Mar 9, 2006 9:51 pm US/Central
Vikings' Lawyers To Interview Witnesses From Boat
by Darcy Pohland
(WCCO)
A routine court hearing for two Minnesota Vikings accused of inappropriate behavior on a charter boat last year, ended with a rare opportunity for the defense lawyers.
Vikings Fred Smoot and Bryant McKinnie have been charged with three misdemeanors stemming from a cruise last October on Lake Minnetonka. Daunte Culpepper and Moe Williams are also charged in the incident, but did not have court dates Thursday.
Lawyers for Smoot and McKinnie wanted the lawyer for Al and Alma's Boat Company to tell them what crew members saw on the cruise, but he gave them much more.
"Mr. Doyle has given us the opportunity to interview the witnesses from the boat," McKinnie's attorney Joe Tamborino said.
"I offered each of them a chance, to decide whether it would work for them and I was pleased and quite proud and impressed that all eight have volunteered to come in and be examined by these guys," said Steven Doyle, attorney for Al and Alma's.
McKinnie's attorney, Joe Tamborino, will conduct the interviews and then share the information with the lawyers of the other accused players.
"It depends on what they say, what people remember, how correct the identifications were," Tamborino said.
The defense is looking for inconsistencies in their stories as a way to prove their clients were victims of mistaken identity.
"I've been at this 32 years and I've never seen it occur as a defense lawyer before," Doyle said. "I would have loved that opportunity many times, but Al and Alma's and the crew have no agenda here."
Doyle said he was subpoenaed for a variety of records, such as the boat company's list of clients and the names of the 17 players the crew members thought were on the boat.
Doyle said that some of the information requested by the defense does not exist and said he was not willing to divulge what the crew members told him because of attorney-client privilege.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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