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DA wants UT athlete, others questioned about incid
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SouthLink02 Offline
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DA wants UT athlete, others questioned about incident
By DON JACOBS,
June 13, 2003

Knox County District Attorney General Randy Nichols asked police to question more people - including a University of Tennessee athlete - after meeting this week with a 16-year-old girl who alleges she was raped by a football player.

Nichols met the Knox County high school student and her mother on Wednesday in his office. The prosecutor said he requested the meeting so he could have "firsthand knowledge" of the case.

"I'm the one who's going to have to answer questions later on about this case," Nichols said. "And I wanted to meet her mother and assure her we're doing the best job we can."

After interviewing the girl, Nichols asked police investigators to speak with some people who might have seen or heard something on the day the girl said she was raped.

"Some new names came to light and we've asked police to check into that," he said. "We want to see if they saw or heard anything that would support her allegations."

One of the targeted interviewees, Nichols said, is a UT athlete. Some people might have seen the girl as she moved from one dorm room to another at Gibbs Hall, he said.

The 16-year-old and a 17-year-old girlfriend visited Gibbs Hall on campus on May 17. Gibbs Hall houses many of UT's athletes.

The next day the 16-year-old girl filed a rape report with the Police Department. She underwent an examination for rape at East Tennessee Children's Hospital. The girl alleged that a 19-year-old football player raped her in a dorm room between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Nichols said the girl told him she waited until the next day to report the alleged rape because of youthful confusion.

"Her age is probably the main reason," Nichols said. "She was in a world of uncertainty about what to do."

The football player has retained a lawyer and declined to provide police a statement about what occurred, Nichols said.

The 17-year-old girl apparently suspected the younger girl was going to accuse the athlete of misconduct, and she alerted other players, according to UT football coach Phillip Fulmer.

Some players told Fulmer about the situation. The coach contacted the 17-year-old girl to arrange a meeting on the night of May 17 to determine what had occurred.

Fulmer met the 17-year-old girl, her mother, and another adult relative at the Shoney's restaurant on Rutledge Pike. Fulmer said he asked his attorney, Jeffrey Hagood, to accompany him so he couldn't be accused of trying to influence the girl.

Nichols said he didn't "think there was anything sinister" about Fulmer's meeting with a girl who could be a witness in a criminal case against a UT athlete. But Nichols deemed it "disruptive."

"Police authorities are trained to conduct investigations and I don't think he is," Nichols said. "I would prefer to have a cleaner investigation."

Fulmer said he was trying to learn the truth of what occurred so he could make a decision about his player. The player remains on the team but was disciplined, Fulmer said, for showing bad judgment by allowing the girl in his dorm room.

The 17-year-old girl provided Fulmer a written statement during their meeting about what occurred in the dorm. Nichols said that statement has been made part of the investigative file.

On Thursday the Police Department released the two-page report on the alleged rape after refusing repeated requests by the News Sentinel for the record. The newspaper had requested the document under the state Open Records Act.

City Law Director Michael Kelley wrote that the city has "serious concerns about the potential public disclosure of the name of an alleged sexual assault victim, particularly a juvenile."

Editor Jack McElroy said the newspaper will handle the report with care.

"The News Sentinel is pleased that the city has recognized that police incident reports should be considered public record," McElroy said. "It's not our policy to publicize the names of sexual assault victims without their consent, and we certainly don't intend to do so in this case.

"But we believe the public's right to access is served by this decision."

Nichols' office had asked the Police Department to withhold the rape report from the public because it could hinder the investigation.
06-13-2003 11:00 AM
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orangetd88 Offline
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Well, we now know that the guy is at least a sophomore.
06-13-2003 11:20 AM
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