ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, February 16, 1996 TAG: 9602160041
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: ALLISON BLAKE STAFF WRITER
MEMO: NOTE: Shorter version ran in Metro edition.
TONY MORRISON, who also may face charges of raping a former Tech student, was ordered to attend an alcohol education class.
Montgomery County General District Judge Thomas Frith dispensed a typical dose of justice Thursday to one of the hundreds of Virginia Tech students who wind up in court for drinking offenses.
But this time, the 19-year-old who walked out with a $500 fine and orders to attend an eight-week alcohol education class was Tech reserve linebacker Tony Morrison.
A former Tech student has accused Morrison and his roommate of raping her on campus, and is suing them and the school in an $8.3 million federal lawsuit. State police also are investigating whether criminal charges against Morrison and his roommate are warranted.
After the unrelated December incident at Arnold's, a downtown Blacksburg bar, Morrison was charged with petty larceny, destruction of property, public intoxication, and possession of false identification.
"Alcohol does funny things to people, doesn't it?'' Frith said.
Morrison settled with Arnold's for damages to a door and returned money he took from a tip jar, and those charges were dismissed, said his attorney, Joe Painter.
A charge that he had his brother's driver's license in his wallet was merged with a misdemeanor drunk-in-public charge. If Morrison successfully completes the alcohol education course, he will pay only a $100 fine and the charges will be considered just a motor vehicle violation, Painter said.
Coach Frank Beamer suspended Morrison from the Hokies after the December incident, which came only weeks after former student Christy Brzonkala went public with her allegations that Morrison sexually assaulted her in his dorm room in September 1994.
Virginia Tech's confidential judicial system failed her, she said, and reduced his punishment - a two-semester suspension - on a second appeal. Court papers show the university judicial system did not find enough evidence to punish Morrison's roommate, James Crawford, also named in the civil suit.
Brzonkala's attorney, Eileen Wagner, said Thursday that she tentatively plans to meet at the U.S. Justice Department next week with parties who may be interested in making the civil suit a test case for the Violence Against Women Act of 1994.
Neither Morrison nor Crawford has been served with legal papers, and Brzonkala has asked a U.S. district judge in Roanoke to sever them from her suit against Tech.
Lawyers for the university have asked the judge to dismiss the suit, saying that Brzonkala never alleges that the football players were acting as agents of Tech and that Tech is not liable for their actions. They also say she has failed to show a legitimate claim of sex discrimination by the school.
"The university has great compassion for what she has endured," says one filing by Tech in support of dismissing the case. "However, whatever happened in that dormitory room, and nobody may ever really know, is not cause to file a federal lawsuit against Virginia Tech."
Morrison's attorney also has filed a motion to dismiss the suit, even though his client has yet to be served with notice that he is being sued. "Because of the nature of the unfounded allegations in this case, he desires to have this matter resolved as quickly as possible in order to restore his good name and reputation," David Paxton wrote to the court.
Paxton also argues that the Violence Against Women Act, so far untested by the courts, is unenforceable because it is "unconstitutionally broad."
A hearing is scheduled Feb. 28 in federal court in Roanoke.
Morrison has maintained all along that whatever happened in his dorm room was consensual.
Morrison, of Chesapeake, attended court Thursday with his parents, Marilyn and James Sr., and his brother, James Jr. He stood before the judge and spoke softly. After the hearing, the family declined to comment, but Painter said the time will come for the family to have its say.
Meanwhile, Morrison's appearance in local court comes the same week Brzonkala's suit hits the national media. The New York Times and NBC have run stories. People magazine publishes a story soon, and CNN was slated to air a story Thursday night.
Over at Tech, administrators were mulling an offer to go head-to-head with Wagner on Geraldo Rivera's talk show, spokesman Larry Hincker said.
"They've asked us," he said. "We're toying with the idea. We've made no decision at all."
Wagner also addressed another question surrounding her case.
"Christy is not in this for money," she said.
The only compensation Brzonkala is expected to receive is $750 from "American Journal," which will pay previous legal costs, Wagner said. The money was in exchange for not breaking the story of the suit, but the story broke anyway, she said.
Staff writer Jan Vertefeuille contributed to this story.
LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ALAN KIM/Staff. Tony Morrison (second from left) leavesby CNBcourt Thursday with his mother, Marilyn, father, James, and attorney
Joe Painter.