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....

Coroner said he thought Gilpin's death was 'horrible accident’

This from the Courier-Journal:

Jefferson County Deputy Coroner Sam Weakley testified Friday that there was no autopsy conducted on 15-year-old Max Gilpin because “at the time there was no talk whatsoever of malfeasance” in his death.

Weakley told jurors that after reviewing medical records and talking to Max’s family, he initially deemed the teenager’s death a “horrible accident,” and concluded as much in his cause of death ruling.

However, Weakley also testified that he did not interview players and other witnesses to the Aug. 20, 2008, practice at which Max collapsed from heat stroke.

“I may have missed something,” Weakley said on the ninth day of former PRP coach Jason Stinson’s reckless homicide and wanton endangerment trial.

Weakley testified that he is waiting for the outcome of the trial to decide if he will change his opinion on the manner of death in his coroner’s report...

In other testimony,

Terry Jones: The retired Louisville Metro Police detective, who led the investigation in the Stinson case, testified that he interviewed about 80 witnesses but acknowledged that he never talked to any medical professionals about Max’s death. Jones also said this was the first homicide case in his 21 years he could recall where an autopsy hadn’t been performed.

Brian Bratcher: A spectator at the soccer game next to the PRP football practice, Bratcher said he heard Stinson ask the team, “Who’s going to be the first to quit?” Bratcher said Max caught his eye as the teen appeared to be woozy, his legs shaking and nearly falling once before catching himself.

Heat Expert:

Max Gilpin would have survived if treated correctly

Max Gilpin would have survived if Pleasure Ridge Park’s coaching staff had treated his heat stroke correctly after he collapsed at a football practice last year, an expert on heat-related illnesses testified Thursday in Jefferson Circuit Court.

Doug Casa, the director of athletic-training education at the University of Connecticut, told jurors that though the 15-year-old’s body temperature reached 109.4 degrees shortly after he collapsed, his life would have been “guaranteed” saved if staff would have taken Max into the school’s locker room, about two minutes away, and put him into an iced whirlpool within five minutes of when he went down.

“If treated immediately and aggressively … it’s 100 percent survivable,” Casa told the jury. “No kid should ever die from heat stroke.”...

Stinson trial: Teen's father recalls how views changed

This from C-J:

Gilpin had defended coaches

Max Gilpin's father told a Jefferson County jury Tuesday that he initially defended the Pleasure Ridge Park High School coaches who oversaw the football practice where his son, Max, collapsed from heat stroke, telling the media that they hadn't done anything wrong and tried the best they could to help his son.

“I didn't see them tell Max to run or point any fingers at him or deny him water,” Jeff Gilpin testified.

But he said his views changed after more facts emerged on the way former head coach Jason Stinson conducted that Aug. 20, 2008, practice. And he criticized Stinson for standing idly by while his son waited for an ambulance.

“He was standing there … with a nervous look, never doing anything,” said Gilpin, who arrived near the practice's end.

Gilpin's testimony, in which defense lawyers pointed out how his account of the case had changed in the months after Max died, punctuated a day of revealing testimony in Stinson's trial on reckless homicide and wanton endangerment charges.

For example, Gilpin testified that Max took creatine, an over-the-counter supplement used to stimulate muscle growth, for only a limited time in the spring of 2008, and without his approval.

But Stinson's attorneys said that Gilpin told police in a September 2008 interview that Max took creatine from November 2007 until May 2008 — under his supervision....

Judge denies prosecution’s request to postpone Stinson trial

This from C-J:

A Jefferson circuit judge on Tuesday denied a request from prosecutors for a continuance in the trial of former Pleasure Ridge Park football coach Jason Stinson, saying that both sides have long known that “barring something cataclysmic,” the trial would start this week.

The Commonwealth Attorney’s office sought the delay after Judge Susan Schultz Gibson barred about 1,500 pages of evidence late Monday, saying it had been turned over to defense attorneys too late.

“Things we need to make our case are being excluded,” Jon Heck, an assistant commonwealth’s attorney, told Gibson Tuesday. “… Do we want to do this quick or do we want to do this right?”

Stinson is charged with reckless homicide and wanton endangerment in the heat-stroke death of PRP sophomore lineman Max Gilpin after he collapsed at an Aug. 20, 2008, practice.

Heck told Gibson that the evidence being excluded contained important pediatric and prescription records for the 15-year-old, who died Aug. 23 after his body temperature reached 107 degrees.

But Gibson declined to revisit her ruling or allow a postponement, which Stinson’s attorneys had fought...

Turns out Stinson's attorney, Alex Dathorne, is a family hero of ours. A decade or so ago, Dathorne was a prosecutor in Lexington. We had an incident involving one of our daughters being stalked, along with other neighborhood children near Morton Middle School, by a 25-year old Iraqi national. At one point he held a knife to his throat and threatened to kill himself if our daughter didn't agree to become his girlfriend. In another instance, he offered one of the boys $50 for sex. Alex made him go bye bye for a year.

Now Dathorne appears to be kicking some prosecutorial butt in the Stinson trial.

Medical experts say practice led to player's death

The Jefferson Commonwealth's Attorney's Office on Thursday disclosed two expert medical witnesses who will testify that former Pleasure Ridge Park High School football coach Jason Stinson's Aug. 20 practice, in which players were allegedly made to run until someone quit, caused the death of a 15-year-old player who collapsed from heat stroke.

Dr. Doug Casa, director of athletic training education at the University of Connecticut and a national leader in heat-stroke prevention, will testify that Stinson created an environment where Max Gilpin believed he could not stop running “even if it was medically necessary to do so,” which caused the massive heat stroke that led to the teen's death, according to court records.

And another witness, Dr. Larry Shoemaker, will testify at Stinson's Aug. 31 trial on reckless homicide and wanton endangerment that Max died of “exertion-induced heat stroke.”

At the same time, on Thursday, Stinson's attorneys filed a motion asking a judge to dismiss the wanton endangerment indictment against the former coach, claiming he was denied an opportunity to speak to the grand jury.

On Tuesday, seven months after Stinson was charged with reckless homicide, a Jefferson County grand jury indicted the former coach on a new charge of first-degree wanton endangerment in the death of Max, who collapsed Aug. 20 and died three days later at Kosair Children's Hospital, after his body temperature had reached 107 degrees.

Defense attorneys Alex Dathorne and Brian Butler claim that under Kentucky criminal procedure rules, prosecutors must inform grand jurors when a defendant wants to testify before them, though the jurors don't have to allow the testimony....

Catching up on Gilpin

This from the Courier-Journal:

Bittersweet tribute held for Max Gilpin

Max Gilpin didn't live to see his 16th birthday, but family and friends came together Sunday to mark the occasion with a bittersweet tribute and party for the Pleasure Ridge Park football player.

The birthday gathering at Sun Valley Park was also the public debut of The Max Gilpin Beat the Heat Foundation. Its goal is to educate youths and others about the dangers of heat-related illness, which claimed the Louisville teen's life last year.

And this from C-J:

Prosecutors: JCPS inquiry into Gilpin ' self-serving'
Judge asked to exclude report

Jefferson County prosecutors want a school district report on the death last year of Pleasure Ridge Park football player Max Gilpin excluded from ex-coach Jason Stinson's trial because it selectively used information to reach a "self-serving and wholly inaccurate conclusion."

Arguing that the Jefferson County Public Schools investigation is "factually and logically unsound," the commonwealth's attorney's office is asking a circuit judge to keep the report out of Stinson's Aug. 31 trial.

And this from C-J:

Attorneys claim prosecutors want to

exclude evidence that 'exonerates' Stinson

Attorneys for former Pleasure Ridge Park football coach Jason Stinson say the real reason prosecutors want to exclude a school district report into the death of football player Max Gilpin is because it "exonerates" the coach.

In a motion filed Wednesday, defense attorneys Alex Dathorne and Brian Butler are seeking to include the report in Stinson's Aug. 31 trial for reckless homicide — and they suggest that prosecutors should want the same.

900 Ky. coaches complete heat-safety course

This from C-J:

Nearly 900 high school coaches in Kentucky have completed an online sports safety course in advance of a deadline next week that could prevent them from holding summer practices.

Julian Tackett, assistant commissioner of the Kentucky High School Athletic Association, told a sports safety work group established by the Kentucky General Assembly, that 1,637 coaches had signed up to take the course, and that as of Thursday, 878 had completed all four hours of the training.

Tackett said the course, required by the General Assembly after the Aug. 23 death of 15-year-old Max Gilpin, who collapsed at a Pleasure Ridge Park High School football practice from heat stroke, has been set up so that high school principals and state officials can track the progress of each coach...

The Gilpin Report: Post Mortem from C-J

Over the weekend C-J weighed in with several takes on the Jefferson County Schools long awaited official response to the Max Gilpin tragedy, plus a political cartoon from Marc Murphy.

July 3, 2009
In "The Gilpin report" the Courier notes,

Eleven months ago, after Pleasure Ridge Park High School football player Max Gilpin died after collapsing at football practice, Jefferson County Public Schools released initial findings into his loss of life that were appallingly shallow and quick. That first review showed that no guidelines or protocols had been breached in the practice that felled the 15-year-old sophomore.

The ensuing, second investigation was neither quick nor shallow. The district interviewed more than 125 people for the voluminous report it finally made public on Wednesday, and it took them almost a year to do it.

After all that, however, the results were virtually the same.

Jefferson County Superintendent Sheldon Berman was taken to task for his simple defense that "no rules were violated" and that it was afterall, a "typical" practice that took the life of Max Gilpin. C-J also reminds us that another player went to the hospital that day while others merely vomitted on the sidelines while being extolled by head coach Jason Stinson to keep running until somebody quit.

One boy finally raised his hand — "Bingo, we have a winner," some players recall Mr. Stinson saying...

Berman claimed he was outraged, but it took a year for that outrage to manifest itself; something C-J seems to give him credit for. Berman is calling a halt to the "negative motivation," coaches training, health and safety seminars for players and parents, and "a mandatory listing of all nonprescription medications and supplements for a doctor's review at the time of the athlete's customary physical examination."

But they don't credit him for reassuring the public.

[The report] raises as many questions as it answers, assigns no responsibility to anyone in the school district's employment for the tragedy and as a result does not undo the damage of the stumbling JCPS response last August. If anything, the report provides additional grounds for public concern...

But this episode is a long way from over and C-J's promise to watch the episode through to the end is thinly veiled.

[T]he release of the district's findings does not put a period on the end of any sentence about the death of Max.

Mr. Stinson's criminal trial for reckless homicide is scheduled for next month. A civil case brought by Max Gilpin's parents against a number of school-related individuals is planned for early next year. There is no doubt that the findings of the criminal investigation conducted by the Louisville Metro Police Department and the results of the JCPS investigation will be used in both trials, and The Courier-Journal's news pages already have listed a half-dozen contradictions between reports.

Time will tell if the district's "most extensive investigation" holds up alongside the police work and the court disclosures. Surely, Mr. Berman understands the damage that will be done to the school district if it does not.

Public reaction to the story continues to be strong.

July 4, 2009

'Keep our children alive'
Let this be fair warning to all JCPS student athletes: Superintendent Sheldon Berman has just made it official district policy that it is OK for your coach to run you to death. ...To C-J editors, please, before the next election, remind us which school board members lauded Berman's performance so we can vote for someone else.
DICK RICHARDS
Prospect, Ky. 40059

'Bad example'
Well duh, what did you expect? Certainly not the truth or responsibility. This is the school system. ... showing [students] how to cheat, lie and then blame the innocent person for his own death.
THERESA BAUER
Corydon, Ind. 47112

'Bozich's column'
These days I have to look long and hard to find anyone in any walk of life to respect and admire, but Rick Bozich's column about the JCPS report on Max Gilpin catapulted him into that short list... [I am thankful for]...his willingness to use his writing skills to say what needs to be said to keep people thinking and also not allow people in positions of higher responsibility and authority to sidestep accountability when they act badly.
MIKE GOSSETT
Louisville 40207

July 5, 2009

'An ex-football mom's reactions'
... It is very disappointing that in every story, someone has the finger of blame pointed in someone's direction.

This story brought back memories of my oldest son who loved the game and played every year from fifth grade through high school. He played with broken bones, bruises, muscle strains and incredible exhaustion. He would hide his injuries at times because he did not want to sit out. He played because he loved the game. Practices in the heat of August, games in freezing rain were part of the program.

I think if we are being honest with ourselves, we would admit that it's pretty much common knowledge that all football coaches are the same. Football is a brutal and exacting sport. Fans expect their coaches to be tough and, more important, they demand that their teams be winners...

The fact that JCPS found nothing "wrong" should not be a surprise. The coaches simply did what all football coaches do and have done for years...

... Unless the game of football is changed, coaches will not only be allowed, but encouraged to do whatever it takes to produce success. As parents, we must provide the balance to the fanaticism of the game.
DENISE EBERHART
Louisville 40207

Max Gilpin the real loser in JCPS report

Admit nothing.

Deny as much as possible.

Stall.

Protect, protect, protect.

Blame somebody who isn't here to protect himself.

This investigation blamed Max Gilpin

for Max Gilpin's death. Now that's outrageous.

This OpEd by Rick Bozich in C-J:

Pleasure Ridge Park high school football coach Jason Stinson got what he wanted. I'm not talking about the 271-page shrug that the Jefferson County Public Schools is trying sell as a final investigative report into the death of Max Gilpin, a 15-year-old PRP player.

I'm talking about what Stinson and some of his staff were trying to accomplish on that steamy Aug. 20 practice when Gilpin ran, collapsed and eventually died.

Multiple players told investigators that Stinson barked instructions to the PRP players that they would run until somebody quit the team. Several said Stinson chirped, "We have a winner," when somebody finally had enough.

The goal wasn't to stir up a good, old-fashioned, Bear Bryant-case of "Junction Boys," nausea and exhaustion. No, sir-ee. This was about building character, creating team unity or making teenagers men. As one player said, this was about proving they deserved to be Panthers. Run until you quit, you creampuffs.

And that's precisely what Max Gilpin did. He ran until he quit forever...

Stinson's Pedigree:

Bear Bryant coached Howard Schnellenberger at the University of Kentucky.

Schnellenberger coached Jason Stinson at the University of Louisville.

Jason Stinson coached Max Gilpin

Time Belies Berman's "Outrage."

A thought experiment: How many superintendents can you think of who would wait a full year to change a district policy they felt very strongly about; a good change; one that had virtually no political downside; and cost their district nothing?

The answer for me is pretty close to zero, and I'm only fudging because there are probably a few clunkers in the crowd. I believe most would simply touch base with their board, and announce a move toward implementing the change through the district's ongoing professional development program. Done.

I just can't figure this one out.

Berman knew of PRP football coach Jason Stinson's tactics last August and claimed to be "outraged" at the time.

If Berman was truly outraged by Stinson's ideas on sportsmanship and character-building and wanted to assure that Stinson's errors were not replicated elsewhere in the district, why did it take so long for him to do something about it?

This from C-J:

New policy: Coaches must attend sportsmanship seminar

All Jefferson County Public Schools head coaches and assistant coaches for fall sports will be required this month to attend an hour-long seminar focusing on sportsmanship and character.

The requirement is the result of the JCPS investigation into last year's death of Pleasure Ridge Park High School football player Max Gilpin.

JCPS Superintendent Sheldon Berman said Wednesday that PRP coaches did not violate any district or Kentucky High School Athletic Association rules during the Aug. 20 practice that saw Gilpin collapse. But Berman said he was "outraged" to learn that head coach Jason Stinson told his players during conditioning drills that day that "running would end when someone quit the team."

"I am taking action to ensure that this kind of culture is not tolerated by JCPS," Berman said...

Parents Furious and Hurt over JCPS's One-sided Probe

Mom Disputes Hospital Record

Dad says Max was Feeling fine Before Practice

This from Toni Konz at C-J:

The mother of 15-year-old Max Gilpin said Wednesday that she is "furious, angry and hurt" by the results of the Jefferson County Public Schools' inquiry into her son's death.

"They are taking no responsibility for what happened, and they only presented what made them look good," Michele Crockett, Max's mother, said in a telephone interview.

Crockett and Jeff Gilpin, Max's father, who both have expressed frustration in recent months with the pace of the district's investigation, had said they had hoped it would provide them some answers.

"We didn't get any answers today," Crockett said. "All we got were more questions."

Crockett and Jeff Gilpin, speaking through his attorney, say they specifically take issue with a portion of the investigation involving the expert opinion of Dr. Daniel Rusyniak, a specialist at Indiana University in emergency medicine and medical toxicology, with whom the school system consulted.

"According to Dr. Rusyniak, a history and physical form completed at the hospital, based on information supplied by Max's parents, indicated that Max was suffering from fever, congestion and difficulty breathing" before the practice last Aug. 20 at which he collapsed, Superintendent Sheldon Berman said during a press conference Wednesday.

Crockett said she was the person who gave the hospital Max's medical history, but she never told them that he had been suffering from any of those symptoms before the practice.

"I was telling them the symptoms he was exhibiting at the time he was brought in to the emergency room," she said. "I would not have known what symptoms he was exhibiting prior to the practice because I wasn't with him. He was with his dad."

In a previous interview with The Courier-Journal, Gilpin said Max was feeling fine in the days before his collapse...

The parents also complained that the defendant, Coach Jason Stinson, was notified on Monday of the JCPS report's Wednesday release but the family was never notified. Berman said he believed the JCPS attorney "was in touch with their attorneys yesterday."

Hal Friedman, an attorney representing Gilpin in the civil case, said "They were not notified, nor were their attorneys, that the school board would release its long-overdue report today, or that there would be a press conference."

JCPS releases investigation into Gilpin death

Says Preexisting Illness Cost Max Gilpin

Not Dehydration

Slams but Defends Indicted Coach

This from Toni at C-J:

Superintendent Sheldon Berman said he was "outraged" that former Pleasure Ridge Park High School football coach told players at a practice last August that they would have to continue running until one of them quit the team.

But releasing the findings of what he called the most extensive investigation in the school district's history, Berman said Wednesday that neither the coach, Jason Stinson, nor his assistants violated state or district policy at the Aug. 20 practice at which Max Gillpin collapsed from heat exhaustion and later died.

C-J's Video coverage

(34:38 - Press the On Demand Button)

Berman's Statement (pdf)

The JCPS Report

(271 page pdf)

Berman also said the investigation, in which 125 witnesses were interviewed, "clearly indicated that Max Gilpin did not die as a result of any restriction in water breaks or denial of water."

The district's report, which took 10 months to complete, outraged Max's parents, Jeff Gilpin and Michele Crockett, who said they felt the district "only presented information that made (the district) look good." But attorney Mark Fenzel, who represents Stinson and his assistants in a lawsuit filed by Max's parents, said, "We are pleased that the district found what the coaches have maintained all along – that no rules were violated, the players got plenty of water and that Max's death was a tragic accident."

Commonwealth's Attorney David Stengel, whose office is scheduled to try Stinson Aug. 31 on a charge of reckless homicide, declined to comment on whether the district's report would uncut the case. "We'll do our talking in court," Stengelsaid...

While the district has found no rule violations, Berman said he was "extremely troubled" by Stinson's remark "that running would end when someone quit the team."

"While this kind of negative motivation may be used in some amateur and even professional sports, that kind of culture has absolutely no place in JCPS' athletic programs," Berman said. "Coach Stinson's statement is not an appropriate means to motivate student athletes."

Berman did not mention whether he was outraged by Principal David Johnson's faith-based absolution of Stinson without any investigation.

PRP Coaches Say Stinson Did Nothing Wrong

"I look in the mirror every day

to see if I could have done anything differently."

-- PRP Assistant Football Coach Adam Donnelly

This from C-J:

Three assistant football coaches for Pleasure Ridge Park High School say they never heard former head coach David Stinson use profanity, ridicule players for getting a drink or deny players water during the Aug. 20, 2008 practice in which a player collapsed and later died after running wind sprints, according to depositions filed Thursday.

"To my knowledge, he's never denied players water," said Adam Donnelly, the former offensive line coach, in a deposition taken this month.

Some of the coaches' statements are at odds with what players, witnesses and Stinson have previously told police.

Donnelly and coaches Steve Deacon and Jason Cook, who wore a "Support our Stinson" arm band during his deposition, defended the head coach's actions and their own during the Aug. 20 practice where 15-year-old sophomore lineman Max Gilpin collapsed from heat stroke. He died three days later....

Football and Heat

This from C-J:

If the death last year of a Louisville-area football player isn't enough to move the Kentucky High School Athletic Association to action, maybe the recent wave of oppressive heat will be.

It's nearing one year since the death of 15-year-old Max Gilpin, the Pleasure Park Ridge High School football player who died of heat stroke last August. The inexcusable delay of Jefferson County Public Schools' investigation into the tragedy is old news by now.

There's another pressing issue at hand: how to implement changes to school athletic policy before football tryouts begin in July.

That's the charge of the KHSAA, and so far, with less than a month before players return to the field, they've failed to do it....

Judge: JCPS must turn over Gilpin interviews

This from Toni Konz at C-J:

Jefferson County Public Schools must give the commonwealth attorney's office its interviews with players, coaches and other witnesses that are part of its investigation into football player Max Gilpin's death last fall, a judge ruled Friday.

Circuit Judge Susan Schultz Gibson ordered district officials to turn over the interviews that prosecutors had subpoenaed for its criminal case against Jason Stinson, Max's former head football coach at Pleasure Ridge Park High School.

However, the judge ruled that those interviews must be sealed from the public "until further order of the court." And she instructed the school board to notify the court "when the investigation is complete." ...

Schultz Gibson ruled that while prosecutors may have those statements, the rest of the district's findings don't have to be released until district officials close their investigation.

The judge said that the "release of the (school board) investigation to the public while the investigation is ongoing could potentially result in a chilling effect, which would call into question the truthfulness and accuracy of any subsequent statements and contribute to the very problem of conflicting testimony."

She noted the school system has "publicly stated" that the investigation will be released, meaning "the public will ultimately have access to the same materials requested now by the commonwealth." ...

C-J Smacks Berman Over Gilpin Stonewalling

This from C-J:

Truth's back seat

Without putting too fine a point on it, more than nine months have elapsed since Pleasure Ridge Park High School sophomore Max Gilpin died after collapsing at football practice. That is more than enough time for Jefferson County Public Schools to have given birth to its investigative report into the teenager's tragic death.

An investigation conducted by Louisville Metro police for the Jefferson County commonwealth's attorney's office started around the same time last year. It was finished in November, and the 2,000-page report was made public in March. The school district said it would take four to six weeks to "digest" the findings.

Somebody hand them the Pepto, because they're still "digesting" three months later.

More than that, they're fighting attempts to force them to turn over their findings to other parties involved in several lawsuits brought since Max Gilpin's death...

... the district seems to have lost sight of the bigger picture: A child died on their watch. The public deserves to know what happened without further delay.

As it is, their maneuvering is like stonewalling...

Superintendent Sheldon Berman took a valedictory lap for the school year in a guest column in Sunday's Forum section, but he did not mention this investigation in that piece. It was a glaring omission. He must correct that, and address public concerns, by talking to the public now about why the district's investigation into Max Gilpin's death has taken longer than the ones that pinpointed the destruction of shuttle orbiters and astronauts' lives. And then he and the district must cooperate with law enforcement.

Today is day 299 since Max Gilpin was taken off life support. That's too long to wait for the truth.

Judge delays ruling on Gilpin investigative file

This from Toni at C-J, photo by Matt Stone:

A Jefferson Circuit judge will decide shortly on whether to force Jefferson County Public Schools to turn over its investigative file into Max Gilpin's death to the commonwealth attorney's office.

After hearing arguments from both the commonwealth attorney's office and the school district during a hearing Monday, Circuit Judge Susan Schultz Gibson said she would issue an opinion "very shortly."

"I know the trial is fast approaching and there is an issue of time on this," she said....

Here's the problem with the district's stance.

Gilpin investigation

As a former employee and PTA member, I have always been a strong supporter of Jefferson County Public Schools. However, I am now unable to support JCPS's decision to withhold the results of their investigation into the death of Max Gilpin.

The perception is that the district has something to hide. This may be far from the reality, but perception is reality in the public's mind.

The investigation itself has taken far too long, and it appears as if the district is dragging its feet. Now with the fight to withhold the results, the appearance becomes even stronger.

The investigation should be quickly concluded and the results turned over to the commonwealth's attorney's office. In my opinion, the results should also be made public in order to restore confidence in the school district's reputation that children come first.

CATHI LYNINGER
Louisville 40291

District fights release of findings in PRP player's death

What am I missing here?

On March 3 JCPS spokeswoman Lauren Roberts said it could be "at least four to six weeks" before details of the district's investigation into the death of Max Gilpin would be released. On April 14, JCPS Superintendent Sheldon Berman said it "could be another four weeks."

Yesterday, Berman told C-J's Toni Konz the file is "very close" to being completed. "I am expecting to be able to review it within the next week or so," he said. "From there, it will be made public."

But today at 3 pm, JCPS attorneys will go into court arguing against releasing the report - not just delaying its release - saying it is protected by "attorney work product."

It certainly looks like JCPS is throwing knuckle balls. Why?

This from Toni at C-J:

Commonwealth attorney subpoenas district's file

Officials with Jefferson County Public Schools are fighting an attempt by the commonwealth attorney's office to obtain their investigative file in the death of Pleasure Ridge Park High School football player Max Gilpin.

Prosecutors with the Jefferson Commonwealth Attorney's Office issued a subpoena June 3 after several failed attempts over the past five months to obtain the file, saying they need the information to proceed with their criminal case against former PRP head football coach Jason Stinson.

Stinson has pleaded not guilty to reckless homicide in connection with Max's death on Aug. 23 of complications from heat stroke.

Lawyers for the school district filed a motion Tuesday to quash the commonwealth attorney's latest effort to obtain the district's findings, arguing that the investigation is incomplete and is protected by attorney work product.

In response, the commonwealth attorney's office filed a motion Thursday asking Jefferson Circuit Judge Susan Schultz Gibson to force the district to hand over its findings.

Byron Leet, an attorney representing the school system, said yesterday that it "would be a mistake for the district to release the file" while the investigation is ongoing, adding that "we are not convinced that they (prosecutors) need that file in order to go to trial."

Steve Tedder, a spokesman for Commonwealth Attorney Dave Stengel, said prosecutors need the file to ensure justice is done in Stinson's case...

Gilpin's Mother Furious Over Delayed Report

This from Toni Konz at C-J:

Schools' report on Gilpin death still incomplete

Nine months after Max Gilpin died of heat stroke suffered during football practice at Pleasure Ridge Park High School, Superintendent Sheldon Berman says the school district’s long-promised report on the death is still not complete.

Max’s parents are furious.

“They say they need more time, but all they have had is time,” Michele Crockett, Max’s mother, said in an interview with The Courier-Journal yesterday. “It has been nine months since my son died, and I still don’t have any answers from the school district.”

On March 3, district spokeswoman Lauren Roberts said it could be “at least four to six weeks” before details of the district’s investigation would be released. On April 14, Berman said it “could be another four weeks.” ...

PRP football players allege retaliation

Statements on death said to bring action

This from Toni Konz at C-J:

Jefferson County school officials are investigating allegations of retaliation against some Pleasure Ridge Park High School football players who gave statements to police after the death of their teammate, Max Gilpin.

Superintendent Sheldon Berman said yesterday that he has asked Joe Burks, assistant superintendent of high schools, to look into the allegations.

Berman said he has not received any complaints but was asked about the matter during a deposition last week in a lawsuit filed by Max's parents, Michele Crockett and Jeff Gilpin. "As soon as I got back (to the office), I instructed my staff to investigate," he said.

Berman also said he will meet next week with officials from the office of Jefferson County Commonwealth's Attorney Dave Stengel to discuss issues related to the criminal case against former PRP head football coach Jason Stinson.

Steve Tedder, a spokesman for the office, said yesterday that Stengel was aware of the allegations of retaliation and confirmed that a meeting with Berman was requested...

And this:

Berman e-mail defended coaches
Message sent to board before PRP player died

In his sworn deposition, taken April 14 and filed yesterday in Jefferson Circuit Court, Berman said he wrote at 8:57 p.m. on Aug. 23 that it was not anticipated that the 15-year-old football player would survive. Max died that day.

"This is very depressing news," Berman wrote. "The coach followed all the guidelines for practices in the heat, but it is devastating none the less."

Berman said in his deposition that his e-mail stemmed from preliminary information he had received about the district's inquiry into Max's collapse several days earlier.

"It appeared from the initial conversation that procedures had been followed, that all the guidelines for practices in the heat had been followed," Berman said in his deposition...

During the deposition, Berman testified that he had concerns about how [PRP principal David] Johnson handled the initial investigation in the days immediately following Max's collapse -- before the district launched a separate investigation the following week.

"I was disappointed that he (Johnson) didn't have any notes and didn't take notes, and we've made that pretty clear," Berman said. "On the other hand, we pulled him off of the investigation pretty immediately on Monday (Aug. 25). So he did not have a great deal of time to investigate the situation." ...

And finally:

Gilpin's parents can't get JCPS file
School system says effort may take four more weeks

Jefferson County Public Schools won't have to turn over its investigative file to the parents of a Pleasure Ridge Park football player who died after suffering heat stroke at a practice, a Jefferson circuit judge says.

Circuit Judge Mitch Perry issued the ruling yesterday without comment after reading a copy of the district's investigative file into 15-year-old Max Gilpin's death...