ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, December 18, 1996 TAG: 9612180042
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: LISA K. GARCIA STAFF WRITER
LAWYERS FOR two players charged with rape filed a $32 million lawsuit, accusing their accuser of attempted extortion.
Two Virginia Tech football players charged with rape were suspended from the team Tuesday - hours after they filed a $32 million lawsuit against their accuser.
Lawyers for starting fullback Brian Edmonds and reserve wide receiver James Crawford filed the lawsuit accusing a fellow Tech student of several crimes - including attempted extortion - the night she said she was attacked. Blacksburg police arrested the two players Monday on rape and attempted sodomy charges in connection with the woman's complaint.
In an interview with WDBJ (Channel 7), the woman said she was intoxicated and the men took advantage of her after everyone else left a party early Saturday at the players' apartment. Once it registered that the men were raping her, she yelled for help and the men ran, the woman told WDBJ.
University officials announced Tuesday evening that Edmonds, a senior, and Crawford, a sophomore, were suspended from the team and that neither would play in the Orange Bowl game.
``Brian Edmonds will not ever play football again at Virginia Tech,'' Athletic Director Dave Braine said. ``James Crawford's future is up in the air.''
``This is a serious charge, and the police would not have arrested them had they not sufficient evidence to support the belief that a crime has occurred,'' he said.
Braine apologized to fans for ``the alleged criminal activity'' that reflects badly on Tech.
Matt Pethybridge, one of the lawyers representing the players, attacked the Blacksburg Police Department's handling of the case and said it "worked on a presumption of guilt" when investigating complaints against football players.
Since December 1995, 18 current or former Tech football players have been charged with crimes. Four have been convicted of the original charge, two have been convicted of lesser offenses, four have had charges dismissed, and 10 still have charges pending. That adds up to 20 because two players with charges pending also were convicted of misdemeanors this year.
Police Chief Bill Brown would not respond to Pethybridge's comments. He said Edmonds and Crawford filed official complaints against the woman Tuesday and police are investigating.
The woman denied requests Tuesday for an interview with this newspaper. But Monday night, the woman answered the door at her apartment and reluctantly talked to a Roanoke Times reporter about the incident.
When asked about allegations that her complaint was an effort to get money, she said she did not report the incident to seek money. She acted because the players had violated her, she said.
When told that the players denied having sex with her, she shook her head as her roommate put her arms around her.
Skip Schwab, Montgomery County's assistant commonwealth's attorney, said the woman was examined at a hospital and evidence was taken during the examination. It may take weeks for the results to return from the state lab, he said.
On Monday, Joe Painter, lead attorney for the players, questioned the woman's credibility.
But a Tech faculty member painted a different picture.
According to Bev Watford, there has never been any question of the student's credibility in her dealings with her. Watford is director of minority engineering programs for the College of Engineering. Watford's programs target women and ethnic minorities in engineering. Women account for about 17 percent of the college's approximately 5,000 students.
Watford had regular contact with the student through the spring and called her the type of person she would think of when asked to suggest a few students to meet with a visiting recruiter. Watford described her as "very well spoken. Very bright and very polite, mannerly. Just a nice girl."
Both Crawford and Edmonds have had prior brushes with the law.
In Crawford's case, a federal lawsuit in another rape allegation has yet to be disposed. It was filed by Christy Brzonkala, a former Tech student, who said she was raped by Crawford and another football player in a dorm room in September 1994. The 20-year-old Crawford pleaded guilty in February to disorderly conduct in connection with a hit-and-run accident.
Edmonds, 22, was among the players indicted in November on assault charges after a nine-week investigation into an Aug. 31 brawl on College Avenue.
In their lawsuit, the men say the woman was at a party at their apartment that lasted from about 10 p.m. Friday to 2 a.m. Saturday. She left, came back at about 5 a.m., broke into the apartment and attacked Crawford with a boot and kicked a door, the lawsuit states.
According to WDBJ, the woman admitted that she hit Crawford with a boot and that she returned to the apartment to confront the men "because she wanted to hurt them like they hurt her."
Pethybridge said the rape, according to the woman, took place between 1:15 and 2 a.m.
"We are prepared to bring in witnesses from the women's track team that will testify that she could not possibly have been raped in the time she says," Pethybridge said.
The lawsuit charges that the woman trespassed, slandered Crawford and Edmonds, assaulted Crawford and attempted to extort money from the players in exchange for not pressing charges. The lawsuit also states the woman intentionally caused emotional distress for the players and interfered with their future ability to earn money as NFL players.
The Associated Press and staff writers Robert Freis, Brian Kelley and Elizabeth Obenshain contributed to this story.
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