Another judge clears ex-Russell County baseball coach Tony Rasmus of choking allegation
Tony Rasmus, the baseball coach who led a Phenix City Little League team to a national championship and a Russell County High School team to a state championship, has won another victory in his off-the-field fight to clear his name.
On May 24, Administrative Law Judge Larry Lynn Jr. ruled that the Russell County Department of Human Resources (DHR) didn’t prove “by a preponderance of... evidence” that Rasmus placed a player “at risk of serious harm” during a Feb. 16, 2021, game.
Lynn noted the player changed his testimony about the incident. To uphold the Russell County DHR’s conclusion, Lynn said, “I would have to disregard the four eyewitnesses” who testified that Rasmus didn’t choke the player.
“There was no testimony to corroborate (the player’s) testimony that choking occurred in the dugout,” Lynn wrote. “Therefore, this report shall be marked as ‘Not Indicated’.”
The decision in this civil litigation comes after mixed results in the criminal litigation.
Case litigation history
On Oct. 18, 2021, a jury found Rasmus not guilty of a Class A misdemeanor of third-degree assault, the verdict a county judge reached in a June trial. The jurors found Rasmus guilty of harassment, a lesser offense, for touching the player.
At an Oct. 28 hearing, the school board rejected superintendent Brenda Coley’s request to fire Rasmus. Instead, the board voted 4-1 to suspend Rasmus without pay until June 30.
Rasmus appealed his suspension to the Alabama Department of Education.
On Feb. 4, retired Alabama Supreme Court Justice Terry Butts overturned the suspension, writing the Russell board “violated fundamental requirements of due process to which Rasmus was entitled throughout their handling of the employment action against Rasmus.”
Rasmus won a separate Feb. 4 ruling when Russell County Circuit Court Judge Michael Bellamy reduced the harassment case fine from $500 to $50, and the payment to the Alabama Crime Victims Compensation Commission from $100 to $25. Bellamy also struck the court costs.
The player’s version of events
The L-E isn’t identifying the player because he is a minor. According to the DHR’s investigation, here is how the player described the incident and its aftermath:
An assistant coach told the player he “f---ing sucked” after he made an error. The player tried to explain what happened, but the assistant coach assumed he was being disrespectful and took him out of the game.
In the dugout, Rasmus called the player over, got in his face and said he wasn’t good enough to talk back to coaches.
As Rasmus was talking, he choked the player with one hand for approximately 10 seconds, the player alleged, and “felt pressure and pain during this incident.”
That night, the player initially didn’t tell his parents and hadn’t noted any marks or redness around his throat. Some time later, a teammate called the player’s parents and told them he witnessed Rasmus choking their son.
The next day, the parents asked their son about the incident, and he told them Rasmus indeed choked him.
The parents confronted Rasmus approximately seven days later. Rasmus denied choking their son and said he only grabbed him by his chin.
Rasmus later questioned the player about the allegation, and the player said he told his parents that Rasmus only touched him on his chin. Rasmus said the player should tell his parents the truth.
On March 1, 2021, during an interview with a Russell County Advocacy Center official, the player said Rasmus only grabbed him by his chin. Two days later, during another interview at the center, the player said he didn’t tell the truth in the initial interview because he was afraid of Rasmus.
On March 2, 2021, an arrest warrant was issued for Rasmus.
At the June 2021 bench trial, District Court Judge Zack Collins determined a guilty verdict and ordered Rasmus to pay a $500 fine and attend an anger management course.
At an October 2021 appeal, a jury found Rasmus not guilty of third-degree assault but guilty of the lesser offense of harassment for touching the player.
Rasmus’ version of events
According to his testimony, Rasmus denied choking the player.
After he was taken out the game, the player threw his hat and glove in the dugout. He was “crying,” “flexing,” staring at the assistant coach and walking toward him, Rasmus said.
Rasmus approached the player and tried to get his attention off the assistant coach. Rasmus started talking to the player, but the player wouldn’t look at him, so Rasmus touched his chin to turn his face toward him.
Rasmus told the player to not disrespect coaches and that such behavior could be seen by scouts. After the interaction, Rasmus walked back across the dugout and resumed calling pitches.
“I could have paid a $500 fine to begin with, but I didn’t agree to that because I didn’t do nothing,” Rasmus told the L-E. “I mean, I touched a kid to keep him from getting in a fight with another coach, to turn his head to look at me. The jury said I was guilty of harassment because that’s called unwanted touching… But if you watch a football game, you see coaches grab players all game long.”
DHR’s role
Among its duties, the Alabama DHR investigates reports of child abuse and neglect. It maintains a statewide registry of such reports, a central registry provided to all schools or employers involved in care of minors.
Alabama defines abuse as “harm or threatened harm to a child’s health or welfare,” which “can occur through non-accidental physical or mental injury, sexual abuse or attempted sexual abuse or sexual exploitation or attempted sexual exploitation.”
Upon concluding its investigation, the Russell County DHR determined abuse occurred but didn’t interview Rasmus or any of the witnesses. Rasmus appealed to the state DHR, requested an administrative hearing that overturned the county DHR. Ultimately, Rasmus has been cleared of the allegation.
Reactions and what’s next for Tony Rasmus
In an exclusive interview Tuesday with the Ledger-Enquirer, Rasmus said he is thankful the DHR case was decided in his favor at the state level, just like the appeal of his suspension.
“Every time we get out of the Phenix City government’s control, we get people who look at what actually happened and the evidence, and nobody can ever find that anything happened to that boy, which we said all along,” he said. “I mean, my story remained the same from day one.”
Charles Floyd III and James McKoon Jr. are the lawyers representing Rasmus in this case. Floyd told the L-E in an email, “The facts without question show that Mr. Rasmus in no way choked or harmed the minor child. There were numerous witnesses to support this.”
Russell County School District superintendent Brenda Coley didn’t respond to L-E’s requests for comment before publication.
Despite winning his case, Rasmus remains frustrated as the controversy continues to plague him.
“I’ve spent $150,000 defending myself and my reputation,” he said, “and I still may not be able to coach again because of the smear job they’ve done on me.”
Rasmus still is a physical education teacher and weight room coordinator at Russell County High School. He said he has applied for “10 or 11” coaching positions in the state, but to no avail because his teaching certificate has an “adverse action” label that he’s trying to expunge.
“Unfortunately, this did not immediately end all possible litigation,” Floyd said. “The final part is clearing his teaching certificate, which I am negotiating with the State Board of Education and believe it will be cleared completely in the very near future.”
Rasmus said he agreed to take two anger management courses and report monthly to the state board to confirm that he still works in RCSD and hasn’t had “any issues.”
With 23 years in the state’s public education system, Rasmus, 56, wants to work two more years to retire with full benefits.
“If they release my certificate next week, I’ll pound the pavement to get out of this place,” he said. “But it’s so late (in the summer break) right now, I just don’t know if I can make a move at this point.”
Tony Rasmus baseball coaching success
Rasmus coached Russell County to the 2005 Alabama Class 5A state title and a Phenix City all-star team to the 1999 U.S. championship and runner-up finish in the Little League World Series. The RCHS baseball program never had a winning season before his first season as the head coach in 2001, Rasmus has said.
He led the Warriors to 590 wins, 17 area championships, a No. 1 national ranking by USA Today, Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball. He helped 70 players earn college scholarships, with 25 of them in NCAA Division I, and Major League Baseball teams have drafted 19 of his players, including four in the first round.
Rasmus played three seasons in the minor leagues during the 1980s. Three of his four sons played professional baseball.
This story was originally published June 29, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
