University Officials Caught Falsifying Evidence?
A settlement ended a civil lawsuit filed in 2006 by the former student, identified as "J.K." in court records, against Arizona State, the Arizona Board of Regents, then-head football coach Dirk Koetter and Darnel Henderson, the player who allegedly raped her. The suit claimed the university had placed her in a dangerous position, which led to the rape.
The settlement comes after the victim and her attorneys completed an exhaustive investigation of ASU's actions before and after the rape, an investigation that her attorneys say revealed . . . deletions of important e-mails, destruction of critical documents and false testimony.
According to the investigation by the victim's attorneys, ASU had destroyed records of Henderson's misconduct during the Summer Bridge program, and significant e-mails had been deleted even though ASU knew the victim was about to file suit. Kerr, the lead attorney for the victim, discovered some of the missing e-mails.
In one, Rippon, the school's director of academic success, wrote that the women who had complained about Henderson's behavior during the Summer Bridge program were "women I trust completely." But Rippon later testified under oath in a deposition that they were women with "attitude" who had "issues with all men."
Another e-mail, discovered just before the settlement was reached, was from one of the women who had complained about Henderson. It stated, "I don't want to get raped in college and that is what Darnel [Henderson] makes me feel like when he is around me."
ASU officials in the football program, the athletic department and the president's office refused to comment.
Comments