Thursday, July 11

Appeals court accepts brief in Knight case

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Associated Press


INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indiana Court of Appeals has accepted a brief in the appeal of a lawsuit seeking to force Indiana University to release university records related to Bob Knight's firing.

The court accepted a friend of the court brief July 2 that was filed by the Hoosier State Press Association Foundation in the appeal of The Indianapolis Star's lawsuit against the IU Board of Trustees.

A judge ruled in November that IU does not have to release records related to Knight's firing as the Hoosiers' basketball coach.

The Star's lawsuit had sought records generated by the trustees, campus police and private investigators in the course of its investigation that led to Knight's dismissal.

In refusing to release the records, IU cited both federal law and state exemptions to the open records law.

The Star argued that IU waived its right to those exemptions when it voluntarily disclosed some of the records in news conferences held to announce its decisions related to Knight in May and September 2000.

``This shows other news organizations stand behind the Star,'' said Kevin Betz, an attorney for the Star. ``It shows these record should be public records and not held secret by Indiana University.''

Betz said he expected the appeals court to rule within the next six months.

Knight was fired Sept. 10, 2000, after violating a zero-tolerance conduct policy imposed the previous May following an investigation into an incident involving a former player.

Knight, who spent 29 seasons and won three national championships at Indiana, returned to coaching this year at Texas Tech.