Spring Break
Ky. coach pleads not guilty in player's death
Brett Barrouquere and Will Graves - Associated Press
Issue date: 1/27/09 Section: News
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David Jason Stinson was released without having to post bond following his arraignment. A grand jury last week indicted Stinson, who was in his first year as head coach, in the death of Pleasure Ridge High School offensive lineman Max Gilpin.
"This is not about football, this is not about coaches," Jefferson County Commonwealth's Attorney David Stengel said after the hearing. "This is about an adult person who was responsible for the health and welfare of a child."
Gilpin was one of six people to die because of the heat in high school and college athletics in 2008. Stengel said he doesn't know if this is the first case in which a coach has been criminally charged in such a death that happens occasionally in all levels of athletics.
One of Stinson's attorneys, Brian Butler, said the case won't be settled without a trial because his client "is not responsible for this child's death."
"Coach Stinson absolutely believes that he is innocent of these charges. This is a tragedy beyond belief for (Gilpin's) family," Butler said. "His heart goes out to them."
The sophomore died Aug. 23 of complications from heat stroke, three days after collapsing at practice. His family attended the hearing but did not speak to reporters. Jeff Gilpin and Michele Crockett, the player's divorced parents, have jointly filed a lawsuit against the school's coaching staff, accusing them of negligence and "reckless disregard."
Despite the felony charge that carries a maximum of five years in prison, some in the south Louisville community have rallied around the coach.
"They're dragging a very good man through the mud and I don't understand why," football booster Rodney Daugherty said Sunday.
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