From reading Randy Smith's column on the lawsuit against UT it is pretty evident that he never took a legal course in his life. I was under the impression that in this country one was innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. It appears this no longer applies to athletes(particularly black athletes) in the U.S. in 2016.
I have always said that if I am picked for jury duty the absolute last trial I want to be on is a, "he said, she said." Without a video or audio tape (like in the Vanderbilt case) it comes down to which party is the most believable testifying about a situation in which the vast majority of the time alcohol was involved. And all the while knowing no matter how you decide at least one person's life is ruined forever.
Just in the recent past we have had the Duke LaCrosse team, the UVA fraternity allegations and here at home the gang rape case against UTC athletes in which all accusations were later proven to be false. So do we go back and replay the Duke LaCrosse season? Twenty years ago UT's football captain was accused of sexual assault in his apartment the day after the Florida game. He was kicked off the team and missed two thirds of the season. Later the charges were dropped when it was disclosed he had suffered a dis-located shoulder in the Florida game the day before. Can we go back and replay the remainder of Nilo Silvan's senior season?
A.J. Johnson and Michael Williams were kicked off the team by Butch Jones the day the accusations were made public. Now 15 months later the players still are awaiting trial. If found innocent can we go back and play the 2014 games against Missouri and Vanderbilt. Can A.J. sue the alleged victim for destroying his chance to appear at the NFL combine and a possible NFL career? Our best wide receiver, Von Pearson, was accused of assault in April of last year. Butch kicked him off of the team and he was forbidden from going through off season workouts and appearing in the Football facility. In August the Knox County D.A., a woman by the way, dropped all charges.
In his most outrageous statement Smith said the UT situation was not unlike the recent Ooltewah incident in Gatlinburg. Really Randy, was Butch or Dave Hart asleep in the room above the apartment while the alleged sexual assault was happening. That is quite a stretch , even for a so called Journalist like you.
I am in no way taking sides in the incident. I am merely saying every defendant, yes even black athletes, deserve their day in court . And I also thought every defendant was entitled to a speedy trial.
Douglas Jones
Ooltewah