Courtroom drama

Witness says he saw Puckett drag woman into bathroom

From Sports Illustrated Chuck Solomon Rise and Fall of Kirby Puckett Baseball fans across the country were shocked last year when Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett, one of the game’s most beloved figures, was charged with sexually assaulting a woman at a suburban Minneapolis restaurant. But that incident was merely the latest in a pattern of alleged sexual indiscretions and violent acts by Puckett, according to SI.com's Frank Deford. • Click here for more. • Deford: Puckett fooled 'em all • Rushin: Betrayal of trust

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- A witness testified Friday that he saw former Minnesota Twins star Kirby Puckett drag a woman into a men's bathroom at a restaurant, and that she appeared terrified when she came out moments later.

Alan Anderson, 31, was at the Redstone American Grill in Eden Prairie early Sept. 6 when Puckett allegedly forced the woman into a stall in the bathroom and grabbed her breast before she escaped.

"He was dragging her into the bathroom. She was trying to resist him," Anderson said on the second day of testimony in Puckett's trial.

Anderson said he saw her try to hang on the door frame and saw a friend of the alleged victim yell her name into the restroom. He said he thought the woman and Puckett were boyfriend and girlfriend, until she emerged.

"She was terrified. She was almost in tears. She was about to break down," Anderson said. He said she replied "no" when he asked her if she was all right. "I thought this isn't right. Something happened here," he said.

Puckett, the Hall of Famer whose playing career was cut short by blindness in one eye, is charged with false imprisonment, a felony; fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct, a gross misdemeanor; and fifth-degree assault, a misdemeanor. Prosecutors say they'll seek probation and no more than a year in jail if he's convicted on all counts.

Puckett maintains his innocence, and his defense has been highlighting inconsistencies in the prosecution witnesses' police statements and testimony. Defense attorney Todd Jones has said he will "connect the dots" for the jury later.

Puckett has been subdued throughout the proceedings, saying nothing to reporters and keeping his distance from the public. During breaks in the trial, his lawyers have kept him sheltered in a conference room down the hall from the courtroom.

The defense is expected to begin presenting its case Monday. Puckett is expected to testify sometime early next week.

Anderson -- who didn't know the woman or Puckett before that night -- said the woman accepted his offer to help find her attacker. Anderson said he spotted the man on the patio. And while he didn't know then that it was Puckett, he recognized the man's distinctive blue shirt.

On cross-examination by Jones, Anderson said he had had seven bottles of beer. He said he felt a little buzzed, but not intoxicated.

Friday's second witness was Jaime Lindgren, 37, who was at the Redstone that night and met the alleged victim for the first time. Lindgren said the woman told her around 12:30 a.m. that Puckett had attacked her. She also said the woman did not appear to be drunk.

"She did not want to pursue this. And I said you cannot let this happen," Lindgren testified.

Michael Fry, 28, who was the Redstone's assistant general manager that night, said Puckett's accuser told him she had been assaulted. She tried to show him a bruise on her arm, but he couldn't make it out. He said he told her he could certainly ask the man to leave.

Fry said he then confronted Puckett, who "vehemently denied" assaulting the woman. He said Puckett told him the only thing he did was show someone the inside of the men's room. He said Puckett told him she went freely.

The woman had been calm but started to scream as he spoke with Puckett, Fry said. She claimed they weren't going to do anything because Puckett was a baseball player, Fry said.

Asked if he tried to "coddle" Puckett, Fry denied it. He said they made every effort to help. And he said it would have been illegal to stop him from leaving, as the woman seemed to want, he said.

Attorneys didn't ask Fry if he asked Puckett to leave. He said he didn't see Puckett go because he was with the woman, who called 911 on her own cell phone. He also said he didn't learn the alleged assault was sexual until she have police her statement.

The alleged victim claims Puckett squeezed her breast hard enough to cause a bruise. While police have pictures of bruises on her arm and ankle, pictures of the bruise on her breast taken later didn't turn out.

Cpl. Joyce Holton Conley, who has been with the Eden Prairie police for 27 years, testified she took two or three pictures Sept. 9 of a "dime-sized" bruise on the woman's right breast and that it was "light lime green." But when she took the digital camera to a detective they realized it wasn't working. She said she asked again how to use the camera and tried again, but once again the pictures didn't turn out. It wasn't clear if the camera malfunctioned or if she wasn't using it properly.

 

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