ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Tuesday, February 27, 1996             TAG: 9602270119
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C-3  EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JAN VERTEFEUILLE STAFF WRITER

JUDGE ORDERS LAWYERS TO KEEP MUM ABOUT TECH TRANSCRIPTS

A federal judge Monday forbade attorneys from releasing information contained in the transcripts of two Virginia Tech football players' campus judicial hearings on rape allegations.

Chief U.S. District Judge Jackson Kiser issued an order Friday granting Christy Brzonkala's attorney, Eileen Wagner, access to transcripts and recordings from two campus hearings last year. The hearings were to determine whether roommates Tony Morrison and James Crawford raped Brzonkala in their dorm room one night in September 1994.

The first hearing panel found Morrison guilty and took no action against Crawford because of insufficient evidence. Morrison appealed, and a second hearing found him guilty of the lesser charge of using abusive language.

Brzonkala wants to review the transcripts as part of her civil suit against Tech and the two players. Tech asked the judge to issue an order compelling the school to turn the transcripts over so it would be in compliance with privacy laws that normally forbid disclosure of student records.

Kiser's order Friday said the documents were to be turned over to Wagner by 5 p.m. Monday. Wagner has until Friday to file an amended lawsuit with new allegations and possibly a new defendant.

Morrison's attorney Monday asked Kiser to enter an amended order forbidding dissemination of the documents to anyone besides people involved in the case and court personnel. David Paxton cited "intense media coverage" in asking for the order, which requires written consent by all parties before information can be released from the records except for use in the court case.

Publicity of the case suggests "that there are some who would like the allegations in this case to be tried in the press, instead of the courtroom," Paxton's motion said.

Both sides appear to find support for their case in the transcripts.

Brzonkala's lawsuit alleges that Morrison admitted at one hearing that Brzonkala told him "no" twice, but that he had sex with her anyway. Morrison's attorney has insisted that the sex was consensual.

Tech said in its response to her suit that Brzonkala has made inconsistent statements between the hearings and her lawsuit.

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