PROVO — Former Brigham Young University head football coach Gary Crowton could soon be reunited with two of his former players, but the meeting will have none of the back-slapping or big-play memories usually associated with such reunions.
Crowton has been called to testify in the upcoming jury trial of two former athletes accused of raping a 17-year-old girl last year.
According to documents filed in Provo's 4th District Court, Crowton is expected to testify about BYU football team rules and the consequences of breaking those rules by consuming alcohol, watching pornographic films, having females in apartments after hours and engaging in any type of premarital sexual relations.
He is also anticipated to testify about his efforts to schedule interviews for Ibrahim Rashada and B.J. Mathis with case detectives regarding criminal allegations. Former BYU assistant coach Michael Empey will also provide similar testimony.
Crowton has since left BYU and is now the offensive coordinator for the University of Oregon's football team.
David Williford, assistant athletic director for media services, told the Deseret Morning News late Monday that when he asked Crowton about coming to Provo for the trial, the former coach indicated he had no plans to return. It was unclear whether Crowton has actually been served with a subpoena that would require his attendance in court.
The two former BYU gridders were indicted by a grand jury in December of two counts of aggravated sexual assault as well as three lesser charges related to an alleged gang rape in August 2004. The accuser alleges that while in the players' apartment, she was given vodka, shown a pornographic DVD, then raped by several men.
Former BYU athlete Karland Bennett will also testify at the trial. Bennett had also been charged along with Rashada and Mathis, but pleaded guilty Aug. 8 to obstructing justice and giving harmful material to a minor as part of a plea agreement that dropped sexual assault charges against him.
The plea deal was worked out in exchange for a 193-page testimony Bennett gave to the Utah County Attorney's office.
Court documents outline that Bennett will testify about consensual group sex activities with the accuser, as well as how the accuser voluntarily consumed alcohol prior to the alleged incident. The court document also includes statements that Bennett will testify the accuser voluntarily participated in a sexual encounter with him in a car after leaving the apartment where she was allegedly raped.
However, Greg Skordas, Bennett's attorney, said that allegation is completely without merit.
"No, no. It may have been questioned about, but that act never happened." He said Bennett was never involved in any sexual acts and will only be testifying to what he saw in the apartment that night.
The motion, filed jointly by defense counsel Jere Reneer and Rhome Zabriskie, is a list of witnesses they plan to call, as requested by Judge Samuel McVey.
Other witnesses will include former BYU athlete William Turner, who is being tried as a juvenile in exchange for his testimony of what happened in the case. Current BYU football linebacker Justin Luettgerodt and former defensive back Gregory Lovely will also be called to testify about what they observed the night in question.
According to court documents, the accuser's boyfriend will also be called to tell the jury that before she made the accusations of rape, she wanted to get back together with him. He allegedly told her to report the incident to police as a rape, then started a relationship again, according to the documents.
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