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Lawyers for former Oregon players, their accuser release statements

Dana Altman

Dana Altman

AP

Tuesday night turned into a battle of the lawyer statement for the three former Oregon basketball players accused of sexual assault and their accuser.

It started with the lawyers for Dominic Artis, Brandon Austin and Damyean Dotson releasing a 1,508 word joint statement in response the Oregon’s decision to suspend all three former players for four-to-ten years, depending on how long their accuser remains a student at the school. The players were kicked off the basketball team back in May.

If you would like to read the entire statement from the three players, the Oregonian has published it here.

In essence, it’s a step-by-step breakdown of why no legal action was taken against three players and how it’s unfair that they are now viewed as guilty in the court of public opinion despite never even being charged with a crime. For example:
We support firm policies against sexual violence. We want all students on campus to feel safe in their learning environment. But in the rush to judgment in the matter of these three young men, justice was not served. The process the University uses to investigate must include safeguards so that the accused are treated with fairness and impartiality. The points we have made illustrate just some of the many problems within the current system. Problems we hope the University will address as they undertake to re-examine and overhaul their procedures.

John Clune, who represents the accuser, responded with a statement of his own:

This is a pretty poorly spun version of the night in question which noticeably omits all of the facts that incriminated their clients. The description doesn’t mention that two of the three men admitted in police recorded phone calls that what they did to the victim that night was wrong with one of the men calling their behavior “very inappropriate and not something he would want to happen to his mother or sister”. The third man who refused to give a statement is facing his second sexual assault allegation in the past year.

I can’t blame the lawyers though as they are just trying to help their clients explain some pretty ugly behavior that has gotten a lot of press.

PREVIOUSLY: Dana Altman deserves to be fired