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  • 12
    Jun
    2012
    3:28pm, EDT

    Police on Auburn shooting suspect: 'We're going to apprehend him'

    By Louis Casiano Jr., msnbc.com

    Authorities in Montgomery, Ala., on Tuesday defended their hunt for Desmonte Leonard, the man charged with fatally shooting three people at a party near Auburn University, NBC station WSFA in Auburn reported.


    Follow @msnbc_us

    "We have not rested, we will not rest," Auburn Police Chief Tommy Dawson said at a news conference Tuesday. "If he's out there watching today, I implore him, this has gone on long enough."

    On Monday and early Tuesday, police searched a house in Montgomery, using thermal imaging to see if anyone was in the attic. Police said they thought they heard someone coughing, but nothing was found, WSFA reported.


    Dawson said authorities received a tip from someone who said they dropped Leonard off at the home, and then received a 911 call indicating that he was inside. He said the tips were independent from each other. 

    Montgomery Police Chief Kevin Murphy told reporters that "whoever dropped him off knew they were a suspect and were aiding him." That person could possibly face charges Murphy said, WSFA reported. 

    Dawson said that an earlier Reuters report that authorities searched the wrong house is false.

    At the press conference, Dawson said police are still at the home. He reiterated that he believes the suspect is still in Montgomery, WSFA reported.  

    He said that he spoke with Leonard's mother and that she told him if he contacted her she would alert the police. Dawson said that she is urging her son to turn himself in, WSFA reported.

    Authorities noted that Leonard's face and name have been all over the news media since Saturday. 

     "Doesn't matter where he's at," Dawson told reporters. "We've got the FBI on this case and U.S. marshals." 

    A reward for his capture is up to $30,000, thanks to commitments from Auburn University and the city of Montgomery, WSFA reported. 

    "We're going to apprehend him sooner or later," Dawson said. "I implore him to turn himself in."

    Leonard is charged with three counts of murder in a shooting during a pool party at the University Heights apartments Saturday in Auburn. He's accused of pulling out a gun after a fight broke out. Two of those killed were former Auburn football players. In addition, he's accused of wounding three others, one of whom is in critical condition with a head wound. The others have been released from the hospital. 

    Dawson said he believes the fight was about a girl. 

    Two men have been arrested in connection with the shooting. Gabriel Thomas, 41, was arrested Sunday and accused of giving false information to police, and Jeremy Thomas, 18, is accused of hindering prosecution, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. 

    Two of those killed, Edward Christian, 20, and Ladarious Phillips, 20, were students and former football players for the  Auburn Tigers. Christian played offensive lineman and Phillips was a backup fullback who gave up football in April, according to a coach. 

    Also killed was DeMario Pitts, 20. 

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    25 comments

    Looks like a son of obama would look.

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    Explore related topics: football, alabama, crime, auburn, montgomery
  • 11
    Jun
    2012
    5:00pm, EDT

    Police leave home after search for Auburn shootings suspect

    Dave Martin / AP

    Law enforcement officials use a body sensing device to search a home in Montgomery, Ala., Monday, June 11, 2012. Authorities searching for the man charged with fatally shooting three people near Auburn University swarmed the house Monday where they believe he's hiding, firing tear gas and sending a tactical team on cautious forays inside.

    By msnbc.com staff and news services

    Updated at 5:30 a.m. ET: Authorities in Montgomery left a home early Tuesday where they believed the man charged with fatally shooting three people near Auburn University might have been hiding.

    Law enforcement swarmed the scene Monday afternoon and spent hours firing tear gas, using thermal imaging and sending tactical teams on forays inside the house as they searched for Desmonte Leonard. They hadn't brought anyone out of the home by the time they held a briefing just after midnight.


    And around 2:25 a.m. (3:25 a.m. ET) Tuesday, an Associated Press photographer on the scene saw all law enforcement agents that had been there leave without comment. It wasn't immediately clear why they left. There was no activity around the house. 

    Leonard is charged with three counts of capital murder in a shooting Saturday night during a pool party at University Heights apartments. He's also accused of wounding three others. The dead included two former Auburn football players. 

    Earlier the tactical team searched the lower portions of the house and made deliberate moves into the attic where Leonard was believed to be hiding, Montgomery Public Safety Director Chris Murphy told the AP. The attic is cramped, complicating investigators' efforts.


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    Montgomery Police Sgt. Regina Duckett said coughing and movement was heard inside.

    "We are having to slowly put our people up there and do an inch-by-inch search," Murphy said during a briefing several hours after police surrounded the house.

    Police had hoped to flush out the person with tear gas and verbal commands, but sent in the tactical team after getting no response.

    "This is a pretty driven person. He's got nothing to lose," Murphy said. "You cannot rush it."

    Murphy said investigators believe he's likely covered in insulation and suffering effects from the tear gas.

    Dave Martin / AP

    Police officers with automatic weapons stand outside a home in Montgomery, Ala. on Monday. They believe the man suspected in the Auburn shootings entered the home.

    "He's got to be in a lot of pain," he said.

    On Monday, police received two 911 calls that Leonard had entered the house but did not have "unequivocal confirmation," said Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange.

    "Whoever is in there doesn't want to come out," Strange said.

    'Massacre for no reason'
    Police have arrested two men in connection with the shooting: Jeremy Thomas, 18, is being questioned for hindering prosecution, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported, and Gabriel Thomas, 41, was arrested late Sunday for allegedly providing false information to police.

    Auburn Police Chief Tommy Dawson said nine police agencies are involved in the search for Leonard.

    The shooting occurred before midnight on Saturday at the University Heights apartments, a large complex near campus favored by Auburn University's students and athletes.

    Leonard is suspected of pulling a gun after a fight broke out, shooting six, Dawson said at a news conference on Sunday. He apparently fled in a white Chevrolet Caprice, which he later ditched.

    Todd J. Van Emst / Auburn University via AP file

    Edward Christian, 20, left, an Auburn University student and former football player, was fatally shot at a pool party about two miles from the university on Saturday night. Eric Mack, 20, center, was treated and released; Ladarious Phillips, 20, a student and former offensive fullback for the football team, was also killed.

    Montgomery police had previously arrested Leonard in 2008 for carrying a gun without a license, according to court documents obtained by The Associated Press.

    When police arrived at the scene, Edward Christian, 20, was found dead on the sidewalk. Christian was a student and former offensive lineman for the Auburn Tigers football team.

    Ladarious Phillips and DeMario Pitts, both 20, were transported to the hospital, where they later died. Phillips was a student and former backup fullback who gave up football in April, according to his coach. Pitts lived in Auburn.

    Three young men, including two students, were killed and three others wounded in a Saturday night shooting in Auburn, Ala. A manhunt was underway for the suspect. NBC's Mark Potter reports.

    Turquorius Vines, who was at the party, told the Journal-Constitution the fight erupted because of a girl.

    The night, he said, "went from us chilling with all these females to a massacre for no reason at all. It happened so quick, in about a second."

    For Vines, the shooting has left him reeling.

    "It's like I lost a lung," he said. "I don't know how I'm going to survive this."

    Among the wounded, John Robertson, 20, remained in critical condition on Monday after being shot in the head. Xavier Moss, 19, was released from the hospital after the shooting. Eric Mack, 20, an offensive lineman who was shot in the buttocks, was released late Sunday afternoon.

    Mack is a junior offensive lineman from St. Matthews, S.C. He played in five games last season. Coach Gene Chizik said on Sunday that Mack was expected to make a full recovery.

    Police Chief Tommy Dawson said he believed the shooting was "a fight that obviously got out of hand."

    The shooting has shaken Auburn, a city of 53,000 that revolves around the football team. The Auburn Tigers have won two national championships, most recently in 2011 against the University of Oregon. Cam Newton, a quarterback, won the coveted Heisman Trophy that year.   

    The Associated Press and msnbc.com's Isolde Raftery, Mark Stevenson and Marian Smith contributed to this report.

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    372 comments

    Sad day for Auburn, boys didn't deserve to die! People kill people for no reason, sorry some people live in that kind of climate. Pray for the parents! The guy that shot them is a coward!

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    Explore related topics: football, shooting, alabama, crime, featured, auburn-university
  • 10
    Jun
    2012
    11:03am, EDT

    3 killed, 3 wounded in shooting at apartment complex near Auburn University

    At a party near Alabama's Auburn University Saturday night, three people were killed and three injured when a gunman opened fire during a fight. Three of the victims are connected to the university's famed football program. NBC's Thanh Truong reports.

    By msnbc.com staff and news services

    Updated at 3:05 p.m. ET: Three people were killed and three others wounded in a shooting during a party at an apartment complex near Auburn University, Alabama authorities said Sunday. Among the dead were two Auburn students who had been on the football team.   

    A manhunt was underway Sunday for suspected gunman, identified by police as Desmonte Leonard, 22, of  Montgomery, Ala.


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    The dead were Edward Christian, 20, a football player who was out this season due to injuries; Ladarious Phillips, 20, a former football player; and Demario Pitts, 20, of Auburn.

    The shooting happened late Saturday night at the University Heights apartments, a large complex near campus where many of Auburn University's students and athletes live. Leonard is suspected of pulling a gun after a fight broke out, shooting six before fleeing, Auburn Police Chief Tommy Dawson said at a news conference on Sunday.

    When police arrived, Christian was found dead on the sidewalk. Phillips and Pitts were transported to the hospital, where they later died.


    Among the three wounded is John Robertson, 20, who is fighting for his life after being shot in the head, Dawson said at a news conference on Sunday afternoon. Xavier Moss, 19, was released from the hospital and Eric Mack, 20, was being treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

    David Goldman / AP

    Mourners walk out of a housing complex Sunday at the scene of an overnight shooting in Auburn, Ala.

    Police believe Leonard drove away from the scene in a white Chevrolet Caprice, which was later found abandoned.

    "I don't believe it was targeted. It was a fight and someone got carried away," Dawson said of the shooting. "I don't like the word random when it comes to shootings, but it was a fight that obviously got out of hand."

    Asked about connections to the football team, Dawson said, "The only connection to the football team is that they are the victims of a brutal shooting. Sometimes the young men get a bad rap, I feel, but they're the victims today."

    "This is a sad, sad day for everyone associated with the entire Auburn family. I am devastated by the passing of three young men, including two that I personally knew in Ed Christian and Ladarious Phillips and my heart goes out to their families," Auburn coach Coach Gene Chizik said in a statement. "My thoughts and prayers are with their families and all of the victims involved in this tragic incident. Nobody should ever have to endure such unimaginable grief, and we will love and support the victims' families during this terribly difficult time. We have a lot of people on our football team that are hurting right now and we're going to do everything we can to help them get through this."

    AP Photo/Auburn Police Division

    This undated photo provided by the Auburn Police Division shows Desmonte Leonard, 22, of Montgomery, Ala., the suspect wanted for fatally shooting three people, including two former Auburn University football players, and wounding another three people during a party at an apartment complex near the school.

    Turquorius Vines, 23, told The Associated Press he was at the pool party Saturday evening with one of his friends, Pitts. He said he and Pitts were approached by two other men who started arguing with them over a woman.

    Vines said he punched one of the men, while Pitts hit both of the men over the head with a bottle. Either one or both of the two men then started shooting, he said. He said his friend was shot and killed, while two others also were hit by gunfire. Vines said he had never before seen the men who he had been arguing with.

    "It's like I lost a lung," Vines said. "I don't know how I'm going to survive this."

    Todd J. Van Emst / Auburn University via AP file

    From left to right: Edward Christian, 20, an Auburn University student who was killed at a party late Saturday night; Eric Mack, 20, who was shot and is now being treated for non-life-threatening injuries; Ladarious Phillips, 20, who was among the three dead. Christian and Phillips were former football players. Demario Pitts, 20, of Auburn, also died.

    Mack, the wounded player, is a junior offensive lineman from St. Matthews, S.C. He played in five games last season. Chizik said Mack was expected to make a full recovery.

    Christian was an offensive lineman who was out last season while dealing with a back injury. Phillips was a backup fullback. Chizik said in April that Phillips had decided to give up football.

    "We're deeply saddened about last night's tragic events that impacted the Auburn community and the Auburn family. Our heart-felt condolences go out to the victims and their families," Auburn University President Jay Gogue said in a statement. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers. We're in constant contact with area authorities and will continue to assist in any way possible. Our attention is now focused on providing care and support to those touched by this tragedy."

    Auburn Police Division Chief Tommy Dawson provided details about the shooting at an apartment complex near Auburn University that killed three and wounded three others. Two of the dead were Auburn University students who had been on the football team.

    Msnbc.com's Isolde Raftery and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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    1401 comments

    I don't care WHO you are - please refrain from giving your kid names like "Turquorious."

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  • 8
    Jun
    2012
    3:32am, EDT

    How hidden camera confession helped clear high school football star Brian Banks

    Brian Banks participated in a tryout with the Seattle Seahawks Thursday, two weeks after he was cleared of a rape charge for which he served five years in prison.

    By Joel Grover and Chris Henao, NBCLosAngeles.Com

    A hidden camera confession helped exonerate Brian Banks, a former California high school football star, after he served five years in prison for a rape he did not commit, NBCLosAngeles.com reported.

    In an exclusive interview with the NBC4 I-Team, Private Investigator Freddie Parish divulged how he pulled off the stunning confession that freed the 6-foot-2, 239-pound linebacker who was being courted by top schools, including the University of Southern California, when accusations were brought against him ten years ago.


    Last year, Banks called Parish, who runs Vantage Point Investigations, asking for his help. The former football star, from Long Beach, had received a friend request on Facebook from his accuser Wanetta Gibson, who told Banks she wanted to “let bygones be bygones.”

    Parish devised a plan to see if Gibson would admit she fabricated her 2002 accusation that Banks raped her in a stairwell at school.

    Read more stories from NBCLosAngeles.com

    “There was no doubt in my mind that this young man was innocent,” said Parish, who has known Banks since his son, Freddie Parish IV, played football with Banks at Long Beach Polytechnic High in 2002.

    Gibson’s family received a $1.5 million settlement from the school district, and Banks took a plea bargain that sent him to prison for five years, and then faced another five years on parole, shackled with a GPS tracking device on his ankle.

    'One chance to get the goods'
    In an attempt to elicit a confession, Parish wired his office with hidden cameras and microphones and suggested that Banks invite Gibson to the office to talk about their past.

    “There’s only one chance to get the goods,” Parish said. “I mean, you gotta make it right the first time.”

    Wanetta Gibson accepted Banks’ invitation, and showed up, by bus, at the private investigator’s Signal Hill office for a chat with her old high school crush.

    “It just wasn’t true at all,” Gibson said about her rape accusation while hidden cameras were rolling.

    California high school football star cleared of rape 10 years later

    Banks then asked Gibson for help in clearing his name, so he could move on with his life.

    Gibson said she was willing to help, but didn’t want to lose the $1.5 million settlement her family received from the Long Beach School District.

    “I will go through with helping you, but all that money they gave us, I don’t want to have to pay it back, because that would take a long time,” she said on the video.

    With Gibson on board, Parish was ready to execute the second part of his plan: He had Banks ask Gibson to return the next day to meet with the investigator.

    “I needed to get her basically to recant everything she said Brian did ten years ago,” Parish told the NBC4 I-Team. “If I let this man down, I would have to live with that the rest of my life.”

    'Did he rape you?'
    The next day Gibson returned to Parish’s office; hidden cameras were rolling. Parish then asked the critical questions about the 2002 incident between Banks and Gibson.

    Parish: “Did he rape you?”
    Gibson: “No, he did not rape me.” 
    Parish: “Did he kidnap you?”
    Gibson: “No.”


    Follow @msnbc_us

    When Gibson made the stunning confession that she’d fabricated her rape accusation, Parish thought to himself: “Wow. I got it.”

    That confession was evidence that lawyers from the California Innocence Project needed to go back to court on Banks’ behalf.

    Armed with the video confessions, lawyer Justin Brooks got Brian Banks' rape conviction overturned on May 24.

    “The videotape is a slam dunk, in the sense that she’s recanting her testimony,” said Brooks, head of the California Innocence Project at California Western School of Law.

    Now, Banks is able to finally pursue his dream of a career in pro football, thanks in large part to the work of a private investigator.

    “I had a chance to make a difference in a man’s life,” Parish said.

    On Thursday, Banks participated in a tryout with the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks.

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    376 comments

    Wanetta Gibson needs to sit her gigantic rear end in a cell, day by day, the equivalent of the time this young man served, for her specious, heinous, lies AND be made to pay back every cent she was awarded for telling that lie. Plus damages! If she gets away without paying for this, the justice syst …

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    Explore related topics: football, rape, confession, featured, hidden-camera, brian-banks, wanetta-gibson
  • 30
    May
    2012
    1:31pm, EDT

    Sandusky judge denies legal team's attempt to delay case

    Lawyers for former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky were in court Wednesday for the last pre-trial hearing before jury selection begins next week.

    By msnbc.com staff and wires

    The trial of Jerry Sandusky will begin next week in Pennsylvania as scheduled, the presiding judge ruled Wednesday, denying a request for a delay by lawyers for the former Penn State assistant football coach.


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    "The reality of our system of justice is that no date for trial is ever perfect, but some dates are better than others," wrote Judge John Cleland ahead of a pre-trial hearing Wednesday afternoon to take care of any remaining matters.

    Sandusky's lawyers and state prosecutors will begin picking jurors from a pool of State College-area residents on Tuesday. 


    Sandusky is charged with 52 counts of child sexual abuse. The 68-year-old former defensive coordinator for Penn State's famed football program denies the allegations. 

    The hearing Wednesday focused on the evidence regarding so-called "Victim 8," a young man allegedly seen by a janitor being molested by Sandusky in team showers more than a decade ago.

    Prosecutors have said the janitor, Jim Calhoun, has dementia and is not available to testify, so they want to call to the stand co-workers who would recount what Calhoun told them.

    Sandusky lawyer Joe Amendola has argued there is not sufficient evidence to take the Victim 8 charges to trial, and at the Wednesday hearing he asked for a hearing at which prosecutors would either show he is wrong or have Cleland dismiss those counts. The same applies to charges involving two alleged victims.

    Amendola also has asked for the remaining charges to be dismissed on other grounds.

    "We're faced with a myriad of charges," Amendola told Cleland. "And the more charges that are presented to a jury, the more likely it is they're going to feel that something must have happened."

    Frank Fina, a prosecutor with the state attorney general's office, said it was difficult to make an argument that the evidence is sufficient when there isn't any evidence in the record, because Sandusky waived his preliminary hearing.

    "There's not a single fact of record in this case," Fina told the judge. "And that is, I think it's fair to say, solely as a result of the decisions of the defense."

    Sandusky was not in court but did attend a closed-door session Tuesday with the judge, prosecutors and lawyers.

    Cleland's order said the delay request was the topic of the Tuesday proceeding.

    Cleland wrote that Amendola told him that if the trial starts next week, experts would not be available or able to help, an investigator was facing surgery, large amounts of material had yet to be analyzed and two Penn State administrators who face their own trial would not be available as witnesses. Another issue involved the grand jury that investigated Sandusky, and although Cleland did not elaborate on it, citing grand jury secrecy, he denied it as well.

    Cleland said starting jury selection on Tuesday would, on balance, protect Sandusky's right to a fair trial, the alleged victims' rights to their day in court, the state's obligation to prosecute promptly and the public's expectation of a swift proceeding. Opening statements in the case will not occur before June 11, he said.

    Cleland did not rule on recent requests by attorneys for five alleged victims to keep their identities secret.

    The charges against Sandusky concern his relationships with boys he met through his charity for at-risk kids, The Second Mile. Prosecutors allege Sandusky groomed the boys for sexual abuse, offering gifts and access to the team in addition to companionship.

    At least some of the alleged abuse happened in the Penn State football team's facilities, prosecutors said. One of the alleged attacks was witnessed by former receivers coach Mike McQueary, then a graduate assistant.

    Details of the grand jury report touched of a massive scandal that engulfed the university, ultimately leading to the firing of Hall of Fame football coach Joe Paterno and the ouster of university President Graham Spanier. Two other university officials are charged with failing to report suspected abuse and perjury related to their grand jury testimony.

    Those two officials, athletic director Tim Curley and vice president Gary Schultz, are the potential witnesses referred to in Cleland's latest order. Curley, on leave, and Schultz, now retired, have told Sandusky's lawyer they will invoke their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination if subpoenaed.

    Also Wednesday, Cleland issued a detailed "decorum order" that will govern reporters and others who plan to attend the trial. 

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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    16 comments

    Seriously this man needs to plead out and save his victims from being abused again. He was seen raping a child, by the assistant coach, there is no doubt about his guilt! Man up you POS, and do something good for once in your life!

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  • 25
    May
    2012
    11:27am, EDT

    California high school football star cleared of rape 10 years later

    A former California high school football star, Brian Banks, has been cleared of a rape and kidnapping conviction that derailed his life more than 10 years ago. Now, he is hoping to fulfill his dream of playing in the NFL. NBC's Kristen Dahlgren reports.

    By NBC News

    Former high school football start Brian Banks said he's "happy to be free" after a California judge exonerated him of a 2003 rape conviction because his accuser recanted her testimony.

    "It was bittersweet, you know, just happy to be free now, happy to clear my name, but also very much in a reflective state and just remembering everything I've been through to get to this point," Brian Banks told TODAY's Ann Curry Friday.


    In high school, Banks was awarded a scholarship to the University of Southern California and was regarded as a top college football prospect with good chances of going into the NFL, but his professional sports prospects were derailed by the conviction.

    Though Banks, now 26, had always maintained his innocence, he pleaded no contest a decade ago to charges that he raped a fellow student. A plea deal meant he served nearly six years in prison, instead of the 41 he could have faced.

    For more, visit NBCLosAngeles.com

    Banks had tried to win release while he was in prison, but Justin Brooks, a law professor and head of the California Innocence Project at California Western School of Law in San Diego, said he could not have been exonerated without the woman coming forward and recanting her story.


    Follow @msnbc_us

    "Brian’s story is so compelling, and his case for innocence so clear, we knew we had to take this on," Brooks said in a press release. “Brian lost a huge part of his life when he was unjustly sent to prison."

    Brooks said it was the first case he had ever taken in which the defendant had already served his time and had been free for a number of years.

    Banks remained on probation, however, and was still wearing his electronic monitoring bracelet at the hearing Thursday. He also had to register as a sex offender. His lawyer said the first thing the two planned to do was report to probation officials and have the bracelet removed.

    "The charges are dismissed now," Brooks said. "It's as if it didn't happen. ... It was the shortest, greatest proceeding I've ever been part of."

    Banks' accuser, Wanetta Gibson, reportedly friended Banks on Facebook after he got out of prison, saying she wanted to "let bygones be bygones."

    According to documents in the case, she met with Banks and said she had lied, and she offered to help him clear his record.

    But she later refused to repeat her statements to prosecutors because she was worried she would have to return a $1.5 million payment from a civil suit brought by her mother against the Long Beach Unified School District.

    Researchers: More than 2,000 false convictions in 23 years

    She told Banks, "I will go through with helping you but it's like at the same time all that money they gave us, I mean gave me, I don't want to have to pay it back."

    In a brief hearing Thursday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mark C. Kim told attorneys that the case was dismissed based on documents filed by Banks' attorneys.

    "This is a kid who was a superstar,'' Brooks said. "He would be playing the NFL now if this hadn't happened.'"

    Banks tweeted Wednesday, "So many people coming to show support tomorrow!! ‪#fullhouse‬ nothing but love and I love y'all back x2!!"

    According to his website, he wants to produce a documentary about his life, and is hoping to return to football. He's been training since his release from prison in 2007.

    "I think that any team that gives me an opportunity would be really impressed with what I can do despite all of what I've been through these past 10 years," Banks told TODAY's Curry.

    He also said he hasn't thought about what should happen to Gibson.

    "I do believe that everyone should be responsible for their actions, and if that action warrants some type of consequence, then I feel that, you know, it's justified," Banks said Friday, adding that he no longer feels angry and vengeful toward Gibson.

    "I've had my moments where I was very angry and very vengeful but I know it was best for me to try and move forward in a positive manner for the betterment of me," he said. "It hurts no one but myself to hang on to that type of negative energy."

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    256 comments

    I will go through with helping you but it's like at the same time all that money they gave us, I mean gave me, I don't want to have to pay it back."

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    Explore related topics: nfl, football, california, california-innocence-project, brian-banks, wanetta-gibson
  • 10
    Mar
    2012
    2:17pm, EST

    San Diego-area school district to pay $4.4 million for football head injury

    By NBC News and news services

    SAN DIEGO -- A San Diego-area school district has agreed to pay a $4.4 million settlement to a man who suffered a head injury playing high school football and now must communicate through a keyboard.

    The agreement announced Friday comes as the problem of head injuries in football has gained prominence due to lawsuits brought against the National Football League by former players complaining of ongoing life struggles from concussions.

    Scott Eveland, now 22, was a senior and a linebacker with the Mission Hills High School Grizzlies in San Marcos, a town 30 miles north of San Diego.


    He collapsed on the sidelines after playing the first half of a game on Sept. 14, 2007, and was rushed to the hospital where doctors were able to save his life by removing part of his skull. But the heavy bleeding inside his brain caused him extensive damage.

     

    "We are very pleased we were able to get that settlement because it gives Scotty a safety net," said his attorney David Casey Jr.

    The San Marcos Unified School District, which oversees the school Eveland attended, did not admit any responsibility in the settlement. "Scott Eveland and his family agree that this settlement does not suggest that the professional and hard working coaches, athletic trainers, administrators and staff of the Mission Hills High School intentionally contributed to the unfortunate and tragic accident that occurred during a high school football game," the district and attorneys for Eveland said in a joint statement on Friday.

    Due to the head injury, Eveland is confined to a wheelchair and he cannot stand or speak, said his principal attorney, Robert Francavilla.

    He communicates through an iPad or a specially designed keyboard, and someone must support his arm at the elbow so he can do that, Francavilla said.

    Earlier this year, more than 20 concussion-related lawsuits brought since August by former players against the NFL were consolidated in federal court in Philadelphia.

    The NFL has recently faced a mounting number of suits by former players who contend they suffer long-term effects from head injuries. League officials have sought to crack down on helmet-to-helmet hits, and in 2010 the NFL created a committee to try to prevent and better manage concussions.


    Follow @msnbc_us

    Eveland's mother, Diane Luth, sued the district for what happened to her son in September 2007.

    "The care that we have to give Scotty, it's something I would not wish on any person, anybody's family," Luth told NBCSanDiego in a 2010 interview.

    A former student claimed the team's head coach ignored signs that Scott was in distress.

    According to a deposition obtained by NBCSanDiego, an assistant student trainer, Breanna Bingen, said warning signs about Scott's condition were ignored.

    In the deposition, Bingen said that a week before the injury, Scott complained to the team's athletic trainer about having headaches, which caused Scott to miss certain parts of practice.

    Bingen also said that just a few minutes before the game, Scott asked if he could sit out the first quarter because his head was hurting, but Bingen claims Coach Chris Hauser refused to take him out.

    Reuters and NBCSanDiego contributed to this story.

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    209 comments

    If the agree the coaches and other school people weren't responsible then why did they sue? How is the school responsible for ensuring his "safety net", when they aren't responsible for the injury?

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    Explore related topics: football, sports, education, high-school, featured, head-injuries
  • 15
    Feb
    2012
    11:46am, EST

    Drug bust nabs 17 TCU students, including football players

    By msnbc.com and NBC News

    Correction: An earlier version of this post, citing Fort Worth police, incorrectly identified a former student who was arrested.  Austin Williams Carpenter, 26, is not involved in the case, NBCDFW.com reported.

    Original post: Seventeen students, including four football players, were arrested early Wednesday in a drug bust at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, school officials said.

    At a news conference, officials said those arrested sold drugs to undercover narcotics officers both on and off campus during a six-month investigation.


    "There is no doubt all of those arrested today are drug dealers," said Steve McGee, TCU chief of police, according to NBCDFW.com. "These individuals engaged in hand-to-hand delivery, for money, with undercover narcotics agents."

    Read original story on NBCDFW.com

    Among those arrested were football players David (D.J.) W. Yendrey, a junior defensive tackle from Edna, Texas; Devin Johnson, a junior defensive back from Oklahoma City, Okla.; Tanner Wilson Brock, Jr., a junior linebacker from Copperas Cove, Texas; and Tyler (Ty) Horn, a sophomore offensive tackle from McGregor, Texas, according to documents released Wednesday.

    In a statement, TCU head football coach Gary Patterson said, "There are days people want to be a head football coach, but today is not one of those days. As I heard the news this morning, I was first shocked, then hurt and now I'm mad.”

    “Drugs and drug use by TCU's student-athletes will not be tolerated by me or any member of my coaching staff. Period,” he said.

    TCU Chancellor Victor J. Boschini, Jr. said the busts aren’t just a football problem, but also a student problem, and that it was shocking and disappointing to learn of the investigation and arrests.

    In a letter to students earlier in the morning, Boschini said that the school has never experienced a magnitude of student arrests such as this. The arrested students were taken off campus and are subject to expulsion, he said.

    Read the letter from TCU chancellor on NBCDFW.com

    McGee said the investigation began six months ago after multiple tips were received from students and parents.

    The police chief said those arrested were selling marijuana, cocaine, “Molly” (ecstasy in powder form), ecstasy in pill form, acid (LSD) and prescription drugs including Xanax, hydrocodone and others similar to OxyContin.

    On its website, NBCDFW.com listed the other 13 students who were arrested as: Bud Pollard Dillard, Cynthia (Cindy) Jaqueline Zambrano, Earl Patrick Burke, Hunter Wallace McLaughlin, Jonathan Blake Jones (not to be confused with the Jonathan Jones who is on the football team), Katherine Ann Peitre, Matthew Iarossi Davis, Michael Gragg King, Peter Signavong, Richard Clay Putney, Scott (Scooter) Lee Anderson, Taylor Davis Cowdin and William (Will) Davis Jennings.

    Lisa Albert, TCU's director of communications, confirmed to msnbc.com that 17 current students had been arrested. Also arrested were two former students, NBCDFW.com reported.

    Investigators are still working to determine if those arrested were working in small groups or together and with what suppliers, reported NBCDFW.com. Officials said the investigation is ongoing and that more arrests are possible.  

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    261 comments

    Ya those sports in high school and college keep our kids drug free. It has been our experiences that it is the kids who engage MOST in sports are the ones who are the worst offenders. Of course when the media and the school themselves glorify sports figures like the were Gods what the he*l do pare …

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    Explore related topics: football, drug-bust, tcu, fort-worth, texas-christian-university
  • 7
    Feb
    2012
    9:55pm, EST

    Sandusky attorney: Sex abuse accusers may have 'collaborated'

    By Kari Huus, NBC News

    Lawyers representing Jerry Sandusky on Tuesday called for a ream of additional information from the prosecution in the sexual abuse case against the former Pennsylvania State football coach — including phone numbers of the 10 alleged victims — as it attempts to show that the accusers conspired to bring charges, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.

    "In many cases, the defendant believes the accusers may have collaborated with each other in making these false accusations," according to the 37-page motion filed by defense attorney Joseph Amendola.

    Sandusky, 68, is facing 52 counts of child sex abuse involving 10 boys between 1994 and 2008. Sandusky waived a preliminary hearing, and is slated to proceed to trial.


    The filing asked the judge overseeing the case, John Cleland, to order the prosecution to turn over or disclose redacted details on dozens of police reports, as well as psychiatric evaluations of the alleged victims and interview notes from the three-year long investigation, according to a Philadelphia Inquirer report.

    The report said that Cleland is expected to address this issue, as well Sandusky’s effort to modify his bail conditions at the same proceeding on Friday.

    The coach has been under house arrest since he was released on $250,000 bail in December.

    As NBC News’ Michael Isikoff reported Tuesday, the prosecutors are seeking to tighten bail conditions after receiving reports from anxious neighbors that Sandusky has been spotted sitting on the deck of his house watching schoolchildren in a nearby playground.

    Sandusky had been seeking permission to have supervised visits with his grandchildren, but the prosecutors noted in a filing that the ex-wife of one of Sandusky's sons "strenuously objects to her three minor children having any contact whatsoever with the defendant."

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    11 comments

    Blame the victim. That's always classy. The guy got caught, red-handed, having sex with a little boy. They didn't "collaborate" that.

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    Explore related topics: football, penn-state, sexual-abuse, sandusky
  • 2
    Dec
    2011
    6:57pm, EST

    Sandusky accuser says police knew of recent dinner

    By The Associated Press

    A Penn State accuser who dined with Jerry Sandusky this summer did so only after getting permission from police, the man's lawyer said Friday as he blasted suggestions that alleged victims remained friendly with the former Penn State coach.

    "Police gave their seal of approval for him to attend. They even wanted him to wear an electronic listening device," attorney Howard Janet said Friday. He also called into question Sandusky's motives for inviting the man to dinner while the ex-coach knew he was under investigation.

    Sandusky has been charged with molesting eight boys over 15 years. He is accused of mining the ranks of his Second Mile charity to find underprivileged boys to abuse.

    Sandusky says he is innocent and his lawyer, Joseph Amendola, has questioned several accusers' claims and the depiction of his client made in a grand jury report that identified the alleged victims by number. Earlier this week, Amendola told The Patriot-News of Harrisburg that several accusers visited the Sandusky home and stayed on good terms with the ex-coach for years.

    He told The Associated Press on Friday that another dinner guest that night was the man identified in the grand jury report as Victim No. 2, who Sandusky is accused of sodomizing in a Penn State shower.

    Janet said another man identified as a victim in the grand jury report attended, but he did not specify who that was. He called Amendola's claim that accusers remained friendly with Sandusky was "grotesque."

    Janet represents the man known in the grand jury report as Victim No. 6, who was allegedly bear-hugged by Sandusky as they showered together at Penn State in 1998, when the boy was 11. The boy's mother filed a complaint; a police investigation ended with no charges filed.

    The alleged victim, now 24, contacted police this summer when Sandusky invited him over for dinner, Janet said. He didn't wear a wire because he was nervous but reported back to police about the dinner afterward, the lawyer said.

    The dinner started at Sandusky's house and then moved to a restaurant, and included Sandusky and his wife.

    Janet said Sandusky pitched the dinner as a chance for former Second Mile participants to get together. "Why was he arranging to meet with victims while under investigation? Was he trying to tamper with or improperly influence potential witnesses?" Janet said.

    He would not say if the investigation came up in conversation that night, or detail what his client later reported back to police. The client didn't wear a wire because he was nervous, Janet said.

    Sandusky's lawyer said the meeting was part of an effort by Sandusky and his wife to maintain "friendships with lots of kids they helped as those kids grew into adulthood."

    "The dinner at a local State College restaurant last summer, which was attended by Jerry and Dottie and alleged victims 2 and 6, was simply an effort on the Sanduskys' part to maintain those long established positive relationships with young men whom the Sanduskys believed were their friends," Amendola said.

    Victim No. 2 was the boy seen being abused by Sandusky in a Penn State shower in 2002, according to the grand jury report. The witness, since identified as then-graduate assistant Mike McQueary, told coach Joe Paterno about the incident, the report said. Police were never notified.

    The grand jury report said the boy had not been located. Amendola has said he believes the alleged victim is being represented by a State College attorney who did not respond to messages left by the AP late Friday.

    Penn State fired Paterno and school President Graham Spanier after the report was made public. Two former Penn State officials are charged with failing to report complaints of abuse, and with lying to a grand jury. They have pleaded not guilty.

    Sandusky is free on bail, and is next due in court on Dec. 13 for a preliminary hearing.

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    © 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    31 comments

    Wow. This was clearly an attempt by Sandusky to influence victims whom he knew would probably testify against him. This guy is a master manipulator. .

    Show more
    Explore related topics: football, paterno, abuse, sex, penn-state, sandusky
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Reporter Kari Huus joined msnbc.com at launch in 1996 after 7 years reporting from China. In recent years, she has focused on domestic issues, playing a key role in msnbc.com series including The Elkhart Project, Gut Check America, and Rising from Ruin--on the recovery of two Mississippi towns after Hurricane Katrina. Huus has also covered a wide array of international stories, including China's 2008 earthquake, the Asian economic crisis, the fal …

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