I still don’t know what to think as I don’t know both sides of the story, but my first gut feeling is that the coach isn’t some monster; he was probably doing the same things that many other coaches do throughout the city, and country.
This story will grow and will have implications throughout the country; many high school coaches will be paying attention this.
When I played high school football in the early 80’s, we were drilled very hard, but that is just the way things were. I can remember our student manager slipping us one of those tiny ice cubes between water breaks, and it tasted like the greatest thing in the world at the time, but we got through.
I don’t know if things and kids are different today; we’ll see how this story plays out.
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PRP coach indicted in football player's death
Case is believed to be first such charge in U.S.
By Antoinette Konz and Jason Riley • The Courier-Journal • January 23, 2009
The head football coach of Pleasure Ridge Park High School has been charged with reckless homicide in the death of a 15-year-old player who collapsed from heat stroke at practice.
It's the first time a criminal charge has been filed in such a case involving a high school or college coach in the United States, according to sports experts.
David Jason Stinson was indicted yesterday by a Jefferson County grand jury in the death of sophomore lineman Max Gilpin, who collapsed Aug. 20 and died three days later at Kosair Children's Hospital, after his body temperature had reached 107 degrees.
If convicted, Stinson could be sentenced to five years in prison. His attorney, Alex Dathorne, said Stinson was "shocked" by the indictment.
"He will maintain his innocence, and I believe this will be tried in front of a jury where they will hear all of the evidence, including the testimony of Mr. Stinson," Dathorne said.
Jefferson Commonwealth's Attorney Dave Stengel, who made no recommendation to the grand jury, said grand jurors didn't find that Stinson's actions were intentional or malicious.
He said reckless homicide occurs when a "person fails to perceive a risk that a reasonable person in that situation would have seen" and that person's actions cause a death.
Stinson, who continued to direct the football team through the rest of its season, has been "reassigned to non-instructional duties pending the outcome of the case," Lauren Roberts, spokeswoman for Jefferson County Public Schools, said yesterday.
"He will have no contact with students," Roberts said.
Two players collapsed
Max and a second player collapsed during the practice in which PRP coaches were alleged to have withheld water and continued to run players on a day when the heat index reached 94 degrees. The second player, a senior, spent two days in the hospital.
Both Jefferson County Public Schools and Louisville Metro Police investigated Max's death after The Courier-Journal reported that bystanders near the practice field heard coaches deny the players water. Other witnesses heard the coaches say they would run the players until someone quit the team.
Dr. Fred Mueller, director of the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research at the University of North Carolina, was among several sports experts who said yesterday they had never heard of a high school or college coach facing such an indictment.
Mueller said the indictment of Stinson will be "an eye opener" for coaches who deny water to players.
Stengel said prosecutors were working with Stinson's attorney to have the coach turn himself in Monday, when he is to be arraigned in Jefferson Circuit Court. Stengel said his office would ask that Stinson be released on his own recognizance because he is not a flight risk or a danger to the community.
He added that his office did not seek charges against five other coaches on the team, determining they committed no criminal act.
All the coaches, however, have been named in a lawsuit filed in September by Max's parents, Michele Crockett and Jeff Gilpin, accusing them of negligence and "reckless disregard."
The parents released a statement through their attorneys yesterday afternoon, saying they intend to monitor the prosecution and "expect anyone responsible for Max's death to be held accountable."
Stinson, who walked with his attorneys to the Old Jail where the grand jury was meeting yesterday, was not present when the indictment was released.
Coach did not testify
Stinson asked to testify in front of the grand jury, but the jurors declined to hear from him, Stengel said. The grand jury heard only from a Louisville Metro Police detective.
Dathorne said he and Stinson were disappointed that the coach was not able to testify before the grand jury.
"He is eager to tell his side of the story," Dathorne said.
Stinson was in his first year as head football coach at PRP when Max died.
Todd Thompson, the attorney representing Max's mother, and Mike Cooper, the attorney representing his father, said yesterday that Max's parents are "very angry" now that some of the facts about what happened Aug. 20 are coming out.
Thompson and Cooper then released a joint statement from their clients.
"Five months after Max's death, the Jefferson County School Board and PRP High School still have not provided us with any information regarding their investigation of the events surrounding Max's death, claiming that the investigation is 'confidential.' But what we have learned about the coaches' conduct at the football practice that led to Max's collapse and death is inexcusable, as was the lack of urgency and the delay in seeking medical treatment after Max collapsed and never regained consciousness."
Roberts said Stinson has worked for the district full-time since August 2005, when he was hired as a technical teacher and assistant football coach at PRP.
Roberts added that the district's investigation is still ongoing and that "it has not been determined how this indictment will affect our investigation."
No action was taken by the district against any of the other football coaches at PRP, Roberts said.
Stinson is scheduled to give a deposition in the civil case on Feb. 13, according to Thompson.
"We expect him to appear because the judge has ruled that these cases will proceed on parallel tracks," Thompson said.
Reporter Antoinette Konz can be reached at (502) 582-4232.
Reporter Jason Riley can be reached at (502) 582-4727
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/2...GECAROUSEL
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Louisville HS football coach indicted for manslaughter charges against player
