Ex-Alabama recruit sues Fulmer for libel
The suit, filed Thursday in Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court, accuses Fulmer of libeling Smith in comments made to an NCAA investigator as a confidential witness in the NCAA review of alleged cheating at Alabama.
Smith was recruited by Alabama but later signed with Tennessee. Other plaintiffs include his father, Kenneth W. Smith, and his mother, Vicki Smith Dagnan.
Besides Fulmer and the NCAA, the suit names NCAA investigator Rich Johanningmaier, NCAA spokesman Wally Renfro, NCAA President Myles Brand, the American Football Coaches Association and Tom Culpepper, a recruiting analyst. It asks for $40 million in damages.
The suit follows a letter Smith attorney Delaine Mountain sent to Fulmer in February demanding that the coach retract a statement he made about Smith’s mother on March 9, 2000, in an interview with Johanningmaier.
The statement alleged that Dagnan was having an affair with a Tide assistant, Danny Pearlman.
“That is the biggest part that started all this, yes,” Mountain told The Tuscaloosa News. “There are other aspects, but that is the one central, most important aspect of it.”
Fulmer claims he is not liable for his statements because they were made in good faith and with the promise of secrecy and were not defamatory, according to court documents.
Smith is represented by attorney Mountain and Tommy Gallion of Montgomery, who also represents two former Crimson Tide coaches suing the NCAA over its investigation of Alabama.
Last month, the NCAA and the AFCA filed legal papers in Knoxville, Tenn., asking a judge to rule that coaches can’t be sued for defamation over information they give to investigators.
Summaries of Fulmer’s interviews with the NCAA became public in January through a federal criminal case in Memphis. Alabama booster and Memphis businessman Logan Young sought the papers as part of his defense against federal charges he paid $150,000 to lure defensive-line prospect Albert Means to Alabama.
The Smith lawsuit accuses Renfro of publicly releasing Kenny’s Smith private academic records from Tennessee on ESPN. The Smiths also asked for a court order to block the Knoxville lawsuit.
Gallion distributed some of the NCAA interview summaries to reporters and has alleged Fulmer was involved in a conspiracy to bring down Alabama’s football program.
The NCAA placed Alabama on probation in February 2001. One of the major violations included claims that a booster gave Kenny Smith $20,000.
Smith, a lineman from Stevenson High School, signed with Alabama after the 1996 season but failed to qualify academically. He later went to Tennessee.