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Detroit native Curtis Blackwell, left, was hired by MSU football coach Mark Dantonio on Aug. 2, 2013. Blackwell’s contract was not renewed in May 2017 and he later sued Dantonio and other university officials. (Photo: State Journal file photo)
GRAND RAPIDS – Attorneys for an ex-Michigan State University football staffer want more time to question head coach Mark Dantonio. Dantonio’s attorneys say the coach has already answered the necessary questions.
Curtis Blackwell Jr.’s attorney, Tom Warnicke, said a federal judge allowed them seven hours to question Dantonio but only got five hours and 55 minutes during a Jan. 10 deposition in Grand Rapids because the federal courthouse closed for the day. Warnicke said, in court filings, Dantonio’s attorneys have refused to schedule a follow-up session.
Dantonio’s attorneys say the coach answered all necessary questions and Blackwell only wants to explore “irrelevant topics.”
Warnicke Monday asked Magistrate Judge Sally Berens to give him an additional hour and five minutes to question Dantonio.
Blackwell left MSU in May 2017 after Dantonio let his contract expire. He filed a federal lawsuit in November 2018 against Dantonio, former MSU President Lou Anna Simon, former Athletic Director Mark Hollis and two members of the MSU Police Department, detectives Chad Davis and Sam Miller. He argues he was wrongfully arrested and accused of covering up a sexual assault complaint made against three football players.
Blackwell is seeking at least $75,000 in damages, lost wages and other costs.
Warnicke said he still has more questions to ask Dantonio and documents to review with the coach. He said he planned his questioning based on having the full seven hours but was cut short.
Thomas Kienbaum, one of Dantonio’s attorneys, said Blackwell’s attorneys “engaged in hours of irrelevant and repetitive questioning” not related to his legal claim that the coach did not renew his contract because he refused to speak to MSU detectives.
“Nonetheless, Dantonio fully and directly answered plaintiff’s counsel’s questions,” Kienbaum said.
Dantonio laid out his reasons to not renew Blackwell’s contract during the deposition:
- An NCAA rule change that prohibited operating non-institutional football camps and Dantonio had hired Blackwell because of his camp connections.
- Dantonio saw a disconnect between recruiting, Blackwell’s department, and the rest of the football organization.
- Dantonio decided to hire Sheldon White, a former NFL player and Detroit Lions staffer, to handle recruiting and other duties with the team.
Blackwell has claimed Dantonio and the university used him as a scapegoat during an outside investigation by Jones Day, a law firm hired by MSU to review how the football staff handled reports of rape involving several football players.
The three players — Josh King, Donnie Corley and Demetric Vance — were kicked off the team after being charged with sexually assaulting a woman at a January 2017 party.
In a deal with the Ingham County Prosecutor’s Office, they pleaded guilty to reduced charges of seduction and were sentenced to 36 months of probation and ordered to undergo sex offender treatment.
According to the Jones Day report, football player Auston Robertson told Blackwell about the assault by the three players on the day it occurred.
Robertson also was dismissed from the team after he was accused of raping a student and was charged with third-degree criminal sexual conduct in Ingham County. He pleaded guilty to assault with intent to commit a sex crime and is serving a prison sentence of three years and seven months.
Contact reporter Craig Lyons at 517-377-1047 or calyons@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @craigalyons.
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