Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012, April 03, 2003, Page 12, Image 12

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Puckett jurors
can’t reach easy
verdict in trial
Michael Hirsley
Chicago Tribune (KRT)
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Jurors in the
sexual assault trial of baseball Hall of
Famer Kirby Puckett were to begin a
second day of deliberations Thurs
day after being unable to reach a ver
dict in their first five hours together.
In closing arguments Wednesday,
prosecuting attorney Alan Harris and
defense attorney B. Todd Jones offered
the jury starkly different images of
what happened Sept. 6,2002, in a sub
urban restaurant-bar men’s room that
led to the charges against Puckett.
Harris, whose demeanor was large
ly understated throughout the trial,
said Puckett threw his accuser
around “like a rag doll” in a “violent
physical act.”
Insisting that did not happen, a
brasher Jones said, “What happened
was real simple. She wanted to go into
the restroom. He took her into the rest
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room. It may not have been the wisest
decision, but it was real simple.”
The extended jury deliberations,
however, attest that it is more com
plex. Among factors complicating the
case from the outset is the stature of
Puckett, 43, as a popular All-Star cen
ter fielder who led the Minnesota
Twins to two World Series titles.
Harris demanded “equal justice,
not celebrity justice.” He called for a
guilty verdict on all charges against
Puckett — false imprisonment, a
felony; fifth-degree criminal sexual
conduct, a gross misdemeanor, and
fifth-degree assault, a misdemeanor.
Jones countered that “celebrity
status doesn’t just cut one way,” sug
gesting Puckett’s accuser might be
contemplating a subsequent lawsuit.
He argued his client should be found
not guilty “because the state did not
meet their burden of proof beyond a
reasonable doubt.”
Each attorney used large placards to
enhance their arguments to the jury.
Jones spread on the floor a blue
print drawn to scale of the bathroom
stall where the woman said Puckett
dragged her and groped her breast.
Using a ruler to measure the stall’s
width at 25 1/2 inches, he implied
that the stocky, broad-shouldered
Puckett would have a hard time do
ing what the woman said in that nar
row a space.
Harris focused on the testimony of
ski salesman Alan Anderson, who he
emphasized was not a friend of the
accuser, and who said he saw Puckett
pull the woman into the men’s room
and saw her emerge terrified, “in
tears, almost frantic.”
Jones attacked Anderson’s credi
bility, saying he admitted to having
“at least seven beers” that night, had
not been initially alarmed by what he
saw and had received a ride home
with the woman and one of her
friends afterward. That gave them
time to collaborate on their version
of what happened, Jones said.
He noted to the jury that Puckett’s
accuser said he pulled her to three
different stalls, but there are only two
in the Redstone American Grill
men’s room. Prosecutor Harris ar
gued that not being able to remem
ber how many stalls there were “is
more consistent with a violent, phys
ical act than with being casually
walked in.”
Harris instructed jurors, the “ques
tion you will have to decide is did he
escort her like a gentleman (as Puckett
testified) or throw her around like a rag
doll inside the restroom and forcefully
fondle her breast. ”
© 2003, Chicago Tribune. Distributed
by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information
Services.
Basketball
continued from page 11
“People have got to understand
that every good program in the
country goes through this,” Kent
said. “Everybody has the speculation
at the end of the year whether or not
coaches are going to leave, whether
or not players are going to come out
early. Those aren’t negatives, those
are positives, and that tells me that
our program is at a certain level that
it gets into those situations.”
But the fact remains that Kent will
make the trip to the Final Four with
out his team, and in order to go there
with the Ducks next season, he may
need the support of two Lukes.
Contact the sports editor
at peterhockaday@dailyenierald.com.