Posted on 10/18/2007 11:15:19 AM PDT by Enterprise
Reed-Francois testified the players told her "they were having to carry coach Stacy Johnson-Klein's luggage and do her laundry." She continued to say "these girls were truly afraid of that coach."
Fresno State should have recognized she had an apparent problem with prescription painkillers, given her a leave of absence and placed her in a drug rehabilitation program that would have saved her job as women's basketball coach, her lawyer argued in documents filed in Fresno County Superior Court."
"Paboojian was paying particular attention to the drug problems of freshman guard Terry Pettis."
"Actually, Terry Pettis was the least of the problems," Kennedy said."
(Note: Pettis was later convicted of murder during a drug robbery!)
"Dr. William kennedy said when it came to changes to the university drug policy, there was a "boys will be boys" attitude among the men's basketball team and coach lopes would rather play a "dirty kid" than to cancel a game."
"Det. Alcorn said former men's basketball coach Ray Lopes lied to investigators on the whereabouts of a student athlete who was wanted in the Terry Pettis murder investigation."
Former Boxing Champ Testifies In Johnson-Klein Trial
"A Fresno police detective testified in the trial of fired Fresno State women's basketball coach Stacy Johnson-Klein on Tuesday.
He said that a former men's basketball coach lied during a murder investigation.
Detective Brad Alcorn told jurors that police never got then-coach Ray Lopes' cooperation during a murder investigation in 2004 in which one of Lopes' former players -- Terry Pettis -- was a suspect.
And Alcorn said that soon after police told Lopes they wanted to talk to another player, that player was dismissed from the team and helped out of town by an assistant coach.
Earlier, former men's basketball team physician Dr. William Kennedy appeared in a videotaped deposition and said that Pettis was allowed to continue playing after repeatedly failing drug tests.
Kennedy said when Pettis was charged with murder, "We were not surprised. We thought it was the inevitable consequence of his behavior."
Kennedy also testified that between 2002 and 2003, several Fresno State athletic teams had major drug problems.
He named the men's basketball, football, wrestling, golf and tennis teams, and the women's swimming team.
Kennedy said the ratio of male athletes who tested positive for drugs, compared to female athletes, was 20 to 1.
And he said he never heard of any of Johnson-Klein's players failing a drug test.
Johnson-Klein's lawyers say they expect to wrap up their case on Thursday.
Fresno State's attorneys will then begin presenting their defense.
Detective Says Ray Lopes Lied During Pettis Murder Trial
"In an effort to reveal a pervasive double standard, lawyers for Stacy Johnson-Klein on Tuesday dug into an ugly incident from Fresno State's recent past to show the university tolerated questionable ethical behavior by male coaches while holding her to a higher workplace code.
Fresno police detective Brad Alcorn testified in Fresno County Superior Court that men's basketball coach Ray Lopes did not follow through on promises to help police contact current and former players in the wake of the murder of Rene Shannon Abbott by former Bulldogs point guard Terry Pettis on April 27, 2004.
Alcorn also said one of Lopes' assistant coaches helped former men's basketball player Chris Adams leave town on a bus in early May 2004, even though police wanted to question Adams in connection to the shooting."
Can you ping me with trial updates? This case is just fascinating to me. Scott Johnson couldn’t wait to show Stacy off to Fresno when he hired her. She increased attendance and the visibility of the women’s program (not sure if her win-loss record was better). I didn’t know the jury was 11 women...what is wrong with the Fresno State attorneys?
When I think of myself on the jury and contemplate some of the allegations against J-K I don’t think they rise to the level of dismissal. Especially the Vicodin issue—they should have offered intervention—why did they want her gone so badly?
Frankly, I found her to be a breath of fresh air for women’s basketball in general—she looks like a girl and dressed like a woman not how a man would dress if he wanted to look like a female coach.
I wonder if Fresno State felt they had the best prospect of winning this one verses Vivas and Multi?? But after the resounding verdict for Vivas shouldn’t they have tried to settle with J-K to keep this dirty laundry from making the public arena?
I’ll keep you pinged to the updates. I don’t know if there was an offer to settle. She is going for the throat on this.
As you can see, this has opened up a huge can of worms.
Do the Fresno State lawyers strike you as being (how do I say this nicely...) less able than J-K’s and Vivas’? I still can’t get past the eleven women on the jury—sympathy, empathy are strong emotions. I have been on three juries and the jury room at deliberations can get quite emotional.
Telling her clothing was too revealing?? This after she is trotted around like a show pony by SJ. Ignoring her emails (paper trail people) about equity. Taking rx from student was stupid but if her pain was as bad as stated I think the jury might think about their own experiences when they have bummed a painkiller from a spouse or friend when in desperate need.
I guess having her dress in revealing clothes has come back to bite them. She succeeded in getting the attendance up, but now, they are using it against her.
She should never have taken the medication from a student of course, but in light of the huge number of chances they gave the male players, she should have been given the option of treatment.
Here is a KMJ update:
"Lawyers for Fresno State will begin presenting their side of the case Monday in the sexual discrimination trial of fired women's basketball coach Stacy Johnson-Klein.
This, after testimony Thursday about how much her firing has cost her.
Her legal team hired economist Ted Vavoulis to project how much she would have made from the time she was fired until her retirement at age 59.
His estimate -- $5 million.
Johnson-Klein had earlier testified that she's been unable to find a job since she was fired in March 2005.
Late Thursday afternoon, her husband, Chuck Klein, testified that the firing had a devastating emotional and economic impact on their family.
Klein said Stacy doesn't sleep much -- she's disconnected -- she sits around the house -- and "she's away from our family."
He became emotional as he described the close relationship he and Stacy had with her players.
He said they often had the players over to their house and "we did everything possible together."
He said players referred to him as "Pappa K."
Lawyer Says Firing Cost Johnson-Klein $5 Million In Future Earnings
The comments between Theodora and JK during the lunch recess were telling. JK either worried or bored about the possibility that Theodora intended to call all 14 players and Theodora’s immature response of “take a chill pill”. Obviously I am not an attorney so I am not aware of protocol but are comments like those commonly brought to the attention of the judge? Was that really necessary?
I wouldn’t be able to give an answer either. I’ll just guess that as long as there are no threats made, or unless something is said that is clearly intended to intimidate someone from participating in the case, rude comments will generally not be brought to the attention of the judge.
"As they prepared to leave for lunch, both sides' lawyers continued to chat about the number of players the defense planned to question. Looking at Theodora, Johnson-Klein said, "Are you going to call all 14?"
Theodora told Johnson-Klein to "calm down and take a pill."
That was an obvious reference to a key theme in the trial -- Johnson-Klein's use and possible abuse of prescription painkillers when she was Bulldogs coach. She has admitted to taking a half-bottle of prescription painkillers from sophomore guard Chantella Perera in October 2004. She also acknowledged buying 900 prescription painkillers between late October 2004 and late January 2005, saying she was in pain from injuries suffered in a car crash.
"Bitch," Johnson-Klein said to Theodora."
ROFL!
"One of her former assistants had harsh words about fired Fresno State women's basketball coach Stacy Johnson-Klein on Monday during Johnson-Klein's sexual discrimination lawsuit against the university.
Former assistant coach Miranda Serna told jurors she wanted to "speak the truth" -- look Johnson-Klein in the eye -- and tell her "I know the truth."
The truth, she said, is that it was hard to work for Johnson-Klein because of her mood swings.
"You didn't know," Serna said, "if she'd yell at you or be nice to you."
Serna said she quit in 2004 because Johnson-Klein had changed, and Serna could no longer tell a recruit's mother that the university would take care of her daughter.
She said the way Johnson-Klein acted "was not safe."
Serna also said that Johnson-Klein asked her for a painkiller twice.
Earlier Monday, former women's player Erica Henry cried when she told jurors that Johnson-Klein was not a good "life-skills" coach.
"She never taught us anything about life," Henry testified.
She said the coach would "throw you under the bus" if players did something bad -- but did not build them back up.
Henry also testified that she was embarrassed when -- during a team stay-over at the coach's house -- Johnson-Klein discussed orgasms, and invited her husband, Chuck Klein, to join the conversation.
Another former player, Angelica Lopez, testified on Monday that she blames a pill that Chuck Klein gave her before a game in New York City in 2004 for making her faint.
But Lopez admitted she never asked Klein what the pill was.
He's already testified that it was ibuprofen."
Former Assistant Has Harsh Words for Johnson-Klein
"Fresno County Sheriff's deputies tried to boot one of Stacy Johnson-Klein's lawyers and one of her supporters from Judge Donald S. Black's courtroom Tuesday morning, but both refused to leave.
Lawyer Dan Siegel and Donna Pickel, a former Fresno State women's basketball and softball coach, got into a heated argument with bailiffs before testimony began in Johnson-Klein's sexual-discrimination lawsuit."
"During his first day of testimony, Wiggins described how Johnson-Klein showed him how to make extra money, by using what Johnson-Klein called creative accounting."
"According to Wiggins, the former coach would take the women's basketball team out to dinner, then ask the restaurant manager for five free meals, but she bill the university for all the dinners and pocket the difference."
"Another former assistant basketball coach Miranda Serna also testified to Johnson-Klein's bizarre behavior.
Serna told the jury she thought the star coach was insane for leaving her newborn baby with a perfect stranger.
"She said she had a vision from god, after she prayed to Jesus of this woman in black sitting outside the casino which told her it was ok to leave baby tristan with this lady and go into the casino and look for Chuck" said Serna."
Top Assistant Testifies In SJK Trial
"Wiggins told jurors that Johnson-Klein lied to him in late 2004, when he asked her if she had a problem with pain pills.
Wiggins -- who was then Johnson-Klein's assistant coach -- said she had been acting erratically, by not showing up for work, or by sleeping late, or by not recognizing what was going on during games.
Wiggins said he believed she was taking pain pills recreationally.
He said when he later found out that she had taken a bottle of painkiller from a player, he had no other choice but to report what she was doing to her supervisors."
Coach Wiggins Has Harsh Words For Johnson-Klein
"Coach bought hundreds of pills
The records show that from late October 2004 through late January 2005, Johnson-Klein bought 1,800 pills of prescription painkillers, anti-depressants and muscle relaxants from a supermarket pharmacy in Fresno. This includes 900 pills of hydrocodone (which often goes by the brand name Vicodin) or OxyContin. Both are powerful narcotic painkillers.
According to the court records, Johnson-Klein refilled her prescriptions for the painkillers, anti-depressants and muscle relaxants approximately each month. Based on the rate and timing of refills, the purchases suggest she was taking about 16 pills a day.
The pills were prescribed by two doctors."
There is a real difference in Vicodin and Oxycontin and I wonder if the defense will clear up any confusion for the jury. Still with all this testimony about the pill taking (abuse?) it does not rise to termination. Wiggins was a sorry opportunist from the beginning, I don’t trust him. If Fresno State doesn’t get something else out there for the jury Paboo will blow it all away in close. She should have been offered intervention or rehab as an employee of the state.
One of her former assistant coaches cried on the witness stand Thursday in the sexual discrimination trial of fired Fresno state women's basketball coach Stacy Johnson-Klein.
Calamity McEntire told jurors that Johnson-Klein "took away who I am" by constantly demeaning her.
Once, she said, the coach called her a "toad" in front of players during a game."
Former Assistant Says Johnson-Klein Constantly Demeaned Her
A racial issue is raised:
"Calamity McEntire said Johnson-Klein asked her if "black men were her focus."
McEntire said the comment was made when Johnson-Klein noticed a number of basketball posters in McEntire's office featuring black men.
McEntire testified that Johnson-Klein made the racial comment after she accused her of having an inappropriate relationship with a Fresno State men's basketball coach."
Emotional Testimony in Johnson-Klein Trial
More fireworks to come!
"The official who compiled the report that got Stacy Johnson-Klein fired took the witness stand Thursday barely long enough to spell her last name, but it was sufficient to leave no doubt she'll be the center of a war when she returns to testify in the former women's basketball coach's sexual discrimination trial.
Former Fresno State human resources director Jeannine Raymond had answered questions for only 15 minutes in Fresno County Superior Court when Judge Donald S. Black said the day was over and the jury could go home.
The trial, now seven weeks old, is dark on Fridays, so that means Raymond will come back after the weekend.
She said, "This was 15 young women who were terrified of their coach."
Raymond testified, "I had 15 players who would not play for her. They were horrified. They were fearful of her."
Raymond said Johnson-Klein's players "were reduced to tears, having to deal with her."
Fresno State Wrapped Up Testimony In Johnson-Klein Trial Monday
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