Friday, December 19, 2008

Eye Witness Comes Forward in Andy Kennedy Case

A Cincinnati television station has an interview with an eyewitness in the Andy Kennedy assault case--and the witness supports the story of a cab driver whom Kennedy allegedly struck.

The story, by reporter Eric Flack of WLWT, features an interview with a valet at Bootsy's restaurant. Bootsy's is near the Lodge Bar, where Kennedy had been drinking and had to be escorted out and threatened with arrest--before the incident with the cab driver. Witnesses say Kennedy got into a confrontation with two individuals at the bar.

The valet said Kennedy, and others in his party, were hitting and kicking the cab before Kennedy struck the driver. "I saw it with my own eyes," the valet said.

Police are looking for a limo driver who apparently also witnessed the incident.

Ole Miss officials already are starting to back away from their unqualified support for Kennedy. Athletics Director Pete Boone said today that he needed a few days to "sort things out" before granting more interviews on the subject. Translation: He's going to talk with the president, board members, and other higher ups at the university.

Boone said there was no question that Kennedy would be the Rebels coach for the rest of this season. He said nothing about Kennedy's status beyond that.

I've yet to see any news reports raising the possibility of a civil case against Kennedy and others. That's when things really could get hairy for Ole Miss, although the criminal case is likely to play out first.

Since Kennedy and his staff were on university business, Ole Miss is likely to be a target in a lawsuit.

Hope everyone on the Ole Miss coaching staff has good liability coverage. They are probably going to need it.

An update: Apparently Kennedy has decided to beat everyone to the punch in the lawsuit phase. Another Cincinnati television station is reporting that Kennedy filed a lawsuit today against both the cab driver and the valet. It appears that the lawsuit alleges that the cab driver and the valet are conspiring to defame Kennedy. I haven't seen the lawsuit, but one has to wonder what connections the cab driver and the valet could possibly have and how they could pull off such a conspiracy.

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