Attorneys’ fees in the taxpayer-funded civil defense of a former UA assistant track and field coach convicted of assaulting a student have topped $1.6 million dollars, with no end to the case in sight.
Craig Carter was convicted by a Pima County jury in March of two counts of aggravated assault following his 2015 attack on former thrower Baillie Gibson. The two were previously in a sexual relationship that Gibson said was not consensual.
Gibson has also filed a civil lawsuit against Carter and the UA, saying that the school had knowledge of the illicit relationship and failed to take action to stop it.
Because Carter was a UA employee at the time of the assault, his defense in the civil case is covered by the state’s risk management system. As of July 31, Carter’s attorneys from ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ law firm Munger Chadwick had billed the state $1.1 million, according to documents obtained by the Star through a public records request. Monthly billing totals have ranged from $2,175 to $68,131, the documents show.
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Rusing, Lopez and Lizardi, the firm representing the UA, has billed the state $471,271 for work performed through Aug. 10. Monthly totals from the firm range from $2,174 to $70,202.
Attorneys from Thorpe Shwer billed the state $86,674 for work performed between August 2017 and August 2018. The firm represented former UA athletic director Greg Byrne, who — along with UA track and field coach Fred Harvey — was initially named as a defendant before being dropped. Byrne, now the athletic director at Alabama, hired his own attorneys in August 2017.
Carter and his wife have also filed counterclaims against Gibson and her attorney, Lynne Cadigan. The Carters claim Gibson’s accusations caused them emotional distress. The June 2016 counterclaim against Cadigan accuses the attorney of defamation stemming from a 2015 television interview in which she said Carter’s relationship with Gibson was sexually abusive.
The Carters are paying for their own lawyer in the two counterclaims. However, it remains unclear how the legal billings are being kept separate since all actions involving the civil suit and the Carters’ counterclaims are included in the same case filing.
Nearly all the filings in the case are under seal. However, the Star received a copy of a recent ruling in the case against Cadigan. Judge Charles Harrington last month denied Cadigan’s motion for summary judgment, which would have cleared her without a trial. Harrington, however, ruled that Carter was not charged with rape or sexual assault and that the coach has filed a declaration with the court that the relationship was consensual. Gibson initially told campus police that the relationship was consensual, but later changed her story. Harrington said that the contradictory statements about consent meant that the central complaint — whether Carter’s relationship with Gibson was sexually abusive — is still in dispute.
A hearing is scheduled in the case for Monday.
Carter, 50, is serving five years in prison. He was convicted in the criminal case without taking the stand in his defense.