Trial
(Continued from Page 1
g -damned mother! ? He
Mid that Gibson called him,
Sama and Walker "chickens
tons of a bitch" and asked all
three men to step outside the
gymnasium. O'Brien said he
left the Chambers Gym follow
ing the halftime incident. In
later testimony, both Walker
and Sams corroborated
O'Brien's account of the Dec.
10 incident.
O'Brien admitted that he
owns three handguns; a 9 mm
automatic pistol, a .38 caliber
revolver and a .22 caliber
revolver.
In recounting the events of
Dec. 13, O'Brien said that he
was on his way to the Mars
Hill post office to mail
Christmas cards when he en
countered the former football
coach. O'Brien said Gibson
tried to hit him with his car as
the dean was crossing Main
Street to go to the post office.
"I heard an engine ac
celerate and tires squeeling
and I had to jump up on the
curb to avoid being hit. He
drove right over the spot
where I was standing.''
O'Brien said Gibson drove
the car through the post
office's exit ramp when he
passed him.
When both men entered the
post office, O'Brien said Gib
son said to hi'm "Why don't
you call me a chickens? son
of a bitch here like you did the
other night?" O'Brien said
that the former coach then
began kicking at O'Brien's
feet, cursing him and threw an
elbow that sent O'Brien across
the lobby of the post office.
The dean then said that a
former Mars Hill College
security officer, Howard Ed
wards, stepped between the
two men. O'Brien said he then
went to the door to the post of
fice and asked a postal service
employee if he could use the
telephone to call the police.
The postal employee, Bobby
Hernandez, refused to allow
him to use the phone.
O'Brien denied having a gun
in his possession during the in
cident. He told the court that
he searched his coat pockets
for something he could use as
a weapon to defend himself
against Gibsoin and took out a
marking pen. He told the
court,." I never pointed a gun
at him or anybody."
with police chientJ. OitaiSf
Under cross-examination by
Forrest Ball, O'Brien said he
carries a gun when on trips
and admitted that he owns a
shoulder holster
He also admitted that he
later returned to the post of
fice carrying an axe handle.
He told the court that he
always carries the axe handle
in his truck and was carrying
it that afternoon for his protec
tion. He said that he never car
ries a concealed weapon on
the Mars Hill campus.
Ball then asked O'Brien if he
recalled an incident in
September of 1963 involving
Mars Hill College security
police and a man suspected of
peeping in the windows of the
women's dormatories.
O'Brien told the court that
he had a gun with him during
the incident in which he and
the security police stopped a
man they believed was peep
ing in the dormatory windows.
The dean said that the man
admitted to peeping in the
windows when taken to the
Mars Hill police station by
Mars Hill police officer Rick
Haynes. O'Brien said that
charges against the man were
not pressed because he had a
wife and three children. The
dean said he told the man he
would tell his wife if he ever
returned to the school's pro
perty.
O'Brien denied that he told
the man, "Get out of your car
or I'll blow you away."
O'Brien also admitted that he
had tackled a Mars Hill Col
lege student in the Spring of
1980
O'Brien said the student and
others were conducting panty
raids on the campus and were
wearing ski masks. The dean
said the student was yelling
obscenities at the girls when
he tackled him and attempted
to remove the mask. O'Brien
said the student was bigger
than he is and that his room
mate was on O'Brien's back
hitting him from behind.
O'Brien said that his action
halted the panty raids on the
campus.
Mars Hill College athletic
director William Walker
testified following O'Brien. He
said that both Gibson and his
wife confronted him during
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^sine him end ?ccueing him
ning Gibaon.
Walker told the court, He
(Gibaon) called me a aon ci a
bitch three timea and accused
me of preventing him from
getting the Lenoir Rhyne Job."
Under croa? -examination,
Walker said that he knew Dr.
Keith Oakes of Lenoir Rhyne,
but denied ever speaking to
him concerning Gibson.
Walker said that Gibaon told
him, "I ought to take you out
side and whip your ? and
said that Gibson also said to
both Sams and O'Brien, "I will
take ' you outside and whip
your ?
Walker also testified that he
saw O'Brien with a gun in his
office at Mars Hill College
several days after the post of
fice incident. Walker said that
the gun was wrapped in paper
and that he could not tell what
kind of gun it was. He said that
O'Brien had the gun on his of
fice desk.
Mare Hill women's basket
ball coach Pat Sams also
testified during Friday's ses
sion. He admitted that he is a
close friend of O'Brien and
said he had never seen the
dean carrying a gun. Sams
corrobrated both Walker and
O'Brien's account of the Dec.
10 incident and denied calling
Gibson a "bastard.''
Sams said that Gibson had
his hands in his pockets when
he told him "I'll kick your
a-." The women's basketball
coach said he tried to get
O'Brien to walk away from
Gibson and told O'Brien to be
quiet after O'Brien told Gib
son, "I won't back down."
The Rev. Ralph Hogan,
pastor of the Bethel Baptist
Church, testified that he and
his wife were seated in the
same section as Gibson on the
night of the game. He said he
heard Gibson say, "There
comes that son of a bitch." as
O'Brien passed by with his
eight-year old son.
Under cross-examination,
Rev. Walker told the court
that his wife, Zeola, is
employed by Mars Hill Col
lege as a secretary to Dr.
Walker.
Mare Hill College student
John Whitley testified that
was sitting near Dr. Walker on
Dec. 10 and said he heard Gib
son call Walker a son of a bitch
and ask why he had prevented
Former Mars Hill security
officer Howard Edwards told
the court that he was in the
Mars Hill post office when the
confrontation between
O'Brien and Gibson took
place. Edwards said he heard
some loud shouts and turned
to see both men standing near
the pott office bulletin board.
He said he heard Gibson ac
cuse O'Brien of cursing hin at
the Saturday night basketball
game.
Edwards said he did not see
O'Brien take a gun from his
pocket or hear Gibson say,
"Go ahead and shoot me."
The former security officer
stepped between the two men
and told them to calm down.
( Mars Hill postmaster Bill
Britton said he saw both Gib
son and O'Brien enter the post
office and heard O'Brien ask
to use the telephone. He told
the court he didn't hear
anything else during the con
frontation.
Mars Hill fire chief Gordon
Randolph was called to testify
by Gibson's attorney. Ran
dolph told the court he was in
the post office at the time of
the incident. He said he heard
Gibson say to O'Brien, "You
may be a big man on
campus. " and then heard a
muffled sound he could not
distinguish. Randolph said he
then turned and saw O'Brien
coming off the wall and
Howard Edwards ap
proaching the men to in
tercede. He said Edwards was
facing Gibson and that
O'Brien was attempting to get
away from the former coach
when he removed a gun from
the pocket of his coat.
Randolph told the court,
"He (O'Brien) presented a
small caliber weapon, a .22
caliber, open-handed down
toward the floor and away
from him."
The fire chief added that it
was "a small weapon with a
short barrel, probably a five
shot." Under questioning by
O'Brien's attorney, Stephen
Huff, Randolph said that he
saw "a small caliber revolver.
I saw the barrel and cylinder
in his right hand." He said
that he looked at the gun
twice.
Randolph said that he could
not tell if the gun was blue
steel or a badly-maintained
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thai he could not pinpoint the
weapon '? sight, but that the
gun's trigger guard was
located beneath the barrel.
Huff pressed Randolph to
describe the color of the gun.
Randolph said, "I'm not going
to lie and make up a color. It
was just dull."
When Huff said, "You don't
really know, do you, Mr. Ran
dolph?", the fire chief replied,
"I will next time."
Mars Hill police officer Rick
Haynes testified that he was
with both O'Brien and college
security officers on the night
of Aug. 31, 1963, when a man
suspected of peeping into dor
mitory windows was stopped.
Haynes said he arrived at
Bruce Rd. as O'Brien and the
security officers were stopp
ing a blue Chevrolet Nova.
Haynes told the court, "I
heard someone say 'Open up
the window or I'll blow your
head off." He also testified
that he saw O'Brien with a
weapon in his hands pointed
toward the window of the car.
Haynes said he could not
identify the weapon O'Brien
carried because it was dark.
The officer said that O'Brien
followed him and the
suspected peeping torn back to
the Mars Hill police station
where O'Brien took a gun
from a shoulder holster and
laid both the gun and a clip on
to a table.
Haynes told the court, "It
looked like an automatic
weapon to me." He added that
the clip slid into the handle of
the gun
Ball next called Clarence
Buckner of Weaverville to
testify. It was Buckner who
was stopped by O'Brien and
the security officers on Bruce
Rd. on the night of Aug. 31.
Buckner denied that he was
peeping into windows on the
campus. He contended that he
had stopped to make repairs
to his car as O'Brien adn the
officers stopped him.
Buckner told the court, "A
man jumped out of a car and
told me to get out. He aimed a
weapon straight at me."
Buckner identified O'Brien as
the man with the gun.
The court also heard
testimony from Mars Hill
police chief R.J. Cutshall and
Sandra Briggs during
Friday's session. Cutshall told
the court that Gibson asked
him to search O'Brien after
the post office incident. Cut
shall said he would need a
search warrant to check
O'Brien because there was not
evidence that a crime had
been committed
Gibson took the stand as
court resumed on Saturday
morning The former Mars
Hill coach said that he had ap
plied for the head coaching job
at Lenoir Rhyne College. He
said he believed he did not get
the job because Mars Hill of
ficials told Lenoir Rhyne of
ficials that Gibson had altered
athletes' grades and had
disappeared for weeks at a
time while employed by Mars
Hill.
Referring to the Dec. 10 inci
dent, Gibson said that he had
not threatened anyone. He
said that O'Brien told him,
"You think you can whip me"
to which Gibson said he
replied, "Whipping you would
be like whipping an old lady."
When questioned about the
Dec. 13 incident, Gibsoin said
he was in Mars Hill for an ap
pointment and stopped at the
post office to check his mail.
He denied trying to hit
O'Brien, adding that the car
he drives is a deisel engine
model incapable of rapid ac
celeration.
He said O'Brien had shoved
him with an elbow as they
entered thepost office. Gibsoin
said that "When he (O'Brien)
first pulled the gun out, he
pointed it at my head and said.
'I'll shoot you.' I backed up
and said, 'Go ahead and shoot
me.'
Gibosn said that O'Brien
then lowered the gun, pointing
at Cibson*? atomach
The former coach told the
court, "I could ?ee the barrel
and cylinder when he pointed
it at my face."
Gibson said he went from
the post office to the Mare Hill
police station where he asked
police chief R.J. Cutshall to
search O'Brien. When Cut
shall declined to search either
man, Gibson said, "Let's just
empty our pockets right here"
to which, Gibson told the
court, O'Brien replied, 'I don't
have to.'
Under cross-examination,
Gibson denied cursing either
Walker or O'Brien and said
that Pat Sams had cursed
him.
Gibson said that both
Walker and Sams had lied dur
ing their testimony. He said
that he had said, "son of a
bitch" as a reaction to action
taking place on the basketball
court during the game.
O'Brien's attorney Stephen
Huff attempted several times
to get Gibson to say that he
was angry on the night of Dec.
10. Gibson said repeatedly
that he was upset at what he
called Mars Hill officials' "at
tempt to bury me."
Gibson also denied ever hit
ting O'Brien, saying, "I don't
think I would ever pick on so
meone his size. I'm sorry I put
myself on his level."
When Huff asked Gibson
what level he was referring to
, Gibson said, "It's in the
damned gutter if you want to
Huff then introduced a photo
showing Gibson shoving a col
lege football official follow _
a game while Gibson was head
coach at the University of
Tulsa. Gibson admitted grabb
ing the official and said the in
cident occurred just after his
team lost a close game with
the University a i Arkansas.
Huff then questioned Gibson
about a confrontation the
former coach had with of
ficials a Carson Newman Col
lege and questioned him about
his driving record.
Huff closed testimony by
calling Mars Hill security of
ficer Charles Ball to the stand.
The officer said be was with
O'Brien on the night of Aug. 31
when Buckner was stopped on
Bruce Rd. Referring to the
gun, the officer said, "He had
it in his hand, but I can't say
how it was pointed."
Following the conclusion of
the two-day trial, Gibsoinb
said, "I respect Judge Lyerly
and his decision. I don't agree
with it, but it would seem it is
in the best interests of the col
lege and everyone
concerned."
When asked if he would re
main in his position at the col
lege, O'Brien told The Nerws
Record that he would, before
his attorney, Stephen Huff,
said, "He has no comment."
O'Brien then declined to
I comment on the verdicts.
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