Brown Rape Case: Top Stories in RI in 2012

Brown Rape Case: Top Stories in RI in 2012

GoLocalProv kicked off 2012 with a bang after obtaining a secretly recorded conversation between a former Brown University assistant wrestling coach and the lawyer who represented the former Brown student was falsely accused of rape in 2006

The rape revealed never before released details about settlement discussions that took place a month before an agreement was quietly reached.

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In the more-than 20 minute recording, Michael Burch, who coached William R. McCormick III at Brown, and J. Scott Kilpatrick, McCormick’s lawyer, discuss the settlement amount recommended by a mediator as Kilpatrick attempts to gauge Burch’s willingness to sign a confidentially release that would have left him unable to disparage the school, McCormick’s accuser or her father.

On the tape, Kilpatrick says Rhode Island mediator William Poore recommended $850,000 be paid to McCormick by the accuser’s father, an amount McCormick’s family believed to be too low and the accuser’s family said was too high. Poore later came back to Kilpatrick and raised the recommendation to $1,050,000, but also inquired about getting Burch to sign a release that would stop him from discussing the case any further.

Brown University has repeatedly denied having any connection to the settlement.

“I can tell you that the University is not a party to the settlement reached in the McCormick case,” a spokeswoman said at the time. “It has made no contribution to the settlement, nor has it made any accommodation to either party in an effort to reach an agreement. Any statement to the contrary is false. The University acted appropriately and stood ready at all times during the litigation to prove in court that it had acted appropriately and in accordance with applicable laws, policies and procedures.”