Galligan says claims against Turner not true
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?The statements are the words of a desperate mother unable to accept the truth of her daughter?s problem,? Galligan said in light of a 10-page letter written by Karen Rogers to the court pleading for mercy at her daughter?s sentencing.
The letter strongly criticized Rogers? ex-husband and former Warren County High School boys basketball coach Chris Turner. Rogers? mother claimed it was his mental abuse which put her daughter on a downward spiral which brought about her affair with a Centertown student.
The Turners are now divorced after a short-lived marriage. Mr. Turner left Warren County when the charges materialized against his then-wife. He is now a teacher/coach in another state.
The charges made by Rogers? mother were broad-based, at one point claiming Turner referred to the Laci Peterson murder in California, saying Rogers would end up like her but they would never find her body as he would dump it in Center Hill Lake.
The letter also said Turner felt coaching the local team was a dead-end job and blamed the Rogers family for his being ?stuck? in Warren County. The letter said Turner belittled his wife in front of his players and their friends.
Those claims, and several others, are so extreme that Circuit Court Judge Bart Stanley on Friday ordered the letter sealed, not to be released for public consumption due to the potential injury it could cause Turner?s reputation. The Southern Standard obtained a copy of the letter before the court order.
In light of the allegations, Galligan pointed out nothing was raised before about the claims made in the letter.
?All this which is now being said was never raised during the divorce proceedings, a divorce my client requested,? Galligan said. ?Doesn?t it seem apparent these issues would have been raised during the divorce??
Galligan said his client wants to distance himself from this entire episode of his life, emphasizing all allegations made in the letter are untrue.