U.S. District Judge Robert Pittman on Friday dismissed gross negligence claims against Art Briles, former Baylor AD Ian McCaw (now at Liberty) and Baylor University.
Pittman found that "no reasonable jury" could conclude Briles, McCaw or Baylor were "grossly negligent" based on evidence brought to trial, according to ESPN.
The trail was brought by former Baylor student Dolores Lozano, who filed the lawsuit in 2016. Lozano accused former Bear football player Devin Chafin of sexually assaulting her on three separate occasions in 2014, and accused Briles, McCaw and Baylor of failing to properly respond to her reports.
"The judge said this has always been about Ms. Lozano having her day in court. We agree," Lozano's attorney Sheila Haddock said, via ESPN. "The judge granted Baylor's motion solely on the issue of gross negligence. He denied the remainder of Baylor's motions and we look forward to presenting our case to the jury on Monday."
Briles denied any knowledge of Lozano until she filed her lawsuit in 2016.
From ESPN:
Reid Simpson, an attorney for Briles, was on the courthouse steps standing before reporters Friday morning on the phone with Briles to share the news. "I appreciate you," Briles could be heard saying over speakerphone.
"Everything that's been said about him is not true," Simpson said. During the trial, Simpson's questioning of witnesses often came back to a series of questions about whether there was any evidence that Briles covered up sexual assault, deterred victims from reporting assaults or tried to interfere with investigations, and the witnesses denied knowing of any of those actions.
Briles, 67, has not coached in college football since his 2015 firing from Baylor. Southern Miss, Grambling and the CFL's Hamilton Tiger-Cats all attempted to hire him at different points over the past eight years, but all eight moves were quickly axed due to public pressure.
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