Paula Lavigne, ESPN Personnel Essayist
WACO — Former Baylor soccer professor Artwork Briles testified Thursday that he had negative wisdom of the home violence allegations made by way of a former feminine pupil towards one in every of his gamers in 2014 till she filed a lawsuit two years upcoming, even supposing individuals of his body of workers knew about the ones allegations — and studies of alternative problems — involving the previous participant.
Briles is a defendant in a Name IX and negligence trial during which Baylor alumna Dolores Lozano alleges being bodily assaulted by way of then-Bears participant Devin Chafin in 2014. Baylor College and ex-athletic director Ian McCaw also are defendants within the federal case.
Lozano, now an elected justice of the relief in Harris County, Texas, reported that Chafin bodily assaulted her 3 times in March and April 2014, upcoming the 2, who were courting, argued over an abortion Lozano had previous that yr.
Lozano alleges that the college’s total failure to enforce Name IX and cope with sexual violence put her in danger for attack and that the college, Briles and McCaw failed to correctly reply to her document and led to her to be subjected to additional abuse by way of Chafin.
Briles and McCaw first seemed in courtroom Thursday — the fourth past of testimony — and didn’t solution questions on Lozano’s claims as they walked into the federal courthouse.
A couple of feminine Baylor scholars have filed court cases and court cases towards Baylor stemming from the varsity’s total disasters to deal with studies of sexual violence and the 2016 findings by way of legislation company Pepper Hamilton that discovered issues in a couple of college segments. The findings highlighted particular problems with the soccer program and resulted in the firing of Briles, postponed and eventual escape of McCaw and demotion of former president Ken Starr, who died in 2022. Lozano’s is the one lawsuit from that era to manufacture it to trial, and it’s distinctive in that it names McCaw and Briles as person defendants.
Right through testimony, when it got here to soccer details, Briles rattled off main points with precision, even checking an lawyer when he stated Baylor gained the Weighty 12 championship in 2014 by way of noting the Bears had if truth be told shared that identify with TCU.
However for far of his testimony, Briles pleaded lack of expertise. He stated he had “no awareness” of Name IX when he began at Baylor in 2007 and didn’t obtain any Name IX coaching till fall 2014. When Lozano’s lawyer began to query him on one thing in his 2014 conserve, “Beating Goliath,” which is written in first-person, Briles stated he didn’t know as a result of he hadn’t learn the conserve.
He additionally stated he wasn’t ordinary along with his 2017 defamation lawsuit towards 3 individuals of the board of regents, announcing he “had a lawyer” and at one level he requested an lawyer for Lozano, Zeke Fortenberry, “Did the suit go through?” to which Fortenberry answered, “You dismissed it.”
As for Chafin, Briles stated he hadn’t been conscious about Chafin’s riding underneath the affect arrest in Wichita Falls, Texas, in 2012, for which energy and conditioning professor Kaz Kazadi had Chafin do residue exercises. Fortenberry additionally introduced him with a letter — with Briles’ signature — to the NCAA interesting an eligibility choice for Chafin.
“I think this is about some academic issues,” Briles stated. “I would assume one of the academic advisors wrote this on Devin’s behalf and had me sign it. It’s way too in depth for something I would write.”
Briles stated he may not be very conscious about minor infractions by way of his gamers however that he would were conscious about any felony-level incident or primary allegations. He stated a lot of the accountability for self-discipline fell to Kazadi, who would topic the gamers to residue exercises, book them out of a few actions, and manufacture them display up early, however he was once blind to any written coverage.
Fortenberry named 4 family within the soccer program who he stated knew about Lozano’s reported attacks in 2014, together with Kazadi, McCaw, worker professor Jeff Lebby, and chaplain Wes Yeary. Briles stated now not one in every of them knowledgeable him. When puzzled by way of his personal lawyer, Briles stated he first heard of Lozano when she filed her lawsuit, which was once in October 2016.
“If all four of your staff members knew about it, should you have known about it?” Fortenberry requested.
“Yes, sir,” Briles stated.
Some of the findings from the Pepper Hamilton sexual attack investigations was once that soccer had its personal disciplinary gadget and acted “above the rules” of the varsity’s judicial affairs place of job.
Briles stated there was once “a little bit of a misunderstanding” between the soccer program and judicial affairs, being occupied with gamers getting expelled for first-offense marijuana violations or getting kicked out of pupil housing for alternative infractions. However he stated the soccer program didn’t have a disciplinary gadget independent from the college.
Briles stated he did “give a few student athletes” the identify of Waco lawyer Jonathan Sibley, who Briles had stated presented his services and products as much as this system for any athletes who would possibly want backup.
Fortenberry additionally introduced Briles with textual content messages he had exchanged with coaches and alternative Baylor workers, maximum of which were made family within the 2017 defamation lawsuit, during which he was once responding to alternative soccer gamers who had been eager about prison incidents.
The numerous textual content messages had been introduced as evidence that Briles and others within the branch attempted to reserve athletes clear of judicial affairs, prepare legal professionals for them and reserve their alleged crimes underneath wraps.
In a single April 2011 message, Briles texted with an worker professor a couple of participant who had won a price tag for underage consuming and he answered, “Hopefully he’s under the radar” so nobody will acknowledge his identify, and upcoming, “just trying to keep him away from our judicial affairs folks.”
Briles testified that the participant was once a 19-year-old from “very minimal means” and he was once anxious {that a} sanction from judicial affairs would purpose him to lose his on-campus housing.
At one level, Briles were given emotional and paused for a protracted era earlier than making an attempt to reply to a query, desiring to tug out a tissue to dab at his ocular. He was once being requested about previous testimony from McCaw, who stated that within the days earlier than Briles was once fired in Would possibly 2016, the ex-chairman of the Baylor board of regents stated that Briles was once “going to take the fall” when the investigation findings had been excused.
During the trial, Briles’ legal professionals have again and again requested Baylor regents and others if Briles violated any coverage or actively attempted to deter any individual from reporting an attack or protecting up an attack, and each and every solution has been negative.
In testimony previous within the month, former regent J. Carey Grey stated Briles was once now not fired as a result of any particular incident or motion however for the reason that board didn’t really feel he was once the proper consumer to manufacture the important tradition adjustments to supremacy the board ahead.
An lawyer for Baylor, generation wondering Briles a couple of presentation impaired to show athletes about be respectful for girls, requested him, “Is this something you were trying to instill in your players?” Briles stated it was once. “Do you recognize sometimes that fell short?”
Briles answered: “Yes.”
