SJ&B - Headlines

Wednesday, September 4, 1996

PHILLIPS SUED FOR ASSAULT EX-GIRLFRIEND MCEWEN SAYS FOOTBALL STAR OFTEN HURT HER, ONCE SEXUALLY.

St. Louis Rams running back Lawrence Phillips beat, threatened and once sexually assaulted a Topeka woman during their two-year relationship at the University of Nebraska, a lawsuit stated.

Katherine McEwen filed the lawsuit Aug. 16 in Jackson County Circuit Court, and it remained sealed until Tuesday. A judge briefly opened it and then resealed it.

Before the lawsuit, Phillips, a former Nebraska football star, pleaded no contest to misdemeanor trespassing and assault for a Sept. 10, 1995, attack on McEwen, a former Nebraska basketball player who is still a student at the school. Phillips was not charged with any sex crimes at the time.

The lawsuit said McEwen did not tell Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne about the alleged sexual assault. There was no explanation why she did not tell Osborne about the sexual assault.

Osborne suspended Phillips for six games for the September attack, and a Nebraska judge placed Phillips on probation for a year - punishments that drew nationwide criticism. Some women's groups wanted more severe retribution.

McEwen's civil lawsuit alleges a broader pattern of abuse than the September 1995 incident. The lawsuit also states that Phillips also beat, threatened her and reconciled with her repeatedly after the two started dating in August 1993.

Her lawsuit asks for unspecified actual and punitive damages for sexual assault, battery, kidnapping, assault, false imprisonment, emotional distress and the violation of her rights.

McEwen contends Phillips started cursing her, controlling her movements and threatening her shortly after they began dating.

Other allegations contained in the lawsuit:

October 1994. Phillips shoved her head into a wall so hard it broke through the wall, then choked her and would not allow her to leave his apartment.

April 1995. Phillips asked her whether she was dating anyone else and threatened her, saying: "I'm going to shoot you in the kneecaps and then shoot you in the elbows. This is Los Angeles gang style of dealing with people."

May 10, 1995. Phillips slashed her car tires and threatened to kill her. That came after he demanded a glass of water and McEwen told him to get it himself.

Aug. 24, 1995. McEwen agreed to drive Phillips, who was drunk, home to his apartment. He forced her to stay there and sexually assaulted her.

Sept. 10. Phillips beat her and kicked her while she was at a friend's house. She contends he then grabbed her hair "caveman style," pulled her down three flights of steps and slammed her head into a wall.

Lawyers on Aug. 16 successfully requested the lawsuit be sealed until Aug. 23, while they worked on a settlement. Circuit Judge William F. Mauer, who received the case this month, ordered it unsealed Tuesday, then resealed at lawyers' request. It was not immediately clear why lawyers filed the lawsuit in Jackson County Circuit Court.

Victor Bergman, McEwen's lawyer, declined to comment.

Rick Smith, the Rams' director of public relations, declined to comment and referred all questions to Phillips' lawyer, Mitch Frankel. He did not return telephone calls.

Besides the civil lawsuit, Phillips also faces a criminal drunken-driving charge in California. Police say he was driving a gold Mercedes with a flat tire as fast as 80 mph on June 13. That case is scheduled to be heard Sept. 30 in Los Angeles and could endanger his probation in connection with the September assault.

This July, Phillips signed a three-year contract with the Rams worth $5.625 million. He was their No. 1 draft choice and the sixth choice overall in the NFL draft in April.

THE KANSAS CITY STAR

Section: SPORTS

Page: D1

By JOE LAMBE, Staff Writer

Staff writer Jonathan Rand contributed to this story

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