Saturday, December 12, 2009

Ex-coach says he's not at fault in PRP athlete's death

This from Toni Konz at C-J, photo by Pam Spaulding:
In his first sworn testimony about the Aug. 20, 2008, football practice in which 15-year-old Pleasure Ridge Park High School player Max Gilpin collapsed, former Coach Jason Stinson said he did nothing wrong and would not have done anything differently that day.

In a sworn deposition taken last month in a lawsuit that Max’s parents filed against him, Stinson also testified that he did not see Max collapse and did not realize anything was wrong with the player until the end of practice, after another coach had called 911.

“As we cleared the field … and we locked the shed and locked the gate, I saw folks” on a motorized cart, Stinson said. “I didn’t know it was Max up until the point I walked up. And at that point I went directly to him and stood behind Coach (Craig) Webb and observed what was going on. Coach (Steve) Deacon was on the phone and I had asked him if he had called 911 and he had said yes.” ...

Unlike the criminal trial, in which prosecutors had to prove Stinson's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, lawyers for Max's parents only have to show that it is more likely than not that Stinson and his co-defendants — other coaches and PRP officials — were negligent, thus causing Max's death....

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