Press Release after the dismissal of the remaining charges in State v. Greg Frazier

Shreveport, Louisiana

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Remaining Charges Against Former Southwood High School Softball Coach Greg Frazier are Dismissed

Over a year after a Caddo Parish jury acquitted former Southwood softball Coach Greg Frazier of accusations that he molested several of his former players as well as his ex-wife, remaining charges against Frazier have been dismissed.

In March 2010, a Caddo Parish jury voted unanimously to acquit Frazier of allegations that he molested a former softball player. Although Mr. Frazier was charged with multiple counts of molestation, the Caddo Parish District Attorney chose to bring him to trial on only one count.  Nevertheless, in an effort to prove its case, the prosecutors presented the testimony of all complaining witnesses.

The “not guilty” verdict was rendered after two weeks of testimony.  Prosecutors presented six complaining witnesses, in addition to an airport security officer, a private investigator. Three complainants were former softball players who asserted that Frazier had repeated consensual sexual relations with them while they played for the Southwood team he coached.  The remaining three made allegations that Frazier touched them inappropriately and made lewd remarks.

During four hours of questioning by his attorney, Elton Richey, Frazier acknowledged having sexual relations with three of the women who had played on his teams.  His testimony explained that the relationships occurred after the women had graduated and were no longer minors, making the relationships lawful. Frazier further explained that he had married and divorced one of the complainants, his ex-wife Tammy, who played softball at Parkway when Frazier coached there in the late 1980’s.  The couple had a contentious divorce and child-custody battle that continued through the time of his arrest.

Unsatisfied with the verdict, prosecutors decided to bring Frazier back to court on the remaining two counts. That trial was scheduled to begin Monday June 13^th. Prosecutors also asked Caddo Parish District Court Judge John Mosley to exclude significant evidence of Frazier’s innocence from the second trial which Richey had presented to the jury at the first trial.  That evidence was, key to Frazier’s acquittal.

Judge Mosley refused to grant most of the state’s request, and prosecutor’s appealed to the Louisiana Supreme Court. On Monday Morning the Louisiana Supreme Court refused the Caddo Parish District Attorney’s request to overturn Judge Mosley’s decision. Later that day the remaining charges were dismissed

Background:

Frazier was originally arrested in March of 2007 after a Southwood student accused him of improperly touching her and lewd comments to here when she was in his office at the Southwood softball building.  Frazier denied the accusation.  Several softball players, including Frazier’s two daughters, were present at the time.  Each testified at trial that nothing had occurred.  Frazier explained at trial that a comment, made to the girl as she left the softball building, that “it’s our little secret,” dealt with the girl telling him that a friend was pregnant rather than in reference to any misconduct with the girl.

Mr. Frazier was originally charged with four counts of Molestation of Juvenile.  After his initial release on $100,000.00 bond, he was re-arrested on another allegation of molestation of a juvenile.  Each count involved allegations that Mr. Frazier had abused his position of trust as a Coach and teacher.  Two of the counts alleged he had illicit sexual relationship with women when they were his minor students, and three others alleged he had “groped” the students in an illicit, sexual manner.

On July 7, 2008, after extensive investigation and pretrial litigation, the Defense was able to obtain a dismissal of one count on which the statute of limitations had run.  Shortly before the March 1, 2007 trial date, prosecutors unilaterally dismissed another count when their witness changed her original story.

Although three counts remained, prosecutors chose to proceed to trial on only one of the three remaining accusations.  As noted, testimony from all six women was nonetheless permitted under a rule of evidence that allows prosecutors to try and show a person is guilty of a sex offense because they have a “lustful disposition.” Regardless, all allegations of each and every complaining witness were fully presented and aired to the jury which then found Frazier “not guilty”.

Frazier’s attorney, Elton Richey, argued that each of the women accusing Frazier of sexual misconduct had unique motives to make false allegations against him.  “Heaven hath no wrath like love to hatred turned; Hell no fury like that of a woman scorned,” Richey told the jury, referring to Tammy and the other two women who, after they had become adults, had sexual relationships with Frazier.  “None of those relationships blossomed,” the way the women had expected, Richey noted.  Richey added, “Now, years later, they tell you the sexual relations happened when they were minors and when they were students.  They have been untruthful with you.”  Richey told the jury that Tammy was particularly motivated by her tremendous jealousy of Frazier’s relationship with their daughters, his success as a coach, and bitterness over their failed marriage.

Richey also explained that the three women who claimed Frazier made lewd comments to them, and touched them in sexually inappropriate ways, had unique motivations to testify falsely.  The girl who claimed he had touched her when she visited the softball building had recently transferred from another high school where she was a popular cheerleader, and said she had no friends at Southwood.  After multiple witnesses refuted the girl’s claim that Frazier molested her when they were alone in his office, Richey explained that her story had been fabricated in order to avoid returning to school after she started a rumor that day about another student’s pregnancy.

The defense also presented multiple witnesses who refuted the story of another woman who said Frazier had molested her on a school bus when returning from a softball game and during a sleep-over at his home.  Richey presented evidence that the story was fabricated out of a dislike for Frazier after other coaches had found alcohol in the girl’s softball locker, and Frazier had reported it to her father.

Richey argued that the final complaining witness who had contacted investigators after Frazier’s initial arrest, along with an Airport security officer who claimed Frazier had confessed to her, were fabricating their testimony out of a simple desire to be part of the investigation and prosecution.  Richey established that the charges brought by the woman were dismissed after further investigation revealed she was not entirely truthful with the investigators.  He also established that the story the Airport Security Officer claimed Frazier had told her about his alleged misconduct was completely different from the versions the complaining witness had told investigators.

Prosecutors tried to rebut the defense with testimony by a private investigator who claimed that in 1992 he had followed Frazier and one of the women from Southwood high school to his home in Keithville.  The allegation claimed Frazier and the woman would have sexual trysts between 3:15 and 4:15 on Fridays during the 1992 football season.  Richey, however, had previously established that Frazier, who was the offensive line coach and coordinator for the Southwood football team at the time, would be at school preparing the team for that evening’s game, and would not have been able to leave without the head coach and others being aware of it.

Richey added that the private investigator had been sitting in the court room when the complaining witness had given her testimony, and was not called as a witness until after the defense had established that her testimony about the supposed Friday afternoon liaisons was fabricated. Richey demanded the investigator produce records relating to his surveillance of Frazier, and those records showed the surveillance took place in 1993, when the complaining witness was no longer a student or a minor.  Those records corroborated Frazier’s frank testimony that his relationship with the woman only started after she had graduated and was an adult.

Link to KSLA News Article

Link to Shreveport Times News Article

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On Tuesday September 1, 2009, a Bossier Parish jury returned a unanimous verdict of Not Guilty to acquit Michael Horn Hutchings on one count of Aggravated Rape of 13 year old and one count of Molestation of a Juvenile. Hutchings had been on trial for the past week in connection with the charges. His lawyer, Shreveport Attorney Elton B. Richey, Jr. contended that Hutchings’ 8 year old daughter had been lead into making a statement that investigators at the Bossier City Police Department and the Shreveport Based Gingerbread House, perceived to be a report of sexual abuse by Hutchings. In the course of the investigation Hutchings,  who suffers from mild mental retardation, gave a false confession to a Bossier City Detective and was charged with Aggravated Rape based on the false confession.

The molestation charge  was brought by  Mr. Hutchings older son from a former marriage. Upon learning of his father’s arrest in April of 2007, the boy claimed that he suddenly remembered his father had touched him in an inappropriate manner some seven years before. Hutchings’ lawyers contended that the boy was angry at his father over a spoiled 13th birthday party and was pressured by Hutching’s ex-wife to make the allegation.

Hutchings’ son and daughter both testified. His daughter told jurors her father had not touched her in any sexual manner. His son maintained that Hutchings had touched him some seven years before around age six.  A physical examination of the daughter showed no evidence of sexual trauma or abuse. Hutchings took the stand in his own defense and explained to jurors how the Detectives intimidated him during two and a half hour unrecorded interrogation into giving a tape recorded false confession.

Richey presented expert testimony of  Dr. Solomon Fulero, a nationally known expert in Interrogation tactics and false confessions,  child psychologist Dr. Bruce MCcormick, prominent local Forensic Psychologist, Dr. Mark Vigan,  and Dr. John VanSavage, a Pediatric Urologist. VanSavage testified that the lack of physical evidence of sexual molestation was inconsistent with the detailed and graphic confession Bossier Detectives secured form Mr. Hutchings.

Richey presented evidence that the Bossier City Detective who obtained the false confession from his our mentally retarded client had previously obtained two false confessions to murder in an unrelated case. The Jury deliberated for about four hours before returning the Not Guilty verdict.

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