Williams Case Goes To Jury

[ideamark]

From the Cedar Rapids Gazette...

www.crgazette.com/2006/08/15/Home/williamstrialtojury.htm

Williams case goes to jury
Published: 08/15/2006 4:00 PM
By: Zack Kucharski - The Gazette
IOWA CITY, IA - Jurors are now deliberating the fate of former University of Iowa assistant wrestling coach Joe Williams.

The jury received the case following closing arguments at about 3:45 p.m. this afternoon.

Williams, who is charged with indecent exposure, did not testify during the trial. Williams is accused of exposing himself to Melissa Greazel, 23, fiancee of former UI wrestler Jason D'Agata, in 2003.

During closing arguments this afternoon, Assistant Johnson County Attorney Anne Lahey said that Williams was trying to take advantage of his position to have a sexual encounter with Greazel.

Williams' attorney, Matt Boles, argued Williams is the victim of accusations by D'Agata, who, with his girlfriend, were trying to get D'Agata a starting position on the team and collect settlements from Williams and the university. Williams claims he accidentally exposed himself while he was rolling over during a consensual massage.

[ideamark]

I stand corrected. The Iowa City Press-Citizen did have an article on the trial. This is the first I could find.

Also -- from my recollection of original coverage of the alleged crime in the student paper at the University of Iowa, the victim went into rather graphic detail about her encounter with Williams -- that it was more than "accidental exposure" but that he was masturbating.



www.hawkcentral.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060815/HAWKS0110/60815008/1053/HAWKS

Tuesday, August 15, 2006



Williams case goes to jury




By the Press-Citizen


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The fate of an indecent exposure charge against former Hawkeye wrestling assistant Joe Williams is now in the hands of a jury.

Testimony and closing arguments ended in the trial this afternoon. The prosecution says that when Williams was a Hawkeye coach, he exposed himself to Melissa Greazel, the girlfriend of Jason D’Agata, who was then a wrestler on the team, at Greazel’s home.

According to the prosecution, Williams initially came to Greazel’s home to discuss D’Agata’s performance on the team, but when the conversation turned sexual, Greazel asked Williams to leave and went into her bathroom to compose herself. When she emerged, Williams was still there, on the floor in a pair of boxer shorts, exposing himself to her.

The prosecution said Williams asserted that he was entitled to his actions in return for helping D’Agata on the wrestling team.

The defense questioned the motive behind the charges. D’Agata and Greazel also have a civil lawsuit pending against Williams and the University of Iowa in which they are claiming $500,000 damage each. The alleged incident occurred in 2003, but charges weren’t filed until 2005, a gap the defense attributes to the fact that D’Agata was petitioning to get a sixth year of eligibility with the team. When the petition failed, the defense said, that’s when the couple went to the police.

The defense also argued that Greazel was giving Williams a backrub after the conversation turned from D’Agata to massage. When William got up off the floor, his genitals accidentally fell out of his shorts, an argument the prosecutor wasn’t buying.

“Everyone will agree that this is a world-class athlete. What strength, what agility,” said assistant county attorney Anne Lahey. “Yet he can’t keep his genitals in his shorts. This is not an escape he is going to get points for.”

[RYou]

I think it is goiung to hurt Williams that he didn't testify to defend himself.