to other schools while the sexual assault investigations continued, in some cases for years, according to the plaintiffs.

[jbcarol]

Jimmy Hyams ‏@JimmyHyams Jul 7

BREAKING NEWS: Regarding Title IX lawsuit against UT, appointment date for Nashville attorneys Neal & Harwell was June 18, 2015.

That means firm was hired BEFORE lawsuit was filed Feb. 24, suggesting firm was in on settlement talks before lawsuit was filed

To date, the total amount State is paying for legal services and expenses to Neal & Harwell is $539,747.76

Legal fees are initially paid out of a billing account for Special Litigation, but are billed back to UT. So UT ultimately pays these fees

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Carvell_AJC/status/750793311812718592

University of Tennessee paid $2.48 million to reach a legal settlement involving the Title IX lawsuit and eight plaintiffs...

Maybe the school should have settled the civil suit when the opportunity first arose a year ago, but UT administrators felt it a battle worth fighting, defending the school's culture even as the cases mounted.

It reached a point that, even had Tennessee won its case, the legal fees would have exceeded a reported $5 million.

The bad publicity that would have accompanied the case would have been even more costly.

Regardless of wins and losses accredited to their various athletic platforms, the Vols have been viewed as losers of sorts for some time, and the Title IX case accentuated that notion.

It has been nine long years since the UT athletic program has been at the top of its game.

In 2007, Phillip Fulmer...

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/wesrucker247/status/750815104552333312

https://twitter.com/TimSullivan714/status/750824352447340545

[jbcarol]

Timeline (slide show) of the University of Tennessee Title IX lawsuit that was settled for $2.48 million

[jbcarol]

John Brice ‏@John_DBrice 20m20 minutes ago

. @UTCoachJones says he doesn't view #TitleIX lawsuit as "being behind us. We will continue our 4th-and-1 program, continue to educate."

[jbcarol]

SEC Media Days best reaction to an off-field issue

Butch Jones was the first athletic department member to speak publicly on the university's recently settled sexual assault lawsuit. Whether or not it was the best answer, he at least came to Hoover with a prepared approach.

"I don't view it as a relief," Jones said of the settlement. "I don't view it as put behind us. I think that's a serious matter, a serious issue that every college, every university, every college campus faces. And it's also in society as well, so we'll continue to have that as a learning experience for our football program."

[jbcarol]

On SportsCenter, Butch Jones was asked what he tells prospective recruits about Tennessee's Title IX lawsuit

"We're very open about it. We constantly educate our players. When we go into these houses they know what we're about as people. They know the culture that we have in place. I can tell you this my own son is a member of the University of Tennessee football family and it starts with me first and foremost."

Jones also explained how his staff has taken steps to further educate Tennessee's current players, saying "over 60 speakers" have talked to the team. Jones said he's also split the team into groups of 10 and had 1-on-1 sessions promoting growth and maturity this offseason.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Carvell_AJC/status/756169134312984576

Bama compliance director and associate athletics director Jonathan Bowling has left Tuscaloosa to take the same role at Tennessee, according to John Brice.

Bowling is considered one of the best compliance directors in the country.

Alabama self-reported 19 secondary NCAA violations earlier this month. That would have been under Bowling's direction (unless he left before this announcement). These were all relatively minor violations — including the five reported on the football team —

[jbcarol]

Jimmy Hyams ‏@JimmyHyams Jul 27

Tennessee DT Alexis Johnson [not to be confused with former Vol AJ Johnson, subject of the OP] has asked for UT Student Judicial hearing regarding charge of aggravated assault, attorney Greg Isaacs confirmed

Student Judicial hearing would expedite the case, as opposed to having an administrative judge. Isaacs said he hopes for a hearing in August

A junior college transfer, Johnson was suspended from the team in February after charged with aggravated assault and false imprisonment

On April 21, judge reduced charge to misdemeanor domestic assault, dropped false imprisonment provided Johnson is trouble free for 6 months

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Carvell_AJC/status/760154808556908545

Tennessee will have every player present and participating in its opening practice Monday afternoon, with the exception of Alexis Johnson who remains suspended...

Johnson is not on the Tennessee roster and has been suspended since February, when the junior college transfer was arrested on charges of aggravated assault and false imprisonment.

Johnson had the charge of false imprisonment charge dropped in April, and the felony aggravated assault charge was reduced to a misdemeanor assault that could be dropped in October.

Johnson is a 6-4, 297-pound defensive tackle from Jonesboro

[jbcarol]

DT Alexis Johnson (continues to be suspended, Jimmy Hyams reported he had his Student Judicial Hearing on Wednesday)

https://twitter.com/JimmyHyams/status/763449964521455616

Johnson was suspended from UT team in February after being charged with false imprisonment and aggravated assault.

On April 21, judge reduced charge to misdemeanor domestic assault, dropped false imprisonment provided Johnson is trouble free for 6 months

A few weeks ago, Johnson asked for student judicial hearing to expedite case rather than having administrative judge, atty Greg Isaacs said

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/JesseReSimonton/status/800776972163055617

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/jamiescoop/status/811287782094147585

three-judge panel of the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals on Tuesday heard arguments on whether former University of Tennessee football star A.J. Johnson and ex-teammate Michael Williams can use subpoenas to force the pair's accuser in a November 2014 alleged rape and her friends - state witnesses - to turn over social media posts, messages and texts.

Police didn't even try to get the information, and prosecutors have been trying to block the defense from getting it. At Tuesday's hearing Assistant Attorney General Nicholas Spangler argued the defense isn't entitled to the information via subpoena and, since the state doesn't have it, prosecutors cannot be compelled to supply it either.

That rankled Appellate Judge Curwood Witt Jr.

"The state of Tennessee did everything possible to refrain from acquiring this information," Witt told Spangler.

Spangler insisted the defense cannot even show the information they seek is "relevant and material," a showing required by court rules and case law. Witt countered the defense cannot show what it cannot see.

"The state tries to use some deflection ... that (the defense) didn't show a basis for materiality," he said. "They're coming in saying, 'We can't show that until we get the material."

Witt also balked at Spangler's argument the accuser and witnesses have the right to keep private communication, even on social media, private.

"If the individual places material out in cyberspace ... how in the world can some kind of privacy right be maintained," Witt said. "We have always upheld if a citizen has evidence that is relevant and material, they have a duty to respond in a positive way to make that evidence available. What you said belies that."

Appellate Judge Norma McGee Ogle chimed in, noting Knox County Criminal Court Judge Bob McGee already determined the information could be "relevant and material" to the defense even though he later barred the two former teammates from getting it via subpoena.

The court did not rule from the bench Tuesday, but its decision will shape the fast-emerging issue of social media as society's primary method of communication at a time when the law doesn't have a legal app for that. Lawyers in civil court have been snatching Facebook posts for use in divorce and custody fights for a while now, but the rules for access to evidence are much more stringent in criminal court.

Johnson and Williams were accused by a UT female athlete of raping her in Johnson's bedroom at his South Knoxville apartment during a drunken post-football game party. Johnson and his accuser had been intimate before, according to court records, and he and Williams insist the encounter was consensual. She says it wasn't.

What defense attorneys Stephen Ross Johnson and Tom Dillard, on behalf of Johnson, and Williams' attorneys, David Eldridge and Loretta Cravens, want to know is what she and her friends said before, during and after the incident. The Knoxville Police Department brought up social media in a warning fashion to the accuser and her friends but didn't officially request their posts or even texts from their phones. The accuser and her best friend - and one of the state's star witnesses - insisted their phones malfunctioned, so they ditched them.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/sbarchenger/status/852296590702379009

A state appellate court ruled Wednesday that former University of Tennessee star linebacker A.J. Johnson and a former teammate have the right to go after the social media history of the woman who accuses them of rape and her friends in their bid to prove they are wrongfully accused.

The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals sided with lead defense attorneys Stephen Ross Johnson and David Eldridge on behalf of A.J. Johnson and Michael Williams, respectively, in a ruling that not only may bolster their claim of innocence but now opens the door for defense attorneys in criminal cases to directly seek from witnesses social media history without relying on prosecutors or police to do so.

A.J. Johnson and Williams are accused of raping a female UT athlete at Johnson's apartment during a party in November 2014. The pair deny the aggravated charges and say the encounter was consensual. To boost that claim, the defense pointed to text messages between Johnson and the accuser showing the pair had engaged in casual sex before the party.

Although interviews by the Knoxville Police Department of the accuser and witnesses indicated all had used social media to discuss various aspects of the case, the agency did not follow up with a search warrant to get that social media history. The defense then sought to get it on its own, using subpoenas. The state balked. Knox County Criminal Court Judge Bob McGee backed the state but allowed the defense to appeal because of the statewide implications of the issue.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/jamiescoop/status/874971542668574720

Make legal history.

Stand up for victims' rights.

That's the bait the state attorney general's office is dangling before a conservative-leaning Tennessee Supreme Court to persuade justices to use the case of a star football player whose sports career was waylaid by rape allegations to block the accused from perusing the text messages and social media chatter of accusers and witnesses.

The AG's office this week filed a brief asking the state's high court to strike down a ruling earlier this year by the Court of Criminal Appeals in the case of former star University of Tennessee linebacker A.J. Johnson and ex-teammate Michael Williams.

Johnson and Williams are accused in Knox County Criminal Court of raping a female UT athlete at Johnson's apartment during a party in November 2014. The pair deny the aggravated rape charges and say the encounter was consensual. To boost that claim, the defense pointed to text messages between Johnson and the accuser showing the pair had engaged in casual sex before the party.

There's an app for that

The defense wanted to see more of the talk among the accuser and three of her friends and sought to demand that information directly from them. Prosecutors wanted to block that move...

[jbcarol]

Wes Rucker
‏Verified account@wesrucker247

Nearly four years after being arrested and dismissed from the program, former #Vols A.J. Johnson and Michael Williams on Friday were found not guilty of rape: http://bit.ly/2K248L4

Knox County jury on Friday night found two former University of Tennessee football players — including star linebacker A.J. Johnson — not guilty of rape charges initially filed nearly four years ago.

Knox County Assistant District Attorney General Leslie Nassios made the prosecution's final argument Friday morning, arguing that Johnson and teammate Michael Williams raped a female UT athlete in Johnson's bedroom during a postgame party in November 2014. Both players were dismissed from the program and haven't played a down of college or professional football since their arrests.

The accuser case told jurors she initially consented to having sex with Johnson that night despite Williams and another woman being in the room, and that she'd had sex with Johnson on two previous occasions. She said she didn't consent later in the evening, though, when Johnson reentered the room and told Williams to lock the door before both players had sex with her. She told jurors that she asked both players to stop, but that neither stopped.

Both defense attorneys in the case — Stephen Ross Johnson for A.J. Johnson, and David Eldridge for Williams — argued that the sex was consensual but that the accuser claimed she was raped only after others at the party learned of the situation.

"She never knew it would get this out of control," Johnson's attorney told jurors, according to the KNS. "She can't turn that back."

Both defense attorneys told jurors there was a lack of evidence in the case, citing a lack of forensic evidence and third-party eyewitness accounts. Williams' attorney said he didn't see enough evidence to even charge either player in the matter.

After a seemingly endless series of delays, the trial finally got underway with last week's jury selection. Testimony began Monday, and plans for A.J. Johnson to defend himself were scrapped when the defense attorneys told jurors that they didn't plan to call any witnesses to the stand, citing a lackluster performance by the prosecutors.

Prosecutors argued to jurors that were was a conspiracy in the case, citing what they called improper conversations between then-Tennessee head coach Butch Jones and investigators early in the process. They argued that Jones being tipped off (by UT athletics' KPD liaison) about the investigation allowed the coach to speak with Johnson and give both players time to destroy incriminating evidence before they were arrested.

[ALLVOL]

This entire fiasco was ridiculous. Soon as it was discovered that the alleged destroyed her phone and her friends destroyed their phones in order to hide evidence, the case should've been dismissed. Then the prosecutors wanting to block exculpatory evidence in this and all cases is shameful.