Stinson Attorneys Want Certain Testimony Blocked

((HT: Louisville Courier-Journal/Riley))

Attorneys for former Pleasure Ridge Park football coach Jason Stinson ((pictured, thanks SI.com file)) want a judge to keep out testimony from his trial that players were denied water or ran more than normal at a practice last year where sophomore lineman Max Gilpin collapsed and later died, saying the allegations are not relevant to the teen's death.

In a motion filed Wednesday, defense attorneys Alex Dathorne and Brian Butler claim the Jefferson Commonwealth's Attorney's Office doesn't have a medical expert opinion stating that water deprivation or excessive running at the Aug. 20, 2008, practice caused Max's death.

“Unbelievably, the Commonwealth did not consult with a medical expert, including the Kentucky Medical Examiner's Office, prior to indicting Jason Stinson,” Dathorne and Butler wrote in a motion to Circuit Judge Susan Schultz Gibson, adding that investigators also didn't get an autopsy to prove how the teen died.

Stinson is scheduled to stand trial Aug. 31 on a charge of reckless homicide in Max's death.

Defense attorneys contend that statements from several players and witnesses claiming Stinson denied players water and punished them by making them run more than usual should be excluded because it does not prove how Max died and would only be used by the prosecution “to paint Mr. Stinson in a poor light” and anger jurors.

“Otherwise, the trial becomes much like the investigation and indictment; a witch hunt based upon pure speculation,” the motion says.

Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Jon Heck said prosecutors had not received the motion and will respond “fully” in court proceedings.

If Gibson agrees with the defense, the decision would undermine the prosecution's case against Stinson.

Prosecutors say Stinson repeatedly denied players water at the Aug. 20 practice when the heat index reached 94, despite receiving extensive training in the dangers of heat-related illnesses, and he forced them to run extra wind sprints as punishment for not practicing hard enough.

Max and another player collapsed at the practice. The second player, a senior, also was hospitalized but was released soon after.

After Max died Aug. 23 at Kosair Children's Hospital, the Jefferson County coroner's office said his body temperature had reached 107 degrees and that he died of complications of heat stroke.

Prosecutors have produced dozens of witnesses — members of the team, parents and spectators — who have said Stinson denied players water and made them run gassers, or wind sprints, until someone quit the team.

Defense attorneys say Commonwealth's Attorney Dave Stengel told the grand jury investigating Stinson, “I think that depriving them of water was part of the punishment also.”

But the defense alleges the grand jury never heard any medical conclusion as to how Max died and that prosecutors haven't linked any of those allegations to Max's death with any expert opinion.

“This trial is not about whether or not one prefers Mr. Stinson's coaching style; it is about whether he recklessly caused Max Gilpin's death,” Stinson's attorneys wrote.

Under state law, the cause of death must be proven at trial by medical testimony unless it is obvious to “any layman of average intelligence,” the defense argues.

In the Stinson case, prosecutors have not provided an expert to say how Max died. Nor is it obvious that the number of water breaks or amount of running at the practice caused Max's death, according to the motion.

“The potential causes of Max Gilpin's death are medically complicated and beyond the knowledge and experience of any layman of average intelligence,” Dathorne and Butler wrote.

Defense attorneys have lined up several medical experts who will testify that Max was not dehydrated and excessive running did not cause the teen's death.

For example, Dr. William Smock, a professor of emergency medicine at the University of Louisville who reviewed Max's medical records at The Courier-Journal's request, will testify that Max died from “exertional heat stroke which was not associated with water deficiency,” they say.

And Dr. George Nichols, Kentucky's former chief medical examiner and an expert witness for Stinson, also will testify that Max did not die because coaches denied him water, they say. Nichols and Smock have said that Adderall, which Max was taking for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, most likely triggered the heat stroke.

However, an expert retained by Max's parents, has said that the evidence shows Max's death was caused by excessive strenuous exercise in hot weather.

Dr. George Rodgers, a professor in UofL's department of pediatrics and its department of pharmacology and toxicology, told The Courier-Journal in March that Max's initially low urine output when he was taken to the hospital is one of several factors suggesting he may have been dehydrated.

And he said the link to Adderall is “tenuous.” While there have been reports of heat-stroke deaths caused by amphetamines, he said, they occurred in people taking excessive amounts, for weight control or other reasons.

At least two other players have told prosecutors they were also taking Adderall at the time of the practice, according to recently released summaries of interviews with players. Another said he had been on Adderall while playing football in previous years but not during the 2008 season.

Also, defense attorneys acknowledge in their motion that the prosecution has at least one other witness who will testify that the lack of water may have been a factor in Max's death. Dr. Larry Shoemaker will testify that Max may have been “mildly dehydrated,” according to court records.

Asked about Rodgers and Shoemaker, Butler declined to comment. But their motion claims Shoemaker found that it is “unlikely this degree of dehydration alone explains” Max's death.