Star's coverage of former Arizona throws coach Craig Carter's legal battle

Arizona still paying convicted ex-UA coach Craig Carter's legal bills

The state of Arizona is still paying the legal bills of a former UA track and field coach found guilty of assaulting a student-athlete, even though his conviction provides the state with an out.

A Pima County jury convicted Craig Carter, 50, Friday of choking former University of Arizona thrower Baillie Gibson while threatening her with a box cutter.

While Carter was responsible for paying for his own criminal defense, the state has been paying for his defense in a civil lawsuit filed by Gibson against Carter and the UA. In the suit, Gibson — who was engaged in a sexual relationship with Carter — said she had no ability to consent to having sex with her coach. She said the UA failed to protect her from repeated rapes.

Arizona law requires the government to pay for the defense of an employee being sued for behavior that occurred while acting within in the scope of his or her job. Carter’s conviction, however, means he was acting outside of that scope and the state could be off the hook for his legal fees.

As of Feb. 28, the state has paid $885,717 to Carter’s attorney, John Munger. Gibson filed the lawsuit in November 2015.

A spokeswoman from the Arizona Department of Administration told the Star in January that it was paying for Carter’s defense “subject to a reservation of its rights to withdraw the defense and/or not indemnify him” if he’s convicted.

On Monday, the same spokeswoman was not able to tell the Star if the state planned to withdraw its defense in light of Friday’s conviction.

Legal fees in the case have eclipsed the $1 million mark, with private attorneys for the UA having billed an additional $152,134 since their hiring in November. The UA was previously represented by the Arizona Attorney General’s Office.

Carter is still facing six additional felony charges in two open cases, but it’s unclear if the Pima County Attorney’s office plans to pursue them.

“We still have multiple charges pending in which Baillie Gibson is a victim,” said Pima County prosecutor Jonathan Mosher, who tried Carter’s case last week. “There’s also a separate case with another victim.”

In February, Judge Teresa Godoy severed the charges in Carter’s assault case involving Gibson. As a result, he’s still facing felony charges of stalking, in connection with dozens of text messages, phone calls and emails directed at Gibson following the assault. In the same case, he’s also facing charges of disrupting an educational institution, after he tried to drag Gibson out of a UA classroom a week after the assault.

In January 2016, Carter was indicted in a separate case on four felony charges of violating a restraining order, after he tried to contact Gibson’s former roommate via Skype and Facebook.

Carter is scheduled to be sentenced May 14. He’s facing a minimum of five years in prison but could spend up to 23 years, should Godoy schedule the sentences consecutively and give him the maximum time allowed for each charge.

Jury needs just three hours to convict former Arizona Wildcats' track and field coach Craig Carter of assault

It took almost three years to bring former UA track and field assistant coach Craig Carter to trial for choking a student-athlete while threatening her with a box cutter.

A Pima County jury took less than three hours to convict him.

Carter, 50, is facing between five and 23 years in prison after he was found guilty Friday of aggravated assault and aggravated assault with a dangerous instrument.

Carter was taken into custody shortly after 5 p.m. Friday. He’ll be sentenced on May 14.

On April 20, 2015, Carter grabbed former UA thrower Baillie Gibson by the neck and threatened to cut her face with a box cutter he pulled out of his pocket. The two were involved in a sexual relationship at the time, which Gibson maintains was not consensual.

“This has been a long time coming,” Billie Jo Gibson, Baillie’s mother, told the Star on Friday night. “Justice is finally being served.”

During the three-day trial, Carter’s attorneys painted Gibson as a liar who was out for money. Carter kept his head bowed as the verdict was read, shaking his head, while Gibson broke out in a smile.

After being told that he would be taken into custody, Carter pointed to Gibson and muttered something under his breath. Gibson and her mother both began crying, and Carter was escorted out of the courtroom in handcuffs.

The guilty verdict came after a trial that included only witnesses for the prosecution. Carter’s attorneys rested their case Thursday without putting Carter or anyone else on the stand in his defense.

Prosecutor Julie Sottosanti walked the jury through the events on the day in question during Friday’s closing arguments, saying that Gibson wanted out of the relationship but “wasn’t allowed to make those kinds of decisions for herself.”

Sottosanti reminded the jury that in addition to the sexual relationship, there was still the coach-athlete relationship, where Carter wielded significant control over Gibson. Carter first began recruiting Gibson to join the Wildcats when she was a junior in high school, and worked with her daily during the season.

Defense attorneys for Carter brought up inconsistencies in Gibson’s version of events and the nature of her relationship with Carter, but all of that was simply a distraction, Sottosanti said.

“All that matters is what happened in that office,” she said. “This is not a he-said, she-said case. This is a they-said case. This is an everyone-said case.”

Sottosanti again played the video of Carter’s confession to UA police, then reviewed the statutory guidelines for aggravated assault.

Carter “held a box cutter to her face; he told her he was going to cut her up and he did it while he was pinning her down to a couch by her neck,” Sottosanti said. “His version of events line up with hers and both those versions of events make him guilty of these crimes.”

Carter’s attorney, Dan Cooper, said that there was no question that his client did several things that he shouldn’t have done — but violating Arizona law was not one of them.

The statute for aggravated assault requires that Gibson be in “reasonable apprehension” of harm and that Carter acted with intent. Neither of those applied to that situation, Cooper said. Carter didn’t have time to form intent before he grabbed her throat and pulled out the box cutter, the attorney said. And Gibson also didn’t have reasonable apprehension when she went to his office alone that afternoon.

“There’s no reason you have to accept that she had 1 ounce of fear when she went in there, because she didn’t behave that way,” Cooper said.

Cooper repeatedly accused Gibson and witness Julie Labonté of lying on the stand and making up events for a “money grab.” Several months after reporting Carter to police, Gibson filed a civil lawsuit against Carter and the University of Arizona.

“Craig behaved horribly. Whatever price he pays for that, he’ll deal with,” Cooper said. “What he didn’t do is what the state has accused him of doing.”

Cooper then made a second request for a mistrial, which was denied.

The jury had the option of convicting Carter on lesser charges of assault and disorderly conduct were they not able to reach an agreement on the aggravated assault charges.

Carter is still facing another trial on charges of stalking and disruption of an educational institution, in connection with dozens of text messages and emails he sent Gibson after the incident in his office. He later attempted to drag Gibson out of a UA classroom.

In yet another case, Carter is also facing charges of violating a protective order after he allegedly tried to contact Labonté via Facebook and Skype.

It’s unclear if the Pima County Attorney’s Office intends to pursue those charges in light of Friday’s guilty verdict.

Gibson’s mother said she hopes Friday’s verdict will help other victims.

“Don’t keep this in,” she said. “Find some way to stand up for yourself.”

Craig Carter “held a box cutter to her face; he told her he was going to cut her up and he did it
while he was pinning her down to a couch by her neck.” Julie Sottosanti, prosecutor

Defense calls no witnesses in case involving former UA track coach; closing arguments Friday

Attorneys for a former University of Arizona track coach accused of attacking a student-athlete rested their case Thursday afternoon without calling a witness.

This means that the jury in Craig Carter’s case will only have heard from the former coach in the form of emails, text messages, voicemails and a 30-minute video interview, in which he admitted to grabbing thrower Baillie Gibson by the neck and threatening her with a box cutter.

Carter, 50, is on trial in Pima County Superior Court for two counts of aggravated assault — one with a deadly weapon — in connection with the April 20, 2015, incident in his office.

Thursday’s proceedings included the playing of Carter’s nearly 30-minute confession to police. Carter stared straight ahead or down at the defense table throughout the recording, which ended with him in tears saying, “she gets to walk away” and “she (expletive) with me so much.”

Carter’s attorneys have not denied the assault, but said in opening statements that the incident doesn’t meet the statute for an aggravated assault. Thursday, they described Carter’s box cutter as “old and dull.” Carter told police that he threw the box cutter out of his car following the incident because he knew he “screwed up.”

Gibson first told roommate and teammate Julie Labonté about her relationship with Carter when the two arrived at McKale Center on the day of the box cutter incident. Gibson broke into tears when she first told Labonté what was going on.

“That’s not Baillie, she doesn’t cry easily like that,” Labonté said.

When asked why Gibson was upset, Labonté took a minutes-long pause.

“I was wondering what was going on and I kept asking her questions about what was bothering her,” Labonté said, fighting back tears. “She said that there were events that happened and there was a sexual relationship that happened a couple years back.”

Gibson told Labonté that she was drinking with friends in Eugene, Oregon, and called Carter for a ride back to her hotel. Gibson told Labonté that she doesn’t remember anything about that night, but woke up the next morning to signs that she’d had sex the night before. Later in the day, Carter showed Gibson a naked photo he’d taken of her, Labonté said.

Carter’s attorneys said Thursday that they believe Gibson fabricated the Eugene incident.

Labonté talked about Gibson’s demeanor when she returned from Carter’s office after the April 20 confrontation, saying “she was very silent but her eyes had a terrified look so I knew that something was going on.”

On cross examination, Carter’s attorneys focused on the relationship between Gibson and Labonté. They pointed out that Gibson did not disclose the nearly three-year relationship to Labonté, even though the women were best friends, roommates and UA teammates.

Labonté verified to Carter’s attorneys that she also saw no signs of strangulation when Gibson returned after the nearly two-hour April meeting.

Carter’s attorneys have focused much of their case on the sexual relationship, barely addressing the events of April 20.

Closing statements are scheduled for Friday morning, after which the case will be turned over to the jury.

Ex-UA coach Craig Carter's trial begins with arguments over definition of intimacy, request for mistrial

Craig Carter snapped on April 20, 2015, when he put his hands on University of Arizona athlete Baillie Gibson and threatened her with a box cutter.

Attorneys for the prosecution and defense in Carter’s trial agreed on very little during opening statements Wednesday, but the fact that Carter attacked Gibson in his office was one of the few not in dispute.

Dan Cooper, one of Carter’s attorneys, said the coach’s actions did not meet the statutory guidelines for aggravated assault.

Prosecutor Jonathan Mosher spoke first to the jury of six women and four men — including two alternates — saying that the despite what information jurors may be presented with, the case came down to only two questions that needed to be answered: Did Carter strangle Gibson and did he threaten her with a box cutter?

Carter was arrested in May 2015 after Gibson told campus police about the assault in the office and provided dozens of text messages, emails and voicemails from the day of the alleged attack and days immediately following it, in which Carter both apologized for his actions and threatened Gibson’s life.

During his opening statement, Mosher played a video of Carter admitting to the attack in an interview with UAPD detectives.

In the video, Carter said “I got the box cutter out of my pocket and I said ‘I’ll freaking hurt you’ and I, you know after how long, maybe five seconds of that, it was kind of like I thought ‘what are you doing?’ I let go, I put the box cutter down and I told her not to leave, said I was sorry and I was going to just stick it in my neck because I knew I was pretty screwed right then.”

Carter first met Gibson, a shot put and discus thrower, when he recruited her as a junior in high school. The two entered into a sexual relationship in 2012, Gibson’s sophomore year at the UA.

Gibson told police their relationship was consensual for a month before she decided she wanted to stop. Gibson couldn’t, she said, because Carter threatened to share provocative photos of her.

The day of the incident in Carter’s office started with an argument between the two that continued through much of the day, Cooper said.

“Craig then starts to go ballistic,” Cooper said to the jury, before moving onto the situation in the office during which he says Carter grabbed Gibson’s “shoulder-throat area” before pulling a box cutter out of his pocket. “Track coaches have to do a lot of work themselves. Craig always had a box cutter with him because he had to fix equipment.”

In his statement to the jury, Cooper also addressed the aggravated assault charges, which he said don’t apply to the situation in Carter’s office.

A person commits aggravated assault if they commit assault by either intentionally, knowingly or recklessly causing any physical injury to another person, intentionally placing another person in reasonable apprehension of imminent physical injury or knowingly touching another person with the intent to injure the person, according to Arizona law.

“The words ‘strangle’ or ‘threaten’ aren’t in the statute,” Cooper told the jury.

Gibson described the day of the incident while on the stand Wednesday. Carter was angry that she wanted to leave Tucson after graduation, which was a few weeks away, and became distraught, threatening to hurt Gibson and then himself, she said.

Instead of calling police, Gibson said she went to confront Carter in his office. While there, Gibson said she told Carter the relationship was over. She told the jury that Carter grabbed her by the strap of her tank top and pushed her onto the couch in his office, grabbing her throat with one hand and a box cutter — blade extended — in the other.

Fifteen or 20 seconds later, Gibson said, Carter collapsed on her in tears before threatening to kill himself.

During his cross-examination, Cooper confronted Gibson with her interview with UAPD detectives in which she said she and Carter were intimate for the first time in his office in the McKale Center. She told ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” and ABC’s “20/20” that the first sexual encounter happened at the Olympic trials in Oregon, and that she was too drunk to consent.

“Intimate relationship doesn’t mean it’s all just sex,” Gibson responded. “Intimate means touching, flirting. It doesn’t mean sex to me.”

Cooper likened the situation to that of former President Clinton, to which Gibson replied, “Honestly, I don’t know about Bill Clinton.”

“You’re too young,” Cooper said before moving on.

Cooper addressed text messages in which Gibson appeared to have genuine feelings for Carter, the sexually provocative photos she admitted to sending the coach and the nearly two hours she spent in his office the day of the incident involving the box cutter.

After the jury was excused, Laura Udall — another Carter attorney — asked Judge Teresa Godoy for a mistrial over Gibson’s statements about intimate relationships. Godoy denied the motion.

Testimony from campus police officers who investigated the case will begin Thursday. Jurors will also hear from Gibson’s former roommate and teammate, Julie Labonté, before the week is over. It’s unclear if Carter will be testifying in his defense.

Ex-UA assistant track coach to go on trial this week in 2015 assault of athlete

Craig Carter will go to trial this week, nearly three years after the former UA assistant track coach was arrested on domestic violence charges involving a student-athlete.

Carter is accused of choking former UA thrower Baillie Gibson and threatening her with a box cutter. The two were involved in a yearslong sexual relationship; Carter says it was consensual, while Gibson maintains it was not.

The Star does not typically name victims of sexual assault or domestic violence, but Gibson gave permission to publish her name last year. She told the Star then that she was frustrated with the slow progression of the criminal case against Carter, who had recently been allowed to move within hours of her home in Wyoming.

Jury selection for Carter’s trial on charges of aggravated assault and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon will begin Tuesday in Pima County Superior Court. The trial has been rescheduled three times; Carter also rejected a plea deal, and his attorneys successfully lobbied the judge to sever the assault and stalking charges.

The case against Carter

Gibson told police that Carter assaulted her in his office on April 27, 2015, then sent her dozens of text messages and emails over the next several days. Police recovered 57 messages, several of which were threatening in nature.

Gibson told police that Carter choked her with one hand while wielding a box cutter with the other. He told Gibson that he’d cut her “pretty face,” she said.

A few days after the alleged assault, Carter tried to drag Gibson out of a UA classroom. She was able to flee from his grip, court records show. Gibson reported Carter to campus police.

After University of Arizona police officers read Carter his rights, he admitted to the assault, saying, “I think I said, ‘I’ll cut your face up so nobody will ever want you again, because I’m not going to have anything, and neither are you.’”

The UA initiated firing proceedings against Carter on the day he was arrested in May 2015. He resigned before the school had completed his termination.

Carter’s legal battles aren’t just isolated to the criminal court system. Gibson filed a civil suit against the UA and Carter in November 2016, saying that the school failed to protect her from repeated rapes. That lawsuit, which says the Gibson had “no ability” to consent to having sex with Carter, also named as defendants the Arizona Board of Regents, head UA track and field coach Fred Harvey, and former UA athletic director Greg Byrne. Harvey and Byrne have since been dismissed from the suit.

Carter responded by filing a counterclaim against Gibson, saying she caused him emotional distress.

Multiple delays

Carter’s criminal trial was originally scheduled for June 2016, then it was pushed to December. The trial was ultimately rescheduled for August 2017.

But after ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” aired a May 2017 episode focusing on Carter’s alleged misdeeds, the coach’s attorney asked that the trial be continued. Dan Cooper cited the “overwhelming negative publicity” from the show and said that he needed more time to prepare his case, as he said there were several inconsistencies between what Gibson told ESPN reporters and what she told police.

Prosecutor Ellen Brown argued that the ESPN interviews dealt with the sexual relationship between Gibson and Carter, which she said was “irrelevant” to the charges filed against the former assistant track coach.

Pima County Superior Court Judge Teresa Godoy vacated the trial date and authorized Cooper to issue a subpoena for the ESPN transcripts. Attorneys for ESPN spent the next several months fighting the release of their transcripts and unaired portions of the interviews, citing the organization’s First Amendment privilege to protect their notes and transcripts.

In October, Carter turned down a plea deal that would have resulted in a sentence of one to four years in prison. At the time, Carter was facing up to 61 years in prison if convicted of all charges against him.

Last month, Godoy granted Carter’s motion to sever the charges in the case. After the assault trial is completed, Carter will likely face a second trial on charges of stalking and disruption of an educational institution.

A costly defense

Carter could also face a jury trial in the still-active civil suit, which has already been fought at considerable expense to Arizona taxpayers.

Because Carter was employed by the UA during the alleged offenses, the state is required to pay for his defense in the civil suit.

As of Jan. 31, Carter’s attorney in the civil case, John Munger, had billed nearly $850,000 in legal fees. The UA was represented for free by the Arizona Attorney General’s Office until November, when it opted to hire private Tucson firm Rusing, Lopez and Lizardi. The private firm billed $105,000 in fees through Jan. 12.

The state can stop paying for Carter’s civil defense if he is found guilty of criminal charges, and could also attempt to recover what taxpayers have already paid.

“It’s very disappointing that the state is paying nearly $1 million to defend a coach that admitted to assaulting a former Wildcat,” Gibson’s attorney, Lynne Cadigan, told the Star.

Last month, Cadigan filed a motion to put the civil suit on hold, saving taxpayers money, until the resolution of the criminal trial. Judge Jeffrey Bergin denied Cadigan’s request Wednesday.

Witness list

Witnesses in this week’s assault trial will likely include Gibson, former roommate and UA teammate Julie Labonté and two detectives with the University of Arizona Police Department, according to the state’s proposed witness list. The defense hasn’t submitted a witness list, but it’s possible that Carter will testify in his defense.

The prosecution is expected to argue that Carter held power over Gibson as her coach. Carter threatened her when she wouldn’t comply with his demands and when he was confronted in the spring of 2015 with the “imminent loss of control” over Gibson, Carter “spun completely out of control,” prosecutor Jonathan Mosher wrote in a January motion.

“There will be no doubt that (Carter) held the career of this young, female scholarship athlete in his hands,” Mosher wrote.

If convicted on both aggravated assault charges, Carter is facing a prison sentence of five to 23 years.

Ex-UA track coach Craig Carter will face separate trials on assault, stalking charges

The criminal case against a former University of Arizona assistant track and field coach accused of assaulting and stalking one of his athletes became more complicated Tuesday, when a Pima County judge granted a motion to sever the charges against him.

This means that prosecutors cannot introduce evidence of Craig Carter’s alleged assault against thrower Baillie Gibson during Carter’s March trial on charges of felony stalking and interference with or disruption of an educational institution.

Gibson told police that in April 2015, Carter held a box cutter to her throat while choking her with his other hand. Over the next week, Carter stalked and threatened Gibson and ultimately tried to drag her out of a UA classroom in front of witnesses. Phone records show that between April 26 and May 1, Carter sent Gibson 57 text messages and emails, several of which contained threats, according to court documents.

While Carter is alleging that the two were involved in a years-long sexual relationship, Gibson says he took compromising photos of her in 2012 and forced her into a sexual relationship by threatening to expose the photos.

During an interview with UA police, Carter waived his Miranda rights and admitted to assaulting Gibson, as well as sending her threatening text messages and emails, according to the investigative report.

In May 2015, Carter was charged with aggravated assault, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, domestic-violence-related stalking and disruption of an educational institution — all felonies. Seven months later, Carter was indicted on related charges of violating a restraining order against one of Gibson’s teammates. No trial date has been set in that case, but in October, Carter turned down a plea deal that would’ve covered both cases against him. The agreement offered him a sentence of one to 3.75 years in prison. At the time he rejected the deal, Carter was facing up to 60 years in prison if convicted on all charges in both cases.

In January, Carter’s attorney, Dan Cooper, filed a motion to sever the assault and stalking charges, saying that none of the evidence of stalking — including text messages, emails, videos or incidents at Gibson’s home — is relevant to the assault counts and not admissible in the case.

“What took place after the assaults are wholly distinct and separate events,” the motion says. “The offenses are not alike nor of similar character.”

On Tuesday, Pima County Superior Court Judge Teresa Godoy sided with Carter and granted the motion, according to a court spokeswoman.

The stalking and disruption of an educational institution charges will be addressed during Carter’s March 27 trial, which is scheduled to last 10 days. A trial date has not yet been set for the two aggravated assault charges.

“The victim is shocked and disappointed,” Gibson’s attorney, Lynne Cadigan, told the Star. “Why would any victim come forward if they’re subjected to this indignity?”

Gibson will now have to testify in two trials for incidents that happened over a 10-day span, Cadigan said, adding that Godoy’s decision shows disrespect for the victim.

"If this was someone from the south side who threatened and attacked his girlfriend two years ago, he would be in jail two years ago," Cadigan said. "Why does this UA coach deserve special treatment?"

Gibson filed a lawsuit in late 2015 against Carter and the UA, saying that the school failed to protect her from repeated rapes by Carter. Carter responded to the suit by filing a defamation suit against Gibson and Cadigan.

Because Carter was employed by the UA at the time of the alleged events, the state is required to pay for his defense in the civil suit. As of Dec. 31, Carter’s attorney, John Munger, had billed $750,453 to taxpayers. In November, the UA opted out of its representation by the Arizona Attorney General’s Office and hired private Tucson firm Rusing, Lopez & Lizardi to represent the university. Between Nov. 9 and Dec. 20, that firm had billed $68,978 in legal fees for their work, according to the Arizona Department of Administration.

However, the state’s risk management division is paying for Carter’s defense under a reservation of rights, meaning that if he’s convicted on criminal charges, the state can withdraw his defense, said Megan Rose, an ADOA spokeswoman.

Carter’s cases in Pima County Superior Court are only a portion of the UA athletic department’s legal woes, as the school is currently facing two federal lawsuits involving a former running back Orlando Bradford’s admitted abuse of women and a multimillion-dollar sexual harassment and hostile work environment claim filed by ex-football coach Rich Rodriguez’s former assistant.

State-funded legal fees top $850,000 in civil suit involving ex-UA track coach Craig Carter

The state has shelled out more than $850,000 in legal fees to represent the University of Arizona and former assistant track coach Craig Carter against a civil suit filed by a former student whom Carter admitted assaulting.

Because Carter was a state employee at the time of the alleged incidents, the state is required to pay for his legal representation in the civil suit through an insurance fund provided by the Arizona Department of Administration.

The department is required to provide self-insurance to pay for legal defense in lawsuits brought against the agency itself or current and former employees, for acts that are alleged to have happened within the scope of a person’s employment, said spokeswoman Megan Rose, citing the statute.

The ADOA currently does not have any caps on outside legal fees that the insurance fund will cover, Rose said.

Carter is accused of threatening former UA thrower Baillie Gibson with a box cutter and later dragging her out of a classroom in front of witnesses following a yearslong sexual relationship that she maintains was not consensual.

In an interview with police after he had been read his Miranda rights, Carter admitted to choking and threatening Gibson.

Carter is facing felony charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, stalking and disruption of an educational institution and is scheduled for trial in March at Pima County Superior Court.

In a separate case, he’s accused of violating a restraining order against one of Gibson’s former teammates and is facing charges of aggravated harassment and violation of a restraining order.

Fees have mounted

since 2015 arrest

The state isn’t footing the bill for Carter’s criminal defense in the two cases, which have been dragging out in Pima County Superior Court since his May 2015 arrest.

Six months after Carter’s arrest, Gibson filed a lawsuit against Carter, UA athletic director Greg Byrne, head track and field coach Fred Harvey, the University of Arizona and its Board of Regents and the state, saying the school failed to protect her from repeated rapes, abuse and harassment by Carter.

Between Dec. 31, 2015, through Nov. 30, Tucson attorney John Munger billed $750,453 in legal fees for Carter’s defense, with monthly totals ranging from $2,175 to $68,131, Department of Administration records show.

The state paid for both Byrne’s and Harvey’s legal fees before they were dropped from the lawsuit in November.

Harvey was represented by the state attorney general through the duration of his involvement with the suit, as was Byrne for several years until August, when the athletic director — then at Alabama — hired a private attorney who billed $33,304 through Sept. 30, 2017, according to Department of Administration records.

While the UA and the Arizona Board of Regents were previously represented by the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, they switched routes on Nov. 9 and filed a motion to substitute Tucson firm Rusing, Lopez &Lizardi as counsel for the university.

A provision in state law says that the AG’s Office is authorized to appoint or hire outside counsel when it determines it’s appropriate to do so.

As of Dec. 20, Rusing, Lopez & Lizardi has billed $68,978 in legal fees for their work, ADOA records show.

Billing fees for representation by the AG were minimal, with less than $4,000 in miscellaneous legal expenses incurred between April 2016 and September 2017, ADOA records show.

Legal experts say that while the billing amounts might seem high, it’s impossible to determine if there are any ethical issues without itemized expenses to justify the costs. That information was not immediately available.

Because the case is active, the AG’s Office is ethically limited on what it can say unless the client agency chooses to “waive advice or specific discussions,” Ryan Anderson, director of communications for the AG’s Office, wrote in an email to the Star.

“Generally speaking, the Attorney General’s Office could statutorily appoint outside counsel for a number of possible reasons including the need for subject matter experts, a specific request by the client, resource issues, or differences of opinion in litigation strategy,” Anderson said. “This is not an exhaustive list, but are examples of possible reasons.”

Bruce Skolnik, UA senior associate general counsel who signed the consent for change of counsel on behalf of the Arizona Board of Regents, did not respond to the Star’s request for comment.

Carter’s attorney wants separate trials

On Tuesday, Carter's attorney, Dan Cooper filed a motion to sever charges, saying that the two assault charges should be tried separately from the stalking charge, according to court documents.

“None of the evidence of stalking (text messages, emails, videos or incidents at (Gibson’s) home) is relevant to the assault counts and are thus not admissible,” Cooper wrote in the motion.

The motion says that the assault and stalking offenses are “not alike nor of similar character.”

Police investigators said they uncovered 57 texts and emails Carter had sent to Gibson in the weeks leading up to the assault, four of which contained threatening statements.

While the state is currently required to pay for Carter’s civil defense, that could change if he’s found guilty in the criminal case.

If the state accepted his defense under a reservation of rights, the UA could withdraw its defense post-conviction, because the guilty verdict would prove that Carter acted outside the scope of contract with the UA.

The UA could then attempt to recoup what it paid for Carter’s attorneys.

“When it comes to indemnification and defense … the decision is not up to (the UA,) it’s up to the Attorney General’s Office,” said UA spokesman Chris Sigurdson.

It’s unclear if a reservation of rights is in place, as a representative from the AG’s office wasn’t immediately available for comment.

This isn’t the only lawsuit the UA is locked into with a student: In a federal case filed in October, a current student is suing the school under Title IX violations of sex discrimination, saying that administrators had prior knowledge that former UA football player Orlando Bradford was a danger to women but failed to take action.

Bradford was convicted of two counts of aggravated assault in September after admitting to choking two of his former girlfriends. In November, Bradford was sentenced to five years in prison.

In the lawsuit, the woman cites a UA police report from several months before her own attack during which Bradford’s ex-girlfriend told campus police that he choked and hit her. School administrators banned Bradford from the dorms and moved him off campus into a house with other football players, where both of his admitted attacks later took place.

In the federal case, the UA is still being represented by the AG’s Office, court records show.

The UA could soon be also responsible for paying for legal fees for students accused of misconduct, with Scottsdale Rep. Jay Lawrence introducing a bill last week that would entitle students accused of a crime to be represented by an attorney during disciplinary proceedings — at the school’s expense, if the student can’t afford to pay for a lawyer on his or her own.

UA track coach Fred Harvey, former AD Greg Byrne dropped from civil lawsuit

Former University of Arizona athletic director Greg Byrne and track and field coach Fred Harvey have been dropped from a civil lawsuit filed by a former athlete who says she was abused by former assistant coach Craig Carter.

Baillie Gibson is suing the UA and Carter, saying that the school failed to protect her despite being aware of an inappropriate relationship between the two.

Carter was arrested in May 2015. He resigned as UA throws coach the same month, after the school began termination proceedings.

After he was read his Miranda rights, Carter told police that he choked Gibson and held a box cutter to her throat. While he says the two were in a romantic relationship, Gibson has maintained that it wasn’t consensual, saying that for years, Carter threatened her life and those of her family members.

While Byrne and Harvey were initially named as defendants in Gibson’s suit, on Nov. 20, Pima County Superior Court Judge Sarah Simmons dismissed the complaints against them without prejudice.

The state is required to pay for Carter’s defense in the civil suit, and as of the end of September, had spent nearly $640,000 on his legal bills.

Carter and his wife are countersuing Gibson, saying her accusations have caused the Carters emotional distress. They are also suing Gibson’s attorney, Lynne Cadigan, claiming that she defamed them.

Carter is scheduled for trial in March.

'20/20' to air special tonight on Arizona Wildcats coach accused of assault

Tonight's episode of ABC's '20/20' will feature Craig Carter, the former Arizona Wildcats track and field coach accused of stalking one of his athletes and threatening her with a box cutter.

The show begins at 9 p.m. and will later be available to watch on ABC's website.

Carter admitted to police that he held a box cutter to Baillie Gibson's throat and choked her in his office. While he claimed the two were romantic relationship, Gibson has continuously said that the relationship was not consensual and that he'd been emotionally and physically abusing her for years.

The 20/20 episode will include audio recording of Carter allegedly threatening Gibson, the police interrogation video and a 911 call from a student who saw Carter allegedly harassing Gibson, according to a news release from ABC.

The episode will also features interviews with Gibson; Julie Labonte, Gibson's former teammate and roommate; Gibson's parents; and ESPN reporter John Barr, who has a recording of his phone interview with Carter, during which he claims Gibson provoked him and denies forcing her into a relationship, the release said.

Carter is scheduled for trial in March at Pima County Superior Court and is facing charges of aggravated assault, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, stalking with fear of death, and disrupting an educational institution.

In October, Carter turned down a plea deal of one to 3.75 years in prison. If convicted of all charges, he is facing between eight and 27.5 years in prison.

In a second criminal case, Carter is also facing four felony counts of aggravated harassment and violating a restraining order, after a woman affiliated with the UA track team said that he violated an order of protection and contacted her via Facebook and Skype.

If convicted on all charges in the second case, he could face up to an additional 33 years in prison.

Carter was arrested in May 2015 and resigned as UA throwing coach the same month, after the university began proceedings to fire him.

Gibson is suing Carter and the UA in Pima County Superior Court, saying that the school didn't do enough to protect her. UA track and field coach Fred Harvey and former UA athletic director Greg Byrne are also named in the lawsuit.

Carter and his wife countersued Gibson, saying her allegations caused them emotional distress. The Carters have also sued the Gibson's attorney for defamation.

The state is paying for Carter's defense in the civil suit against him and the university, and as of the end of September, his legal bills had risen to nearly $640,000.

Steller: State pays $393K for 'slut-shaming' defense of former Arizona Wildcats track coach

“Please provide the name and contact information of each and every person to whom you have sent photographs and or videos of your exposed breasts, vulva and/or anus since January 1, 2010.”

The taxpayers of Arizona paid former University of Arizona track coach Craig Carter’s legal team to ask for that information. Representing Carter, Tucson attorney John Munger and his associates also asked Baillie Gibson, a former UA track athlete who is suing Carter, for this:

“The name and contact information of each and every person with whom you have engaged in sexual intercourse or had a sexual encounter since January 1, 2010.”

So far, the state of Arizona has paid the Munger Chadwick firm about $393,000 to provide a defense for Carter in the lawsuit filed against him and the university by Gibson. We are required to, I’m informed, because under Arizona law the state government must cover the defense of an employee being sued for behavior he engaged in while acting within the scope of his job.

The Arizona Attorney General’s Office is representing the UA and its current and former employees, but Carter needs separate counsel because “due to the allegations made in the lawsuit, there is a conflict between the University of Arizona and the former track coach,” attorney general’s spokesman Mia Garcia told me via text message.

But are we really required to underwrite a campaign of slut-shaming or victim-blaming? And are we actually subsidizing an effort to countersue Gibson and her attorney, Lynne Cadigan — an effort that essentially blames Gibson for crimes that Carter is accused of committing against her? Those are the questions that struck me after reviewing Carter’s cases.

This goes back, as you may know, to the conflict that exploded into public view in Tucson in May 2015. Carter, an assistant track coach at the UA, was arrested and accused of committing four felonies, including aggravated assault and stalking, against Gibson, one of the athletes he coached. They’d had a sexual relationship for most of the previous three years.

That criminal case is, almost inexplicably, ongoing, more than two years later. It’s set for trial in August, but Carter’s criminal-case attorney, Dan Cooper, has asked for the trial to be postponed again because of an ESPN story on the case that was published last month. I say “inexplicably” because this is not a particularly complicated case, and Carter admitted the behavior he’s been charged with — in an interview with UA police, in a recorded phone call with the victim, and in text messages.

“You can’t run,” he told Gibson in a call recorded in April 2015 and played on ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” segment last month. “I know exactly where you’ll be every day. I’m going to get you some way. I just have this feeling you need to suffer. I don’t care if I kill you and kill myself. I don’t care.”

To UA police, Carter admitted that when he was angry at Gibson, he pulled out a box cutter and, as he told the police, “I think I said, ‘I’ll cut your face up so nobody will ever want you again, because I’m not going to have anything, and neither are you.’ ”

While this seems to be a slam-dunk criminal case, the civil suit is more complicated and has become downright nasty, as well as costly. That’s because Gibson has accused Carter of sexual assault and abuse, arguing that the whole relationship was coerced, pointing out that Carter held power over her as her coach. Carter says the relationship was between two consenting adults.

Munger’s argument in response has essentially been: The whole problem was the fault of a sexually promiscuous athlete of adult age who ruined her coach’s life. Gibson, Munger says in court filings, “initiated, instigated, and actively, aggressively, and enthusiastically pursued a relationship with Craig Carter, whom she viewed as a prized conquest.”

Gibson’s attorneys include Lynne Cadigan, best known for revealing the clergy sexual-abuse scandal in the Diocese of Tucson and forcing it into bankruptcy. They characterized Carter’s defense as an effort at “slut-shaming and victim-bashing.”

“Put simply, defendants are using the discovery process as a weapon to shame, expense and harass plaintiff into submission,” Gibson’s attorneys wrote in an April 7 motion.

They made that argument in a motion to end the defense team’s effort to obtain the names and contact info of anyone whom Gibson had sent a pornographic video or photo, and the names and contact info of any sexual partners. On May 22, Pima County Superior Court Judge Sarah Simmons ordered that those two demands for information would not be permitted.

While we are apparently obligated to pay the escalating costs of this effort to smear the student and spare the coach, we are not supposed to be paying for the counterclaim that Carter’s legal team filed against Gibson and Cadigan in March 2016.

That claim alleges the athlete and her attorney defamed Carter by saying publicly that the relationship amounted to sexual assault and abuse, that they cast him in a false light and that they intentionally inflicted emotional distress on Carter and his wife, Jo-Anne. Gibson, they argue, had “the intention of destroying his career and/or severely damaging or destroying his relationships with the members of his family.”

When I asked Megan Rose, spokeswoman for the Arizona Department of Administration, how the counterclaim is being accounted for, she said via email, “The state is not paying for any counterclaims.” Indeed, Carter’s attorneys have said they are taking the counterclaim on contingency, meaning they will get a percentage of any award won through the counterclaim.

But I don’t see how the distinction can be so clearly made when the facts and players involved in both cases overlap. If, for example, the attorneys depose Craig and Jo-Anne Carter for the defense of the civil suit and charge the state for that work, doesn’t that also benefit the counterclaim against Gibson and her attorney? And when they seek and review Gibson’s text messages, emails and other digital records, those too could benefit either the defense of the civil suit or the counterclaim.

I wanted to ask Munger and his fellow attorneys in the case about this issue, but they didn’t return my calls or emails. So I spoke with five Arizona attorneys Thursday and Friday about this question of segregating the costs. All said that it appeared at least some of the work the state is paying for in the defense of the civil suit would also benefit Carter’s counterclaim.

In other words, it would be hard for taxpayers to avoid subsidizing the lawsuit the Carters have filed against the athlete Gibson and her attorney Cadigan.

“In my opinion, our government is subsidizing a private tort action for no other purpose then to harass the victim,” said Stephen Portell, a civil attorney who has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in civil cases. “The message to anyone who is a victim is be quiet or you’ll get sued by a private, government-hired lawyer.”

Now, it may be possible when the case is done to allocate a percentage of overlapping costs to the civil-suit defense and another percentage to the counterclaim, as Tucson attorney Rick Gonzales suggested to me. That would be fairer than pretending there is no overlap at all and continuing to push wheelbarrow loads of money to Munger’s firm.

But Portell, who acknowledged he has tangled with Munger previously, suggested an alternative that I found appealing. If Carter’s legal team truly believes in the counterclaim, and is not using it to harass Gibson and her lawyer, why don’t they stop charging the state for their defense work altogether and simply accept as their pay the money that flows in once they win their defamation suit?

Seems like an honorable solution that respects Arizona’s taxpayers.

Ex-UA athlete fearful, frustrated with progress of criminal case against former coach

More than two years after her former track coach at the University of Arizona was arrested after she was stalked and threatened with a box cutter, Baillie Gibson says she still fears for her life.

In March, a Pima County Superior Court judge allowed the former coach, Craig Carter, to move to Utah, fewer than seven hours away from Gibson’s new home in Wyoming.

In a recent deposition, Carter refused to answer whether he’d ever been to Wyoming or visited Gibson’s home there. As a result, the Pima County Attorney’s Office has asked the court to conduct an inquiry to see if Carter is complying with his conditions of release.

Carter is already accused of violating a restraining order Gibson’s former roommate had against him. And because Carter has no court-ordered electronic monitoring, Gibson says she worries he’ll come after her. She’s in the process of installing a home-security system.

Gibson says she is scared every day. She scans parking lots for Carter’s car and for people who look like him. In restaurants and coffee shops, she’s afraid to sit with her back to the door.

“I can’t even go anywhere and feel safe,” Gibson said last week.

It all started in 2012 with some photographs, Gibson told ESPN in a May interview for “Outside the Lines,” a television show that investigates sports issues off the field.

After competing at the U.S. track and field Olympic trials in Oregon, Gibson had too much to drink at a party and, heeding her coach’s advice, called him for a ride.

The last thing she remembers is getting in the car, but the next morning, Carter showed her sexually explicit pictures he’d taken, threatening to send the photos to her family and post them on the internet, Gibson told ESPN.

It spiraled from there, she says, with Carter’s behavior escalating to threatening her life and those of family members.

In April 2015, after three years of rape and terror at the hands of Carter, it came to a head when he assaulted her in his office, putting his hands around her neck and threatening her with a box cutter, Gibson told ESPN.

She was still terrified and unsure if she should go to police, but a week later, after she says he grabbed her outside of a classroom in front of other students, Gibson called the UA Police Department to report the incident in his office and tell her story.

The Star does not generally identify people who say they are victims of sex crimes, but Gibson has made her name public.

Weeks after going to police, Gibson graduated with a degree in family studies and human development, but she says she almost didn’t finish the school year.

“I didn’t care. I didn’t even want to graduate, but a detective told me I should, that I deserved to,” she said.

She returned to her hometown and took a job last year working with kids.

An All-American discus and shot-put thrower who dreamed of going to the Olympics, Gibson has not thrown since she left Tucson, saying that part of her life is over. “I wish it wasn’t, but the passion is just gone,” she said.

Gibson has been in counseling for years, saying that before Carter moved to Utah, she felt like it was making a difference.

“I kind of got myself upright, and then he moved to Utah,” she said. “It felt like I took 10 steps back, because I was afraid again. Before, the fear had kind of went away.”

After the ESPN story, Gibson says she received a tremendous amount of support. People from her hometown and across the country messaged her, with some women sharing their own stories of abuse and sexual assault.

Despite the progress she’s made, Gibson says the fear consumes her daily and won’t go away until the court proceedings are over and she feels Carter is no longer a threat to her.

But nearly two years after he was brought up on charges, Gibson says it feels like there’s no end in sight.

“Why does it have to take this long?” she asked. “He already admitted everything, so why isn’t he in jail? It’s just taking forever, and I feel like there’s never going to be justice.”

In an interview with University of Arizona police, Carter waived his Miranda Rights and admitted to his crimes, court records show. He also acknowledged to ESPN that he physically assaulted Gibson and threatened to cut her face.

In a recent motion, Carter asked the court to continue his Aug. 1 trial date on charges of aggravated assault, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, stalking with fear of death and disrupting an educational institution, saying the “overwhelming negative publicity” the ESPN program and article garnered is prejudicial and won’t be diminished by the trial’s start.

A court date to address the motion to continue and several other motions is set for June 13.

Carter’s Tucson attorney, Dan Cooper, did not respond to the Star’s request for comment.

The criminal trial on accusations of assaulting Gibson and violating the restraining order against her friend aren’t the only court cases in which Carter is involved.

In Nov. 2015, Gibson filed a civil suit against Carter and the UA, saying that he subjected her to repeated sexual assault.

Along with Carter and the UA, the lawsuit names as defendants the Arizona Board of Regents, head UA track and field coach Fred Harvey and former UA athletic director Greg Byrne.

As of the end of April, the state, which is paying for Carter’s defense in the civil trial, had spent $335,500 to attorney John Munger, said Megan Rose, a spokeswoman for the Arizona Department of Administration.

In response to Gibson’s civil suit against Carter and the UA, Carter filed a counterclaim against Gibson and her attorney, Lynne Cadigan, alleging emotional distress to himself and his wife.

With hundreds of court filings between the two civil cases and the criminal trials months away from starting, it sometimes feels like the turmoil will never end, Gibson said.

“I’m never going to feel safe until this is all over,” she said.

“I want a normal life. I deserve that.”

Ex-UA coach sues student he's accused of assaulting

Former University of Arizona assistant track coach Craig Carter is suing the student athlete he is criminally charged with assaulting and stalking.

Carter, 48, is accused of choking a female student athlete he was coaching and of threatening her with a box cutter last spring. He is also accused of trying to drag her out of a UA classroom, UA Police Department records show.

Carter resigned from his job as a UA throws coach on May 20 in lieu of termination. His criminal case is pending in Pima County Superior Court. Police reports say he waived his Miranda rights and that he admitted to choking and threatening the student athlete.

In a counterclaim to a civil suit associated with the case filed in Pima County Superior Court, Carter and his wife, Jo-Anne Carter, accuse the student athlete of causing them emotional distress.

UA paying Legal fees for coach in 1st suit

The counterclaim the Carters filed is in response to a civil lawsuit the student athlete filed as a "Jane Doe" in November against the university, saying it failed to protect her from repeated rapes by Carter.

That lawsuit, which says the athlete had "no ability" to consent to having sex with Carter, names as defendants Carter, the UA, the Arizona Board of Regents, head UA track and field coach Fred Harvey, and UA athletic director Greg Byrne.

UA officials have said that once they were aware of the coach's misconduct, they acted immediately to inform law enforcement and remove him permanently from the university.

The Carters, via their lawyer, John Munger, say the student athlete shouldn't be allowed to file the lawsuit anonymously and have asked the court to make her name public. They say Carter and the athlete were in a consensual relationship.

The state is paying Munger to represent Carter in the civil action, but Munger told the Star that the state is not paying for the couple's counterclaim. To date, the state has paid $24,338 for Carter's legal fees, according to the Arizona Department of Administration.

The Star is not identifying the student athlete, who graduated last year and is living outside of Arizona, because she says she was the victim of a sex crime.

"Because Plaintiff Jane Doe is a victim in a pending criminal case, her name has never become published in the criminal case," her attorneys, Lynne M. Cadigan and Michael J. Bloom, wrote in response to the counterclaim. "As a crime victim, she is entitled to have her privacy protected, and, for that reason, was listed as Jane Doe in the complaint."

Cadigan and Bloom have asked Pima County Superior Court Judge Sarah R. Simmons for an expedited hearing on the matter so that the student athlete's name does not become public.

"The counterclaim is nothing more than an attempt to harass and shame a victim of a crime," Cadigan said.

Athlete says she feared for family, future

The student athlete, 24, is adamant that she was never in a romantic relationship with Carter, who recruited her by visiting her hometown while she was still in high school. She told the Star that Carter subjected her to sexual assaults over two and a half years and that she feared for her family and her athletic future if she didn't comply.

Athlete-coach and teacher-student relationships are regarded in universities and in the athletic world in general as inherently unequal. Athletes can be particularly vulnerable because they are often passionate about their sport and look to their coach as a mentor and integral part of their future athletic success, experts say.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association's model policy on preventing inappropriate relationships between student athletes and athletic department personnel says, in part, "Whether the student is 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 or older, she or he is significantly less powerful than a head coach, assistant coach, athletics trainer.

"It is this power differential that makes such relationships inherently unequal, and when the relationships are unequal, the concept of 'mutual consent' becomes problematic."

An Arizona Board of Regents policy says, "no university employee shall engage in a romantic or sexual relationship with a student who is enrolled in that employee's course, or whom the employee supervises or whose work s/he evaluates, or over whom the employee exercises any administrative or disciplinary authority."

Jane Doe versus UA

The Jane Doe lawsuit filed by the student athlete details her final two-and-a-half years on the UA track team, beginning at nationals held at the University of Oregon in 2013. That's when the athlete went to a house party, then says she caught a ride back to the hotel with Carter.

The lawsuit says that before they got to the hotel, Carter stopped the car in a remote area and sexually assaulted the athlete. He took a picture of her naked and used it to blackmail her, called her a "slut" and said he'd hurt her if she told anyone, court documents say.

The athlete was stunned, overwhelmed and powerless to resist that and subsequent sexual assaults, says the lawsuit.

Cadigan and Bloom write that the athlete feared Carter would take away her scholarship — and her chances of competing in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro — if she did not submit to his demands. They say she suffered emotional injuries caused by being subjected to repeated sexual assaults and harassment, and that her athletic career was irreparably damaged.

The athlete no longer competes in track and field, and said she gave up her dream of going to the Olympics after she got injured and began to falter with Carter as her coach. She told the Star that she can no longer go near track and field facilities because they make her feel ill.

Munger, the Carters' attorney, says the facts of the counterclaim speak for themselves. He said what transpired between Carter and the athlete over two and a half years is separate from the events that occurred over several days last April and resulted in the criminal charges. The counterclaim says publicity about the Jane Doe lawsuit has wrongfully damaged the reputations of the Carters, who are parents and grandparents.

"The Carters object to the failure to name the plaintiff, and demand that the plaintiff's full name be substituted for the fictitious name 'Jane Doe,' both because the Carters cannot answer without knowing the name of the charging party, and because the plaintiff is not entitled to use a fictitious name in this matter," Munger writes.

"The above-captioned lawsuit was filed under the fictitious name, 'Jane Doe' in order to create and perpetuate the false impression that (the athlete) was and is a minor or other protected person. The above-captioned lawsuit was filed under the fictitious name 'Jane Doe' in order to create and perpetuate the false impression that Craig Carter was a sexual predator or miscreant."

Imbalance of power

Coach-athlete relationships should never be sexual and it's up to the coach to set those boundaries, says former Olympic swimmer Katherine Starr, founder and president of the non-profit California-based Safe4Athletes organization, which advocates for athletes who have been sexually abused or harassed.

The United States Olympic Committee's SafeSport program defines sexual misconduct as, "any sexual interaction between an athlete and an individual with evaluative, direct or indirect authority." The program's handbook notes, "an imbalance of power is always assumed between a coach and an athlete," regardless of the athlete's age.

"It is no different than a patient and therapist or a student and teacher. When a coach and athlete get together there is an emotional bond created," Starr said. "It's for the athletic experience, but the coach can take advantage of that bond sexually.

"It is a fundamental part of you that defines you that is at stake. It's the coach's responsibility to set boundaries and not allow or engage in this (sexual) behavior."

Even when an athlete says a sexual relationship with her coach is consensual, her willingness should be regarded with suspicion, "given the fundamentally unequal nature of the relationship," says the New York-based non-profit Women's Sports Foundation, which aims to advance the lives of women and girls through sports and physical activity.

"Consensual and/or sexual relationships between coaches and athletes undermine the professionalism of coaches, taint the atmosphere of mutual trust and respect between coach and athlete, and hinder the fulfillment of the overall educational mission of athletics," the foundation says.

But Carter and his wife say in their counterclaim that Carter was in a consensual relationship with the student athlete that left him, not the athlete, emotionally fragile and vulnerable.

Hiding in the bathroom

One of the student athlete's close friends said she witnessed Carter's escalating threats against the athlete. She says the athlete feared Carter and believed he would hurt her family. At one point Carter went to the student athlete's home trying to find her, said her friend, who was there at the time.

"We were both hiding in the bathroom when he came to the house and we were both in tears and so scared that something would happen," the friend wrote in a letter to the court. The friend is also an athlete and took out an order of protection against Carter after he was arrested.

The Jane Doe lawsuit says that as the student athlete neared graduation, she told Carter the assaults had to stop. The counterclaim says Carter was, "shocked and distraught" that the athlete ended their relationship.

Police records say Carter later put a box cutter to the athlete's throat and choked her in his office on Monday, April 27, 2015, sent her threatening emails and went to one of her classes and tried to drag her out the following Wednesday. While records say he admitted to the crimes, he hasn't been convicted and pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in Pima County Superior Court.

In addition to criminal charges of aggravated assault, stalking and interfering with an educational institution, Carter is facing four felony counts of aggravated harassment.

The harassment charges were added in January. A Pima County grand jury indictment says Carter made Facebook and Skype contact with the student athlete's close friend, violating the order of protection she had against him. The indictment says Carter also tried contacting the woman's family.

Threatening emails

The attorneys for a student athlete who has sued the University of Arizona say former UA track coach Craig Carter sent "horrific" emails that showed threats of increasing intensity.

Police said they uncovered at least 57 texts and emails Carter sent to the young woman between April 26 and May 1, four of which contained threatening statements.

Police interviews also showed that he sent the athlete a picture of himself with what appears to be a gun barrel in his mouth. UA police seized his shotgun.

The Star requested all the emails from the UA, since they were written on a university email account. With the exception of some non-personal emails, UA officials denied the request, citing the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

Through her attorneys, the student athlete released all copies of the emails to the Star.

Here are some excerpts:

* On April 27, Carter wrote that, "You know I got thinking I'm not going to hurt you, I going [sic] to hurt your mom. See I'm going to take something away from you that means a lot like you did me."

* On April 28 he writes that he is angry that the athlete won't agree to meet him unless it's in a public place.

"So I guess in order for me to get you alone I have to come after you. If I break into your house to see you then I will have to kill both of us because after breaking in I would go to jail and lose my job and so I may as well be dead."

* In one email sent on April 29, he calls the athlete a lying "whore," who is, "truly the worst person I have ever met and I hope you die early in life and do us all a favor."

In other emails, he continues to tell the athlete he needs to meet her. She again responds that she will only meet him in a public place. He threatens to, "cut your face up," and, "blow your leg off," among other things.

"Be ready, have your gun ready because your [sic] going to need it," he writes.

* Also on April 29, Carter writes that if she won't meet him on his terms, "you won't live to talk about anything so you decide because I am at my breaking point and will move forward real soon.

Do you think it's just going to go away? Well we will see if your [sic] smart enough to do what is right or what will cost you your life? Your call babe Love you."

Former UA coach faces additional charges

A former University of Arizona track coach accused of stalking and assaulting a student athlete is now facing additional charges of violating an order of protection.

A Pima County grand jury indictment charges Craig Carter, 48, with four felony counts of aggravated harassment.

The indictment adds to criminal charges against Carter, who in May was jailed after being arrested on suspicion of choking an athlete when she’d no longer have sex with him, and for threatening her with a box cutter and dragging her out of a classroom.

The indictment says Carter made Facebook and Skype contact with a woman affiliated with the UA track team who had a court order of protection against him. The indictment says Carter also tried to contact the woman’s family.

The woman, also an athlete, is not the same woman he is accused of stalking, choking and assaulting. Rather, she is one of two other women affiliated with the team who took out an order of protection against him after his arrest in May.

Carter, who has pleaded not guilty to domestic violence-aggravated assault, stalking and interfering with an educational institution, resigned as UA throws coach May 20. He was released shortly after his arrest in May on a $40,000 bond.

Carter, who is a father and grandfather, sat on a bench weeping during a status conference on his case Monday morning after meeting with his lawyer. Pima County Superior Court Judge Teresa Godoy set his next court date as Feb. 8.

He’s facing mandatory prison time of at least five years if he’s convicted.

The athlete he’s accused of assaulting graduated last year and is now living out of state. She has since filed a civil action against Carter and the UA, saying that Carter subjected her to repeated sexual assaults.

Along with Carter, the lawsuit names as defendants the UA, the Arizona Board of Regents, head UA track and field coach Fred Harvey, and UA athletic director Greg Byrne.

The lawsuit says the athlete had “no ability” to consent to having sex with Carter.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association’s model policy on preventing inappropriate relationships between student athletes and athletic department personnel says, in part, “Whether the student is 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 or older, she or he is significantly less powerful than a head coach, assistant coach, athletics trainer ...

“It is this power differential that makes such relationships inherently unequal, and when the relationships are unequal, the concept of ‘mutual consent’ becomes problematic.”

'Track & Fear': ESPN's 'Outside the Lines' to focus on Arizona Wildcats coach accused of sexual assault

ESPN's "Outside the Lines" will air a story Sunday about Craig Carter, the former Arizona Wildcats track and field coach accused of sexually assaulting and stalking one of his athletes.  The show will air at 6 a.m. on ESPN., and will be re-run on ESPNEWS throughout the day. 

Carter faces criminal charges in Pima County Superior Court of domestic violence-aggravated assault, stalking, and interfering with an educational institution. 

It wasn't a relationship, athlete says; it was rape

The University of Arizona failed to protect a track and field athlete from repeated rapes by coach Craig Carter, says a lawsuit filed Friday in Pima County Superior Court.

Carter resigned from his post as UA throws coach rather than be fired. He's facing criminal charges for suspicion of choking the athlete when she told him she’d no longer have sex with him, and for threatening her with a box cutter and dragging her out of a classroom. He has pleaded not guilty to domestic violence-aggravated assault, stalking, and interfering with an educational institution.

Along with Carter, the lawsuit names as defendants the UA, the Arizona Board of Regents, head UA track and field coach Fred Harvey, and UA athletic director Greg Byrne.

“As a practice, we do not comment on pending litigation,” said a statement emailed by UA spokesman Chris Sigurdson. “I can say that once we were aware of the coach’s misconduct, we acted immediately to inform law enforcement and remove him permanently from the university.”

He said he is speaking for all UA-affiliated defendants in the case. The Regents board declined comment.

The plaintiff, an athlete and recent UA graduate, said she takes issue with police and media reports that she and Carter were in a relationship.

The Star is not identifying her because she says she was the victim of a sex crime.

“This was never a relationship,” she said. “I was afraid of what he’d do — that he’d take away my scholarship, kill me and kill my family.”

Carter was released shortly after his arrest in May on a $40,000 bond. Neither he nor his attorney, Nathan Leonardo, could be reached for comment Monday.

Blackmail threat

The lawsuit details the athlete’s final two-and-a-half years on the UA track team, beginning at nationals held at the University of Oregon in 2013. That’s when the athlete went to a house party, then says she caught a ride back to the hotel with Carter.

The lawsuit says that before they got to the hotel, Carter stopped the car in a remote area and sexually assaulted her. He took a picture of her naked and used it to blackmail her, called her a “slut” and said he’d hurt her if she told anyone, court documents say.

“Carter was, and is, physically imposing,” says a letter of intent to sue filed in June. The athlete was “stunned, overwhelmed, and powerless to resist,” the letter says.

In May, two other women affiliated with the UA track team filed for court protection against Carter.

Carter filed a motion in court in July to be allowed to move out of state, citing difficulties in finding employment in Arizona.

His motion was denied after the athlete’s attorneys submitted an email they said was from Carter. The email said that while he was out of state for a track and field camp, he could drive to the athlete's hometown and rape her mother.

‘No ability’ to consent

The lawsuit says the athlete had “no ability” to consent to having sex with Carter.

“As a coach, Carter had dominating influence of plaintiff. He had the power to make or break her sought-after career as an elite athlete,” the suit says. “Coaches have tremendous emotional control of their athletes, who are taught to, and do, look up to coaches as mentors, trainers and even surrogate parents.”

The National Collegiate Athletic Association’s model policy on preventing inappropriate relationships between student athletes and athletic department personnel says, in part, “Whether the student is 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 or older, she or he is significantly less powerful than a head coach, assistant coach, athletics trainer ...

“It is this power differential that makes such relationships inherently unequal, and when the relationships are unequal, the concept of ‘mutual consent’ becomes problematic.”

The lawsuit says the athlete feared that Carter would take away her scholarship — and her chances of competing in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro — if she did not submit. It says she suffered emotional injuries caused by being subjected to repeated sexual assault and harassment, and that her academic and athletic career were crippled.

2016 Olympics a goal

Carter, a 47-year-old father and grandfather, was briefly jailed after he threatened the athlete in his office and in front of others on campus, UA Police Department reports show. And court records say that Carter admitted to police that he choked and threatened the young woman.

As the athlete neared graduation, she told Carter the assaults had to stop, the records say. That’s when he tried to choke her and threatened her with a box cutter.

The athlete’s Tucson attorneys, Lynne M. Cadigan and Michael Bloom, say Carter sent “horrific” emails on his UA account that showed threats of increasing intensity. The Star has requested the emails from the UA, since they were written on a university email account, but UA officials have yet to turn them over.

Police said they uncovered at least 57 texts and emails Carter sent to the woman between April 26 and May 1, four of which contained threatening statements.

One of them, sent on April 28, said in part, “If I break into your house to see you then I will have to kill both of us because after breaking in I would go to jail and lose my job and so I may as well be dead.”

Police interviews also showed that he sent the athlete a picture of himself with what appears to be a gun barrel in his mouth. UA police seized his shotgun.

Top high school recruit

The athlete told the Star that Carter himself recruited her to come to the UA and she selected it over several other universities that also offered her scholarships.

In addition to an outstanding high school athletic career, the young woman graduated from high school with a 4.0 GPA, the notice of claim says. She says Carter promised to nurture and mentor her career, and he told her that he would be like a father to her at the UA.

In her first two-and-a-half years at the UA, she set UA top-10 marks in several throwing events and did well at the 2012 U.S. Olympic trials, though she did not make the team.

She earned NCAA first-team all-American honors, set a UA freshman record in shot put and posted all-conference finishes in all three of her events.

But she said that, because of Carter, her last two-and-a-half years were a nightmare. If he got mad at her, he’d give her less support in training — among other things, he did not provide her enough spotting when she did bench presses, which resulted in a back injury, she said.

“He controlled everything,” she said. “Coaches have a lot of control. You are afraid they will cut you from the team. They take you places, and you are afraid they won’t pick you.”

Once a top national recruit, the woman, now in her early 20s, said she’ll never compete again. Even thinking of track and field triggers awful memories, she said. Now living outside of Arizona, she said she’s in therapy and is furthering her education for a career unrelated to athletics.

“The day I drove away from Tucson was such a relief,” she said. “I was driving away and I wasn’t dead.”

2 women seek court protection against former track coach

Two women affiliated with the University of Arizona track team have filed for court protection against a former assistant track coach accused of threatening, stalking and assaulting a student athlete.

The two injunctions against harassment were filed May 18 in Tucson City Court. They require Craig Carter, 47, not to make any contact with the women.

The women are identified in the court documents but the Star is not naming them because of the nature of the case.

The UA police department arrested Carter on May 1 after he allegedly stalked a female student he was coaching, choked her while threatening her with a box cutter and tried to drag her out of a UA classroom.

He waived his Miranda rights when he admitted to the crimes, court records showed. He pleaded not guilty during his arraignment at the Pima County Superior Court.

Carter faces two counts each of domestic violence aggravated assault, stalking and interfering with an educational institution.

Carter, who coached throwing events such as shot put and discus, resigned from the UA on May 20 in lieu of termination.

UA track coach accused of threatening student resigns

The University of Arizona assistant track coach accused of threatening, assaulting and stalking a student athlete, who he was allegedly involved with in a relationship, resigned from the university effective Wednesday.

Craig Carter, 47, was arrested May 1 and is accused of threatening the victim with a box cutter while choking her, stalking her, and trying to drag her out of a classroom before she could flee from his grasp, court records say.

Carter pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Wednesday.

The victim told police investigators he told her, “I’ll hurt you,” and “I’ll cut that pretty face,” after he pushed her onto a couch and choked her, according to a probable cause statement.

Police investigators recovered at least 57 text messages Carter sent to the victim over the course of a week. Four of them contained threatening remarks.

Records also showed that Carter, who coaches throwing sports, such as shot put and discus, waived his Miranda Rights and admitted to his crimes during an interview with UA police.

His attorney, Nathan Leonardo, said he had no comment at this time.

Carter originally faced three domestic violence charges — aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, threats and intimidation with injury and damage to property, stalking with fear of physical injury or death upon another person — and an interfering with an educational institution charge.

An indictment filed last week showed he now faces two domestic violence aggravated assault charges, stalking and interfering with an educational institution.

In an email statement, UA spokesman Chris Sigurdson said the university has concluded its investigations into the allegations of Carter’s workplace violence.

Carter was notified of a “positive finding,” and that dismissal proceedings had begun, Sigurdson said. He resigned and is no longer a UA employee.

Records: UA assistant track coach threatened student

The University of Arizona assistant track coach arrested on domestic violence charges admitted to stalking, threatening and assaulting a student track athlete he was having a relationship with, court documents state.

Over the course of a week, Craig Carter, 47, allegedly threatened the victim, who, according to court records, he had been seeing for the past 2½ years, with a box cutter, choked and stalked her, and tried to drag her out of a classroom before she fled from his grasp.

The victim told investigators that he said, “I’ll hurt you,” and “I’ll cut that pretty face” as he choked her in his office, according to records.

The UA said Wednesday that it will terminate Carter from his coaching position.

Court records state Carter, who coaches athletes in the throwing events, shot put and discus, waived his Miranda rights when he admitted to the crimes.

On April 27, Carter pushed the victim onto a couch in his office, choked her with his left hand while he threatened her with a box cutter with his right hand, records state.

The following Wednesday, Carter entered a classroom on UA campus and grabbed the victim’s arm twice before she could flee, records showed.

Police investigators said they uncovered 57 texts and emails Carter had sent to the woman between April 26 and May 1, four of which contained threatening statements.

The UA Police Department refused to provide the incident reports, saying the investigation is ongoing.

Carter was arrested Friday. As of Wednesday evening, Carter remained in the Pima County Jail with his bond set at $40,000. His attorney, Heidi Krauss of the Pima County Public Defender’s Office, was not available for comment Wednesday.

He faces three domestic violence charges — aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, threats and intimidation with injury and damage to property, stalking with fear of physical injury or death upon another — and an interfering with an educational institution charge.

Carter has been suspended since his arrest and the university is initiating a dismissal procedure, according to Chris Sigurdson, a UA spokesman.

The university is in the final stages of an investigation into Carter’s alleged crimes, Sigurdson said.

“While I cannot speak about any student specifically, please know that student welfare is the university’s first priority,” he said. “In situations where members of the campus community are subject to violence acts, the university provides resources and assistance to help restore well-being.”