ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 8, 1996 TAG: 9602080103
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETTY HAYDEN STAFF WRITER
NOTE: Lede
State police will investigate a former Virginia Tech student's allegations that two football players raped her in their dorm room in September 1994.
Christy Brzonkala on Tuesday accepted an offer the state attorney general's office extended Jan. 26 to ``conduct an immediate and thorough criminal investigation.''
Eileen Wagner, Brzonkala's attorney, said the attorney general's action ``indicates to me the seriousness with which he regards these allegations.''
Mark Miner, a spokesman for Attorney General Jim Gilmore, said Gilmore is concerned about sexual assault cases on college campuses, and ``in this instance, he wants to get all the facts.''
Wagner said her client is ``gratified that she's not going to be forced to live with the decisions she made before.'' Brzonkala says she did not go to police immediately after the alleged incident because she was in shock.
When she did pursue charges against Tony Morrison and James Crawford seven months later, it was through Tech's internal judicial system. She believed it was too late to press criminal charges because she couldn't provide any physical evidence.
Administrators who heard the case decided there was not enough evidence against Crawford, but they found Morrison guilty of sexual misconduct. That finding was overturned on appeal, and a second panel found him guilty only of using abusive language and suspended him for two semesters.
He appealed the suspension on the grounds that it was unduly harsh. The university provost reduced his punishment to probation and ordered him to attend a one-hour counseling session.
Brzonkala said she went to the players' dorm room with an acquaintance after the men, whom she did not know, whistled at them from a third-floor window. The women were returning from a party where, Brzonkala said, she drank four beers in two or three hours, but they were ``sober, pretty much.''
She said that after Crawford and the other woman left the room, Morrison raped her, Crawford returned and raped her, and then Morrison raped her again.
Crawford said he did not have sex with her, and Morrison said that whatever happened that night was consensual.
Brzonkala filed an $8.3 million civil suit against Tech, Morrison and Crawford in December. She filed motions in federal court Wednesday asking a judge to break the suit into two parts. Wagner said they want to delay the suit against the players until state police complete their investigation.
The suit has attracted the attention of national media organizations such as People magazine and the television programs ``Inside Edition'' and ``Geraldo.''
Tech officials welcomed the announcement. The state police will not look into the school's involvement.
``We think this is good news,'' said spokesman Larry Hincker. ``If there had been a police investigation [to begin with], all of this brouhaha might not have occurred.''
David Paxton, the Roanoke attorney who represents Morrison, said he's not sure what there is to investigate but he's sure it won't turn up anything against his client.
``I'm confident that it won't lead to any criminal prosecution. I don't think there's any way any jury in the world would find Tony Morrison guilty of an offense in this case.''
Paxton has not spoken to the media for several weeks. In part, he said, that's because Morrison hasn't been served in the civil suit and because ``it's not the normal practice to attempt to try a civil case in the newspapers.
``I have been quiet, and it's been difficult for the family, very difficult for Tony.''
Crawford said at his Blacksburg home Wednesday that he would ``rather not talk about it.''
Neither player has been served in the civil action.
What happens next.
State police will investigate Christy Brzonkala's allegation that Virginia Tech football players Tony Morrison and James Crawford raped her in their dorm room Sept. 22, 1994.
A judge must rule on Tech's motion to dismiss Brzonkala's civil suit against Tech and the two football players and on Brzonkala's motion to divide the suit into two parts. Brzonkala's attorney wants to put the case against Morrison and Crawford on hold until state police wrap up their criminal investigation.
LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Christy Brzonkala\Welcomes state's role. color. Graphic:by CNBchart. color.