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Friday, January 3, 1997

Cowboys lineman Erik Williams denies woman's rape allegation

By Jason Sickles and Robert Ingrassia / The Dallas Morning News (Jan. 3, 1997)

DALLAS (KRT) - Cowboys' offensive lineman Erik Williams on Thursday denied a woman's allegation that he raped her at gunpoint and said he is eager for the truth to surface.

His attorney, meanwhile, criticized the Dallas Police Department's public handling of the case and said he would not allow Williams to cooperate with investigators until police are "willing to behave in a professional and appropriate manner."

The denial was the star player's first public comment since a 23-year-old Mesquite, Texas, woman reported to police Monday night that Williams and an unknown suspect sexually assaulted her Sunday while Cowboys' receiver Michael Irvin threatened her with a gun.

"I've been falsely accused of something that I didn't do, and I'm looking forward to the truth coming out as soon as possible," said Williams, 28. "I'm not a bad person. I realize the responsibilities and the privileges that it takes to be a Dallas Cowboy."

Irvin, 30, also denied the woman's accusations. His attorney, state Sen. Royce West, said Irvin was not at Williams' home in Far North Dallas where the rape reportedly occurred. A security guard at the entrance of the gated community said he didn't see Irvin that night, West said.

"Michael was not there," said West, who said he briefly spoke with police Thursday.

"We don't mind being cooperative, but we've got to know that the integrity of the investigation is not being compromised," he added.

Police Chief Ben Click said Thursday that his department has handled the matter properly.

"I won't sit here and second-guess experienced detectives," the chief said. "These detectives know how to do their job. There are a lot of pieces to this investigation."

Police said the woman places Irvin at the scene, but have declined to say whether they have physical evidence placing him there.

Thursday passed without Irvin or Williams making an appearance at Dallas police headquarters. Police said it may take several days or weeks to determine whether charges will be filed or whether the matter will be referred to a grand jury for consideration.

Chief Click said there is no timetable for the investigation.

"My primary message to the detectives is, 'Do your job,' " the chief said. " 'If it takes a day or a week or a month, do your job.' The end result is to try to determine the best we can what occurred and then from that draw some conclusions."

The woman, whose name is being withheld, told police that the men videotaped portions of the incident. Police said they have not confirmed the third man's identity, but they don't believe he is a Dallas Cowboy.

Investigators seized three videotapes from Williams' home but declined Thursday to discuss the tapes' contents. Police also said they confiscated three guns and are trying to lift fingerprints from the items seized.

Police described the woman as an acquaintance of Irvin and Williams. Chief Click said the woman knows the men well enough to identify them. He said she could not name the third man, whose identity the police have not yet confirmed.

"She knew a number of the Cowboys personally," the chief said. "It seems she'd be able to specifically name individuals that she knew."

Two friends of the woman have said she met several Cowboys players while working as makeup artist for the team's cheerleaders. Her estranged husband said she told him she met players while working as a waitress and dancer at a Dallas topless club.

The woman danced topless at a club as recently as October, according to a club manager who asked not to be identified.

Also on Thursday, West met with the judge who sentenced Irvin in July to four years' probation on a felony cocaine possession charge. State District Judge Manny Alvarez could revoke Irvin's probation and sentence him to up to 20 years in prison if the receiver is charged with a new crime.

West declined to comment on Thursday's meeting, but Judge Alvarez said afterward that West had asked several questions about procedure in the event that his client is charged.

Williams recently completed two years' probation stemming from a 1994 drunken-driving charge. Sunday's reported rape happened at the same house where a 17-year-old girl reported being sexually assaulted in April 1995. She later dropped charges against Williams and a friend, neither of whom was indicted.

Peter Ginsberg, a Washington attorney representing Williams, said the woman making the allegations is not credible, but he did not elaborate.

The woman's estranged husband, a 22-year-old Plano man, told "The Dallas Morning News" this week that he doubts the woman's account. He said he has no firsthand knowledge of the reported sexual assault, but said the woman made a false rape accusation against him.

Two friends of the woman said Tuesday that they visited with the woman Monday morning. The friends said she was bruised and distraught. They described her as an honest person who would not make up a rape report.

West said he would not speculate on the woman's motives for telling police that Irvin was at Williams' home Sunday night when the alleged attack occurred.

The attorney said the security guard told him that he did not see Irvin enter the area Sunday night.

An electronic gate closes off the rear of Williams' subdivision at Pauma Valley Drive in Collin County. No security guards are present at the rear gate, and residents must use a special card to activate both the four-foot tall iron entrance gate and a separate exit.

West said Irvin does not have a card to enter the community's back gate. He declined to discuss the implication that his client could have entered the neighborhood through an alternative gate.

West said the security guard also told him that the woman making the allegation drove into the community Sunday night in her own car behind Williams.

"The fact that the police have not made any arrests and the fact that the police, recently, have tried to tone down this investigation ... and the fact that the police have hopefully stopped talking to the press about faceless accusations reflects where the investigation is heading," West said.

("Dallas Morning News" staff writers Jean-Jacques Taylor and Steve Scott contributed to this report.)

(c) 1996, The Dallas Morning News.

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