Brand says trustees wanted Knight fired

Four depositions filed Tuesday in Monroe County Circuit Court suggest that as early as May 2000 the IU board of trustees were prepared for former men's basketball coach Bob Knight to be fired, but former IU President Myles Brand resisted and convinced them otherwise. \nBrand would go on to fire Knight in September 2000 for violating a "zero tolerance" behavioral policy when Knight angrily grabbed a freshman by the arm. Still, in his sworn testimony, Brand said at the beginning of the May meeting most of the trustees were leaning toward termination and told him the final decision on Knight's future was Brand's.\n"The trustees said, 'It was your decision,'" Brand testified. "They expressed opinions about what the decision should be, but in the same breath, they said it was my decision." \nThe deposition by Brand -- dated June 18, 2002 -- and the depositions of former IU trustee Peter Obremsky, current trustee Steve Ferguson and former Director of IU Police Department James Kennedy -- all taken Nov. 2, 2004 -- are part of an ongoing lawsuit brought by 46 IU basketball fans alleging Brand violated Indiana law when he consulted with the trustees privately before firing Knight.\nAt issue are two different meetings. The first, an executive session held May 14, 2000, occurred following the incident when Knight was accused of choking a basketball player after practice. Brand said in his deposition at the beginning of that meeting many of the trustees wanted Knight canned.\nBut, Brand said, he explained to the trustees his idea to suspend Knight for three games and create a zero-tolerance policy to rein in the coach. The next day Brand publicly announced the policy.\nBrand, now the president of the NCAA, said in his testimony that he had "no recollection whatsoever of a vote" by the trustees at the May meeting about terminating Knight, only individual opinions from the trustees.\nIn court documents, the plaintiffs allege such a vote might have taken place.\nBrand consulted the trustees again during a football game weekend, held Sept. 9, 2000, a few days before their monthly board meeting scheduled to take place in New Albany, Ind. Brand said he decided not to wait for the trustees' meeting because of increasing media attention and because he wanted the board to learn about former IUPD Director Kennedy's investigation.\nThe plaintiffs believe state law was intentionally skirted at the September meeting.\nIndiana's Open Doors Law defines a public session as a meeting of a group's majority. IU spokesman Larry MacIntyre said the University continues to hold its position that because the nine-member board met with Brand in two groups of four trustees, with no majority present at either meeting, the meetings were not considered public, and therefore the law was not broken.\nBrand testified that he knew of the state's Open Doors Law, that he knew a meeting with five or more trustees would constitute an abridgement of the law and that he sought the advice of IU counsel Dorothy Frapwell. He admitted he instructed the trustees to come in two separate groups "to exclude any impropriety with respect" to the law.\nA Bloomington attorney representing the fans, Roy Graham, said the plaintiffs contend IU "illegally fired Bob Knight" in the private meetings. Graham said he also believes Brand's testimony about Kennedy's involvement in the meetings seems to contradict the accounts from Ferguson, Obremsky and Kennedy.\n"They violated the Open Doors Law," Graham said, "and the behavior that they have admitted to in their depositions is the exact same behavior that the Ohio Supreme Court said was illegal." \nGraham noted Ohio has an Open Doors Law similar to Indiana's.\nBased on the depositions, Graham confirmed that he and leading prosecuting attorney Gojko Kasich have requested a supplemental summary judgment of the case in which the judge might rule in their favor before a trial begins.\nSpecial Judge Cecile Blau, of Clark county, was appointed to the case by the chief justice of Indiana Supreme Court in 2000. Blau will either grant summary judgment or continue to preside over the case if it is scheduled a hearing.\n-- Contact Senior Writer Tony Sams at ajsams@indiana.edu.