ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, February 4, 1997 TAG: 9702040122
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ALLISON BLAKE AND LISA GARCIA STAFF WRITERS
A woman who accused two Virginia Tech football players of raping her has asked a judge to dismiss a $32 million lawsuit they filed against her.
James Crawford and Brian Edmonds, who were charged by Blacksburg police with rape and sodomy in December, sued the woman one day after they had been charged.
The woman told police she was raped in an apartment early Dec. 14; the players contend she broke into their apartment hours later and demanded money.
In papers filed Jan. 24, the woman's attorney says the players' suit should be dismissed for two reasons:
First, the woman denies she broke into the players' apartment and threatened to extort money.
And second, she asks that their suit be dismissed because it wasn't filed as two separate lawsuits.
The papers were filed by the woman's attorney, Margaret Stone of Radford.
To the latter claim attorney Matt Pethybridge said: "She is absolutely right. We were trying to save filing fees."
Pethybridge, a lawyer in the firm that represents Edmonds and Crawford, said Stone's request for dismissal is unfounded. State law says the legal point she uses is not grounds for dismissal, he said. At best, he said, Stone will succeed in having the lawsuit split into two.
Stone also filed two long lists asking both Crawford and Edmonds detailed questions about the night in question -Dec. 13-14 -and previous disciplinary actions or charges that may have been brought against them.
With the preliminary hearing in their criminal trial about two weeks away, on Feb 20, the commonwealth's attorney who will prosecute the rape charges said he didn't know whether the players' responses would be available to him.
"I don't know if I'd use them in the preliminary hearing; [they] might be useful at trial," said Skip Schwab, assistant commonwealth's attorney.
Pethybridge said he doesn't care if Schwab has access to his clients' answers. He called several of the questions "irrelevant."
"My overview sense is that they are outrageously objectionable," Pethybridge said of the questions.
"There's no reason to worry about any of this because they [Crawford and Edmonds] didn't do anything wrong. There's nothing in here I will be ashamed to provide to the commonwealth's attorney's office," Pethybridge said.
The two lists, called "interrogatories" and "request for admissions" are part of the discovery process in the civil trial, and present a second type of investigation while criminal proceedings are under way.
Among Stone's papers are statements such as "You drank alcoholic beverages at the Party" and "You consumed illegal drugs at the Party," to which essentially yes/no answers are expected. She also asks for responses to questions such as: "Describe every one of your activities on an hourly (or more frequent) basis" from 6 p.m. Dec. 13 until 6 p.m. Dec. 14. They're also asked to list every disciplinary action instigated against them since age 16 by any educational institution, and any criminal charges and their disposition.
If Crawford and Edmonds agree to the truth of the statements, it saves the time and expense of arguing the points in court.
Pethybridge said he thought some of the statements were not clear, such as the following: "... you never feared for your physical safety while in the presence of" the alleged victim.
Pethybridge said he probably will deny that statement. He said the woman hit Crawford with a boot while he slept in his bed.
He admitted that the woman is smaller physically and probably weaker, given both football players weigh more than 200 pounds and are between 5 feet 10 inches and 6 feet 2 inches. None of that changes the fact she attacked Crawford, he said.
The men have until Feb. 14 to respond.
The questions also refer to two previous incidents in which the athletes are alleged to have been involved.
Crawford was accused by former Tech student Christy Brzonkala as one of her two attackers in a highly publicized civil sexual assault case. No criminal charges were filed.
Edmonds goes to court March 24 on an assault and battery charge in connection with a brawl on Blacksburg's College Avenue that left a Tech track star with a broken collarbone.
LENGTH: Medium: 81 linesby CNB