The Virginian-Pilot
                             THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Saturday, January 20, 1996             TAG: 9601200430
SECTION: SPORTS                   PAGE: C2   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY JAN VERTEFEUILLE AND BETTY HAYDEN, LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE 
                                             LENGTH: Medium:   84 lines

VIRGINIA TECH SAYS WOMAN CHANGED STORY SCHOOL ASKS FOR DISMISSAL OF HER CIVIL SUIT AGAINST IT, MORRISON, CRAWFORD.

Virginia Tech says a former student who accused football players Tony Morrison and James Crawford of raping her has changed her story since testifying in campus disciplinary hearings last year. The school also is asking a federal judge to dismiss her $8.3 million lawsuit.

The school and the two football players are defendants in the lawsuit brought by Christy Brzonkala, who says Tech failed to protect her rights.

Virginia Tech filed its answer to the suit Friday. Morrison, the former Indian River High star from Chesapeake, and Crawford, have not been served with notice of the suit yet. Once served, they will have 20 days to file their own answers.

A Tech disciplinary panel took no action against Crawford, saying there wasn't enough evidence.

The panel found Morrison guilty of sexual misconduct last spring, but he was granted another hearing after his attorney threatened to sue the school. Tech did not have a policy against sexual misconduct at the time of the hearing, and therefore Morrison was entitled to another hearing, the school decided.

In the second hearing, Morrison was found guilty only of using abusive language. After having sex with Brzonkala, he said, ``You better not have any diseases,'' according to her suit.

Morrison was suspended for two semesters, but the provost reduced the punishment, saying it was too harsh in comparison with other punishments for the same offense.

After Morrison was allowed to return to school last fall, Brzonkala made her allegations public. The judicial hearings had been confidential.

Tech now finds itself in the position of defending Morrison's version of events, even though the school originally found him guilty based on Brzonkala's testimony.

Tech spokesman Larry Hincker said he knows of ``two significant inconsistencies with what Brzonkala recalls now'' and what she said at the hearings. But he said he could not provide further details.

``We believe that the facts surrounding how we dealt (with the case) will stand the test of a review in court,'' Hincker said. ``It's a shame it's been purported to be an open-and-shut case. People can begin to understand the grayness of all this.''

Morrison admits having sex with Brzonkala, but says it happened only once and that he used a condom, according to Tech's answer. Crawford denies having sex with Brzonkala.

Brzonkala visited the pair's dorm room one night during the first month of classes in September 1994. She says Morrison held her down and raped her and that Crawford, his roommate, raped her afterward. Then, she says, Morrison raped her again. Neither used a condom, she says.

In its answer, Tech states that during the first disciplinary panel hearing, Brzonkala didn't say she told Morrison ``no.''

Asked about that Friday, Brzonkala's lawyer, Eileen Wagner, said, ``That . never volunteered the information.''

Brzonkala's suit alleges that Morrison admitted at the first hearing that she told him ``no'' twice. Tech denies that he testified to that.

``When we get everybody under oath, we'll get the real story,'' Wagner said. ``During the hearings, they weren't under oath.''

Whether a condom was used may become relevant because not using one could show ``willful, wanton and reckless disregard for (Brzonkala's) safety,'' in violation of her rights under the Violence Against Women Act of 1994.

Brzonkala's suit is pegged on her claim that her federal civil rights were violated.

In a motion to dismiss the suit, Tech says Brzonkala's allegations of sexual discrimination by the two players do not subject the school to liability. It also claims that she failed to allege any sexual discrimination by the school.

Now that Tech has answered, Wagner said, the two sides can move forward with a review of each other's evidence. The lawyer said after she reviews records of the two judicial board hearings she'll have a better picture of what happened. ILLUSTRATION: Virginia Tech ruled Chesapeake's Tony Morrison was guilty only

of using abusive language.

KEYWORDS: CIVIL LAWSUIT by CNB