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'You don't know anything' Notes of limo driver's statement to police are released
Posted: Wednesday May 03, 2000 09:38 AM
ATLANTA (AP) -- After shots were fired at Ray Lewis' limousine as it sped away from a deadly brawl early Jan. 30, the Baltimore Ravens linebacker told the driver to keep his mouth shut about the incident, according to prosecution notes. "You don't know anything," driver Duane Fassett quoted Lewis as saying the night two men were stabbed to death after post-Super Bowl partying at a Buckhead nightclub. Fassett also said Lewis told the limo passengers: "Don't say who was in the limo." Notes of Fassett's comments, taken by Fulton County Assistant District Attorney Sheila Ross Finley, were introduced Tuesday into court records by Superior Court Judge Alice D. Bonner. The eight pages of notes -- out of 22 originally taken by Finley -- were in response to defense requests for eyewitness statements that may be beneficial to the defense. The judge did not say how the notes would help any of the defendants. But a review of the notes shows Fassett's high regard for Lewis and his assertion that the football player did not become violent when he was drinking. Fassett also told prosecutors he did not witness Lewis holding a knife or see him standing over one of two men who had been stabbed to death. "It is clear that her ruling to turn this over was correct and in accordance with the law," said Lewis' lawyer, Ed Garland. Lewis along with Joseph Sweeting and Reginald Oakley have been charged with murder in the stabbing deaths of Jacinth Baker and Richard Lollar, both of Decatur. Fassett, who often chauffeurs Lewis, saw Lewis throw a punch, according to Finley's notes. He said he did not see any of the limo passengers with knives, according to the notes. He has said he saw Sweeting and Oakley punching Baker and Lollar. Finley noted that Fassett "had originally followed Ray's warning," about keeping quiet. Police have said that Fassett, who has now emerged as the state's key witness, originally was reluctant to say much to them about the incident. He has since given several statements to police, including a re-enactment of the incident with prosecutors. The trial of Lewis, Oakley and Sweeting is scheduled for May 15. Bonner is expected to rule May 9 on a series of motions, including a request for a separate trial for Lewis.
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