Thursday, January 2, 1997

Irvin says he wasn't at the site of the alleged sexual assault

By MELISSA WILLIAMS / Associated Press Writer (Jan. 2, 1997)

DALLAS (AP) - The investigation of alleged sexual assault by Dallas Cowboys stars Michael Irvin and Erik Williams is in its "very early stages" and no charges will be filed today, police said.

Police had said Tuesday, when the accusation by a 23-year-old woman was reported, that the charges could be filed by today.

"There is no plans in terms of when or if detectives will visit with either of the players," police spokesman Ed Spencer said. "There's no chance that charges will be filed (today). We're in the very early stages of the investigation.

"There's a lot of information to be gathered. It's going to be days, at least, if not weeks, before any determination is made if there's a criminal case to be filed."

The slow-up by police may ensure both players will join their teammates Sunday in Charlotte, N.C., for an NFC divisional playoff game against the Carolina Panthers. Authorities have said their investigation would not block the players from leaving the state. However, if police arrested Irvin, who is on probation for an earlier drug charge, a judge could order him to jail.

Irvin is accused of holding a gun to the head of a cosmetics counter worker while she was raped by teammate Erik Williams and a third, unidentified man. The incident, at Williams' home, reportedly was videotaped.

Irvin's attorneys said today their client can prove he wasn't at the house through an alibi witness and a security guard who did not see him enter the gated community where Williams lives.

Also today, the accuser's estranged husband was quoted as saying she falsely accused him and another man of sexual assault without telling police.

"It seems very reasonable that she is making this up," the man, who was not identified, told the Dallas Morning News. "She's very melodramatic. She accused me of doing this, and she accused her fiance before me of doing this, so I don't know why she wouldn't do it again."

The story gave no detail on what precisely the husband says she accused him of doing.

Attorney Royce West said he can prove his client wasn't at teammate Erik Williams' house Sunday night because the security guard at the gated complex says he didn't see Irvin.

"I want America to know that that security guard will state Mr. Michael Irvin never went in that security gate, never went to Erik Williams' house Sunday night," West told ABC's "Good Morning America."

Irvin insists he wasn't there and says he looks forward to talking to police.

Sources told The Associated Press the woman informed police that Irvin videotaped at least part of the alleged attack. Williams, 28, was at the Cowboys' Valley Ranch training compound today and was not available for comment. He has declined to comment.

A manager for Triad Protective Services, which handles security for the star offensive lineman's complex, said guards are not required to keep a list of visitors, so it would be the guards' word as to whether Irvin - or anyone else - visited the area.

By policy, guests who are on a resident's visitor list are waved through the gate. Residents are called when people who aren't on the list arrive.

Another lawyer for Irvin, Anthony Lyons, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that Irvin says he was at Cowboys Sports Cafe in Irving most of the evening and did not go to Williams' house.

In the Morning News interview, the woman's estranged 22-year-old husband said she told him she met the players while working as a waitress and dancer at a Dallas topless club. Friends of the woman said she now works at a cosmetics counter in a mall.

The man, who was separated from his wife in 1994 after two years of marriage, said she briefly lived with two players and "would brag to me about living with the Cowboys."

During a search of Williams' house Tuesday, police seized several tapes and a video camera.

Despite reports that Irvin's voice was heard on a tape, police investigator Ross Salverino said no voices have been identified. The third man has been tentatively identified, but police declined to release his name.

Irvin, 30, is on probation for a drug offense after pleading no contest in July to cocaine possession charges. At his sentencing, the judge threatened to put him in prison for 20 years if he violated probation.

The defending NFL champion Cowboys are trying to win their fourth Super Bowl in five years. Williams, a 1997 Pro Bowl pick, and Irvin, a 1996 Pro Bowl choice, have been key figures in Dallas' success.