__________________
The starting lineup for YOUR Knicksfan's legends Ghost's Dungeon Legends Baseball draft.
1. CF: Tyrus Cobb
2. 2B: Pete Rose
3. 1B: Mark McGwire
4. C: Mike Piazza
5. 3B: Cal Ripken JR
6. SS: Miguel Tejada
7. RF: Mel Ott
8. LF: Darryl Strawberry
9. DH: Dave Winfield
Starting Rotation and Closer
1. Walter Johnson 2nd winningest RIGHTY ever
2. Warren Spahn Winningest LEFTY ever
3. Phil Niekro Knuckle em up
4. Dwight Gooden A stud before the drugs
5. John Clarkson won 51 games in 1 season. 278 in 8 seasons. 300 game winner.
CL: Trevor Hoffman
Kings coach Reggie Theus, who played against Kevin Johnson for four seasons in the NBA, was pleased to hear Johnson would run for mayor of Sacramento. The municipal election will be held in June. Johnson, who was born in Sacramento and played his high school ball there, moved back to the city in 2000 and formed "St. HOPE," a nonprofit community development corporation. "He can have my vote. We have to always support each other when it comes to stuff like that," Theus said. "He's always been about the community and about kids."
A police report from a 1996 investigation into an allegation of child molestation against Kevin Johnson was distributed to the media Tuesday by Leonard Padilla, one of Johnson's opponents in the Sacramento mayor's race.
No criminal charges were filed in that case.
Padilla, a local bounty hunter, said he requested the 159-page report from the Phoenix Police Department after reading in The Bee about a local teacher's allegation of inappropriate touching concerning a student at Sacramento High. No charges were filed in the Sacramento case, either.
The Phoenix report details an investigation into a complaint brought by the therapist of a teenager who told police that the NBA star had disrobed in her presence and touched her inappropriately. (The Bee is identifying her only as Amanda because of her age at the time and the nature of the allegations.)
David Townsend, Johnson's political consultant, said Johnson was en route from Boston on Tuesday evening and unavailable for comment.
In a letter delivered via e-mail to The Bee, Johnson attorney Ed Friedberg said: "The allegations against Kevin Johnson were fully investigated 13 years ago by the appropriate Arizona authorities, and, as the records demonstrate, were found to be unjustifiable and therefore, dismissed."
In the local allegation, according to a 2007 child abuse report filed with police, a 17-year-old Sacramento High School senior told teacher Erik Jones and others that Johnson "came up behind me and started to massage my shoulders. Soon his hands were on top on my breasts."
As a teacher, Jones is required by law to report suspected child abuse to authorities.
Sacramento Police Chief Rick Braziel has said that the girl eventually recanted and that the allegation "was absolutely unfounded" -- the product of gossip among teenage girls.
The incident became public last month when Jones hung a banner outside his Oak Park home that read "No Perverts for Mayor."
Padilla, one of six candidates challenging Mayor Heather Fargo in the June 3 election, said he initially did not want to believe the allegations against Johnson, whom he described as a long-time acquaintance.
"When I was first approached by a reporter several weeks ago, I told them I thought it was bunk, that I did not believe Kevin was that type of individual," Padilla said Tuesday. "When the situation started developing with the Sacramento allegations raised by a former teacher, I decided to look into it myself."
The Phoenix police report contains interviews with Amanda and her therapist about Johnson, "a celebrity involved in a reported child molestation," according to the report. It states that Johnson declined to talk to police on the advice of his attorney.
The girl was 16 and Johnson was 29 at the time of the alleged incident.
Pursuing their investigation, Phoenix police officers went as far as Florida to try to arrange what they call a "confrontation call" between the girl and Johnson. Later, they were successful in taping a conversation in Arizona between Amanda and Johnson.
An excerpt from the police report's 28-page transcript of the tape states:
Amanda: "Okay, well, do you think us being naked together or taking a shower was normal, or healthy, or ..."
Johnson: "Amanda, I mean I said the same thing, the same thing. I told you the judgment was not in the best. And I'm sorry about that and again I felt we talked about and ...
Amanda: "Ah huh ..."
Johnson: "And I you're looking at it different than I'm looking at it and what you're saying happened, I'm not entirely agreeing happened. I'm, I'm sorry about that. And again I go back to the standpoint that additionally when I thought you and I talked about it afterward, I was hoping that you and I could come to terms enough that you felt whatever with it that you felt okay ..."
When reached by The Bee, Amanda, now 28, declined to comment: "Unfortunately," she said, "I'm not able to talk to you."
Phoenix police Sgt. Joel Tranter said officers submitted their investigation to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office to make a determination on how to proceed. The prosecutor declined to file charges, he said.
"If it's unclear or ambiguous we'll file a report and submit it for charges," Tranter said. "We let them review it to see if they think it's a case or has a likelihood of prosecution, and in this case, there was not."
Police then sent the case to the Phoenix City Prosecutor's Office, to be considered for misdemeanor charges, according to the report. That office also declined to press charges.
Reached for a comment Tuesday, Fargo's campaign manager, Dale Howard, said the mayor "hasn't seen the report and she's directed everyone on her campaign not to comment," about its release.
Friedberg said the Johnson campaign believed Padilla had "traveled to Phoenix, muckraking information, in an effort to discredit Kevin Johnson." He said Johnson is considering filing a defamation suit against Padilla.
Padilla said he received a copy of the report Thursday in response to a public records act request.
"The taped conversation between Mr. Johnson and the 16-year-old speaks for itself," he said. "You can draw your own conclusions."
Kevin Johnson's St. HOPE nonprofit is under investigation by the federal government for allegations including misuse of federal funds and Johnson's sexual misconduct toward two participants in its Hood Corps, an urban Peace Corps-type program, according to a government attorney.
After a Sacramento High School teacher's report last year that a 17-year-old student told him she was inappropriately touched by Kevin Johnson, Johnson's personal attorney and business partner investigated the complaint for the campus.
State law requires that authorities be notified immediately when school officials learn of such an allegation. But – before police were called in by the teacher – Johnson's attorney, Kevin Hiestand, questioned the girl during an internal investigation, according to interviews and e-mails obtained by The Bee.
Following the school's internal investigation, the student recanted. (The Bee is not naming her because of her age and the nature of the allegation.) Sacramento police investigators, who never interviewed Johnson, later found "no merit" to the allegation and declined to pursue the case in part because the girl recanted.
KJ is beating the incumbent Heather Fargo, 47% to 40%. If he doesn't get 50% + 1 by the end of the night, there will be a run-off between the 2 in November.
KJ running for Mayor of Sactown
Linear Mode
