Coach on Trial: Is He Responsible for His Player’s Death?
EmailABC's Eric Horng reports from Louisville: The defense for coach Jason Stinson delivered its closing first. Attorney Alex Dathorne spoke for about an hour and a half and said Stinson "did nothing different than any other coach…in this commonwealth" during the practice in question on 8/20/08. The heat index that day was 94-degrees, and Stinson — apparently angry because players were giving a lackluster effort during practice — ordered his team to do extra windsprints. During the two-week trial, witnesses testified that Stinson hurled insults and pressured players to keep running, even after some of them started vomiting and crying. Two players collapsed — one of them was15-year-old Max Gilpin, whose body temperature that day topped 109 degrees. He died three days later. The defense argued the ADHD medicine Gilpin was taking Adderall contributed to his overheating. And other witnesses, including Gilpin's stepmother, testified the sophomore lineman was feeling sick even before the practice. The defense also called to the stand several players who said they were allowed to rest in between windsprints and given water prior to running. "Football itself is a risk-factor," said Dathorne in his closing. "Football players get sick. It's a violent sport."
In their hour-and-forty-minute close, the prosecution painted Stinson as an out-of-control rookie coach whose training methods were "wrong on so many levels." "This is why we're here," said prosecutor Jon Heck, holding up a photo of Gilpin. "He was run to death. He needed a break." Stinson is charged with reckless homicide and wanton endangerment. Yesterday, the judge said the jury can only convict on one-or-the-other, but not both. If convicted, Stinson faces up to 5 years in prison. Update 4:54pm: The jury in the case has found Stinson not guilty. Do you agree with the verdict? Chime in and tell us your thoughts…
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I hope the school pays this coaches lawyer fees. He was unjustly accused, and drug through hell and back. Thank goodness the jurors did the right thing.
Posted by: justice | September 17, 2009, 5:07 pm 5:07 pm
Absolutely agree with the verdict. I’m sorry about the player, but you can’t blame the coach, especially criminally.
Give him his job back.
Posted by: Ricky D | September 17, 2009, 5:20 pm 5:20 pm
I’m sorry the boy died but this man didn’t deserve to be treated like a killer. Thankfully the jurors thought the same thing I did … Not Guilty!
Posted by: notguilty | September 17, 2009, 5:22 pm 5:22 pm
I definitely agree with the verdict. Even the stepmom said he was feeling ill before. Let the coach go back to work. This will affect his life forever.
Posted by: Kailly | September 17, 2009, 5:25 pm 5:25 pm
A coach sees a student vomiting and showing serious signs of distress and lets his angry blind him? This is high school. If it happened in the military with adults I doubt the military would be so forgiving of such depraved indifference to human life. ANd these are kids!
Posted by: BobF | September 17, 2009, 5:40 pm 5:40 pm
Terrible verdict. Do those that think the coach is not responsible for his own actions and also apparently not responsible for the safety and well being of the minor students on his team when under his supervision at least concede that any mentally competent adult could have foreseen a possible outcome such as this one?
Posted by: pj | September 17, 2009, 5:48 pm 5:48 pm
To Kailly -
It happens all the time in the military – esp in Boot Camp. It isn’t considered news because it happens all the time.
Any mentally competent adult would have given the kids water (which he did) and rest (which he did).
Any RESPONSIBLE adult who wanted his team to do their best would not allow them to get away with bad attitudes at practice (good for him!).
Any responsible parent would not allow a sick child to attend a physically strenuous practice. Heck, this wasn’t even a hot day!!
Of course he pressured the boys to keep running. That’s the coaches job!! If you want a babysitter for your 15 yr old, good luck!
It’s a shame about this young man losing his life. I would like for parent to learn from this – don’t let your teen go to a strenous practice when they aren’t feeling well. And what is this about taking Adderall on a day when he wasn’t in class??
Posted by: HighSchoolMom | September 17, 2009, 6:29 pm 6:29 pm
Coach could have permitted this poor kid’s death and didn’t!!! Wrong verdict!!!
Posted by: Melanie | September 17, 2009, 6:30 pm 6:30 pm
Oops typo on previous email…
Coach could have PREVENTED KID’S DEATH AND DIDN’T!!!!
Posted by: Melanie | September 17, 2009, 6:31 pm 6:31 pm
“The players were pressured to keep running even after some of them started vomiting.”
When some of the players started to vomit, time should have been called.
The boy was on medication. What doctor gave the consent to play football while taking this medication?
It was the coach’s responsibility to know which of his players are on medication and the side effects of each med.
I hope the parents of that poor boy sue the schoolboard. It won’t bring the boy back, but it might stop another kid from meeting that same fate.
We should not assume that someone in authority ‘knows what’s best’. It is not always the case. We’ve all been there – assuming that ‘they must know more than I’.
I’m really sorry for their loss.
The coach did not deliberately kill that boy. However, he was responsible for him. Football is rough, but the coach crossed a dangerous line.
If the sport was volley ball, and a girl was pushed hard to her death, would the verdict be the same?
Just because it’s ‘football’ and a ‘rough sport’, does that make it more acceptable?
Posted by: ddg | September 17, 2009, 6:39 pm 6:39 pm
Did a little research: Adderall is a diuretic which can cause severe dehydration.
The doctor should have informed the boy’s parents that their son needs to stay well hydrated, especially during sports.
The coach had a responsibility to know this as well.
The school should have had a policy in place regarding kids on certain meds.
The doctor who put his signature on the sports physical should have known this.
The list goes on.
I hope the parents take this further.
Posted by: cc | September 17, 2009, 7:35 pm 7:35 pm
Aren’t athletes supposed to get the parents to sign that they are healthy and able to play on the team? This being the case, I’d say the parents are more responsible, knowing his medical condition and signing approval anyway.
Posted by: James Johnson | September 17, 2009, 8:29 pm 8:29 pm
Sometimes parents don’t really understand. They think that when the MEDICAL DOCTOR gave his/her consent for the health physical, that everything is ‘okay’.
Parents should advocate for their children; sometimes, however, parents think that the authorities know more than they do.
Sadly, they are sometimes mistaken.
All school boards should have a POLICY in placed for the kids regarding medicines/physical health, etc.
Maybe they do have a policy. That policy, however, failed this young boy.
Posted by: ddg | September 18, 2009, 1:11 pm 1:11 pm