[CBFF] [Fwd: Cedric Benson hires new attorney]

[Tom Shannon]

http://feeds.chicagotribune.com/~r/chicagotribune/sports/~3/286362341/cs-080508-chicago-bears-cedric-benson,0,2061869.story 
<http://feeds.chicagotribune.com/%7Er/chicagotribune/sports/%7E3/286362341/cs-080508-chicago-bears-cedric-benson,0,2061869.story>

www.chicagotribune.com/sports/cs-080508-chicago-bears-cedric-benson,0,2061869.story


  chicagotribune.com


    Cedric Benson hires new attorney, Travis County releases booking video


      New witness calls pepper spray 'ludicrous, no point for it'

By David Haugh

Tribune reporter

11:43 PM CDT, May 8, 2008

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Barefoot and with his wrists handcuffed behind his back, Cedric Benson 
walked slowly in front of two Travis County officers who had escorted 
him late Saturday night into the Travis County Central Booking Center.

There were three other men being detained in the holding room Benson 
entered and, unlike many people in Texas and Chicago this week, they 
barely reacted to Benson's arrest on Lake Travis outside of Austin, Texas.

Benson was wearing loose-fitting shorts and a white tank top, according 
to the video distributed to Comcast SportsNet by the Travis County 
Sheriff's Office.

The one-minute recording doesn't show Benson's face, but one can imagine 
he also wore an expression that captured the mixture of anger, anxiety 
and embarrassment his friends say he felt.

Here was one of Texas' biggest football legends being arrested on 
familiar turf in Austin for boating while intoxicated and resisting 
arrest, charges Benson continued to fight aggressively Thursday.

He hired a new lawyer, Sam Bassett, an Austin attorney accustomed to 
high-profile cases such as Benson's has become.

New details also emerged from a witness who wasn't on the boat and 
backed Benson's claims that police mistreated him.

And Thursday night, Elizabeth Cartwright, a friend of Benson's who 
called her father to have him call 911, turned over photographs to 
Benson's lawyer that she says support his version of events.

Often accused of being nonchalant in Chicago, Benson has been anything 
but laid-back in trying to clear his name.

Nothing illustrated that more than hiring Bassett, a reputable local 
lawyer who already has interviewed 10 people who were on Benson's boat. 
Bassett has scheduled more interviews over the next 10 days.

A Lower Colorado River Authority police report described Benson as being 
cocky, combative and smelling of alcohol, but Bassett disputed that.

"I do not believe that Cedric was intoxicated when his boat was boarded 
by the LCRA officers for a safety inspection," Bassett said Thursday in 
an e-mail to the Tribune. "I also am concerned that the force used by 
the LCRA officers, particularly the use of pepper spray, was not 
necessary under the circumstances."

Bassett, perhaps best known in Austin for defending a man convicted last 
year of murdering Texas student Jennifer Cave in a case that drew 
national attention, takes over for Brian Carney. Carney has been a 
friend and ally of Benson's since high school, but his office is in 
Benson's hometown of Midland, Texas—300 miles from Austin.

"There is a lot of work left to be done, and I am not privy to all 
information regarding the case at this juncture," Bassett said. "Cedric 
is interested in focusing on football right now, and we will work hard 
for him while he prepares for the season."

Benson faces a May 19 court date but does not have to be present in 
court as Bassett represents him that day. That is the first day of 
organized team activities at Halas Hall, an important step for a running 
back coming off ankle surgery and fighting for his NFL life in 
Chicago—even before last weekend's arrest.

A witness emerged Thursday to support Benson's claim that he was 
mistreated at nearby Emerald Point Marina on Saturday night.

Toby Patch claims he saw police "manhandling" Benson after taking him 
off the boat. Patch was not one of the 15 people on the boat.

"As they were taking him up the dock, they stopped. He said, 'I am fine, 
I can continue walking,' and they put their legs behind his knees and 
knocked him over his knees and started hog-carrying him," Patch told 
WXAN-TV in Austin.

Near the parking area, Patch says the treatment of Benson worsened.

"They ended up—I don't know why—but laid him on his back, I heard him 
say, 'Please don't pepper-spray me, please don't pepper-spray me,' " 
Patch said. "It was uncalled for, it was ludicrous, no point for it."

Patch's version sounded similar to the account Cartwright, who was on 
the boat, gave the Tribune on Tuesday night. She called her father, 
Jeff, to urge him to call 911 because she feared her cell-phone battery 
would run out before she could describe the incident to a dispatcher.

Benson is in Chicago and has not commented since proclaiming his 
innocence Sunday night and saying police mistreated him. He is 
considering a lawsuit.

dhaugh at tribune.com <mailto:dhaugh at tribune.com>

Copyright © 2008, Chicago Tribune <http://www.chicagotribune.com/>


-- 
Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain.
  - Friedrich von Schiller