THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 1, 1995 TAG: 9512010383
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: FROM STAFF, WIRE REPORTS
LENGTH: Long : 112 lines
Virginia Tech football player Tony Morrison was accused of raping another student and was reinstated to school by a university official who ruled his two-semester suspension was excessive, a newspaper reported Thursday.
Morrison, 19, a sophomore reserve linebacker out of Chesapeake's Indian River High School, was suspended last spring by a university disciplinary panel that found him guilty of ``abusive conduct.'' Another panel upheld the suspension.
But on Aug. 21, 17 days before the Hokies' first game, provost Peggy Meszaros reduced the sanction to probation and a one-hour counseling session. In a letter to Morrison, she called suspension ``excessive when compared with other cases'' of abusive conduct, the Newport News Daily Press reported.
Copies of the letter and other documents on the case were given to the Daily Press by Christy Brzonkala, 19, who accused Morrison and his roommate of raping her in their dormitory room in September 1994.
The roommate was exonerated and Morrison, through his attorney, denied raping Brzonkala, though he admitted they had sexual intercourse. ``From Tony's perspective, everything that occurred was consensual,'' said Morrison's attorney, David Paxton of Roanoke.
Paxton said Thursday that Morrison is unable to comment because confidentiality is a condition of the panel hearings. Paxton said Morrison is on university probation and a comment by him would be in violation of university policy, which could lead to dismissal from the school.
Brzonkala of Fairfax County is no longer a student at Virginia Tech.
``This is a personal vendetta of hers and she's trying to destroy Tony's name by telling her side of the story when she knows Tony can't tell his,'' Paxton said Thursday. ``It's really unfair and I think it's a tragedy.''
Paxton said Brzonkala sent letters to several media outlets in Virginia. The Collegiate Times, the campus newspaper, ran a story on the matter Tuesday.
``From Tony's perspective, anything that happened with this young lady was purely consensual,'' Paxton said. ``She has a very different recollection of that night. There are a lot of inconsistencies and different ways she has described the events of that evening over the course of time.''
Paxton did not rule out the possibility of legal action against Brzonkala or media outlets. ``Anything's possible,'' he said.
Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer, reached in his office Thursday, declined comment.
Morrison's father, Jim, said Thursday ``everything we have to say will be coming through David (Paxton). We're proud of everything Tony's done and we don't see anything that he has done wrong.''
Virginia Tech President Paul Torgersen said Wednesday that the resolution of Morrison's case was fair. He said Meszaros ``was aware of all of the facts presented by both sides - not just those presented by one side.''
Paxton said Brzonkala told different stories at the two hearings, first testifying she did not tell Morrison ``no'' and later saying she did.
Brzonkala told the Daily Press that she did not scream or try to fight off the 222-pound Morrison's advances, but she did not consent either.
``I said `no.' No is no, and that's all you need,'' she said.
Brzonkala said she did not report the incident for four months because she was embarrassed, afraid and ashamed. She finally told a friend about the attack in January and received counseling in March at the university's Women's Center.
Her counselor, Donna Lisker, would not comment on specifics of the case but said: ``Christy has credibility. I believe her.''
Brzonkala, who left Tech and lives with her parents in Northern Virginia, said she did not file criminal charges because she could not face Morrison, and her delay in telling anyone meant there would be no physical evidence.
Morrison was first suspended after a May 3 hearing conducted by Barbara Pendergrass, associate dean of students, and Jerry Riehl, assistant dean of students.
According to a May 22 letter from Dean of Students Cathryn Goree to Brzonkala, Morrison appealed the guilty finding, ``claiming that his due process rights were denied and the sanction was unduly harsh and arbitrary.'' She wrote that she denied the appeal.
Morrison then hired Paxton, who discovered a procedural error: Morrison had been charged with ``sexual misconduct,'' but the university's sexual misconduct policy had not been finalized in time to be printed in the 1994-95 Student Code.
Virginia Tech officials conceded the error and granted Morrison a second hearing on charges of abusive conduct. That hearing was conducted July 21 before Gerard Kowalski, director of residence education, and Joyce Williams-Green, director of black studies.
In an Aug. 4 letter to Brzonkala, Kowalski and Williams-Green said they found Morrison guilty of abusive conduct. His penalty remained the same - suspension for the fall 1995 and spring 1996 semesters.
Brzonkala said she was relieved by the decision and went to Myrtle Beach, S.C., on vacation, only to read in a newspaper when she returned that Morrison was back in school.
``No one tried to call,'' Brzonkala said. ``No one wrote us a letter. If he were not on the football team, I guarantee he'd be gone for two semesters.''
Paxton disagreed. ``Miss Brzonkala's original story was that two men assaulted her,'' Paxton said. ``Her story has never been believed. It is ludicrous to assert that the provost bent the rules for Tony Morrison.''
University judicial proceedings are secret, but Brzonkala decided to break the pledge of confidentiality after Virginia Tech refused to pay for her to attend another university, the newspaper reported. She also asked the Daily Press to use her name, even though the newspaper ordinarily does not print the names of sexual assault victims.
``I feel kind of helpless, except for going public,'' Brzonkala said. ``The worst part is, I can't go to college where I choose. He was found guilty and he's going to college on a scholarship.'' MEMO: Staff writer Steve Carlson and The Associated Press contributed to this
report. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Indian River High School grad Tony Morrison
by CNB