Former Arizona track coach Craig Carter found guilty of two assault charges

He faces 15-23 years in prison

Former Arizona Wildcats track coach Craig Carter has been found guilty of two charges of assault by a Pima County jury on Friday evening.

The charges of aggravated assault and assault with a dangerous instrument were brought by former Arizona thrower Baillie Gibson after Carter threatened her with a box cutter in his McKale Center office in April 2015.

Carter admitted to the incident to UAPD detectives. That video was played for the jury for a second time on Friday.

According to Kevin Adger of Tucson News Now, Carter pointed at Gibson and said something to her as he was being handcuffed and taken into custody on Friday.

During the verdict Craig Carter has his head down. Once the guilty verdict was read. Baillie Gibson became very emotional. As he was getting handcuffed, Carter pointed at Gibson and said something. #Tucson

— Kevin Adger (@K_Adger_TNN) March 31, 2018

Carter’s sentencing is scheduled for May 14th. He faces between 15 and 23 years in prison.

Gibson, along with her ex-teammate and roommate Julie Labonte, testified against Carter this week to the jury. Carter himself never took the stand in his own defense.

This case gained a lot of national attention after Outside the Lines spotlighted Gibson’s history with Carter in the piece “Track and Fear”. In addition to painting a bad picture of Carter’s character, it also shows how poor of a job former Arizona athletic director Greg Byrne and current track and field head coach Fred Harvey did when confronted with this situation.

Carter was offered a plea deal before the trial began this week, and then his lawyers asked for a mistrial twice over the course of the past several days. Obviously both requests were denied.

Gibson also filed a civil suit against Carter and the University of Arizona, which has cost Arizona taxpayers over a million dollars. Since Carter was an employee at the school when the suit was filed, the state is required to pay for his defense.

The school is also facing a Title IX lawsuit in which players in the football program have been accused of gang-raping female students and staffers.

from Arizona Desert Swarm - All Posts https://ift.tt/2GnJF2c
via IFTTT