Day 1: The alleged victim testifies Day 2: Witness identifies Puckett Day 3: Puckett testifies Day 4: The defense rebuttal Day 5: Closing statements Day 6: The verdict Audio Witness says he saw Puckett drag alleged victim into bathroom (story audio) Photos Bruises Your Voice Join the conversation with other MPR listeners in the News Forum.

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Witness says he saw Puckett drag alleged victim into bathroom
by Elizabeth Stawicki, Minnesota Public Radio
March 28, 2003

Evidence entered in the Puckett trial include this photo showing bruises the alleged victim says she received in the incident. (Hennepin County court evidence)

A witness testified Friday that he saw former Minnesota Twins star Kirby Puckett drag a woman into a men's bathroom at a restaurant, and that she appeared terrified when she came out moments later. Puckett, the Hall of Famer whose playing career was cut short by blindness in one eye, is charged with false imprisonment, a felony; fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct, a gross misdemeanor; and fifth-degree assault, a misdemeanor.

Minneapolis, Minn. — Alan Anderson, 31, who works at a ski shop said he arrived at the Redstone American Grill in Eden Prairie around 11:30 p.m. Anderson testified that about a half hour later he witnessed Puckett leading the woman, identified in court documents by initials K.L., against her will into the men's bathroom. He said he initially thought it was a joke; that K.L. and Puckett were a couple, fooling around and going into the bathroom "to have sex."

Anderson said, however, that he grew concerned when he saw K.L. exit the bathroom, looking frightened.

"She was terrified. She was almost in tears. She was about to break down," he said. He said she replied "no" when he asked her if she was all right. "I thought this isn't right. Something happened here," he said. But under cross examination, the man disputed some of Thursday's testimony by K.L. and her friend. The man contradicted their accounts that K.L. was in the middle of what they described as a "tug-of-war" between Puckett pulling her into the bathroom by her left arm, and her friend holding onto K.L.'s right arm to keep her out of the bathroom. He said he saw no other woman with K.L.; only K.L. clutching the door jam.

Anderson also acknowleged that he was drinking his sixth bottle of beer within 2 1/2 hours when he witnessed the alleged incident. He said he wasn't intoxicated, but "felt a little buzzed."

Puckett's attorney, B. Todd Jones, responded, "(you drank a) "six-pack of beer and you were in charge of your faculties?"

"Yes," Anderson said.

Jaime Lindgren, 37, who was at the Redstone that night and met the alleged victim for the first time. Lindgren said the woman told her around 12:30 a.m. that Puckett had attacked her. She also said the woman did not appear to be drunk. "She did not want to pursue this. And I said, 'you cannot let this happen,'" Lindgren testified.

Michael Fry, 28, who was the Redstone's assistant general manager that night, said Puckett's accuser told him she had been assaulted. However he disputed K.L.'s testimony that restaurant staff didn't take her concerns seriously. Fry said the staff made every effort to help. And he said it would have been illegal to stop Puckett from leaving, as K.L. seemed to want, he said.

Fry also told jurors that he confronted Puckett with the allegations and Puckett vehemently denied any wrongdoing; only that he tried to "show somebody the inside of the men's bathroom."

Two uptown Minneapolis Clinic physicians also testified Friday that days after the alleged attack, they saw bruises on K.L.'s ankle and arm. One of the physicians said the ankle bruise was consistent with an imprint of a door jam.

The other physician who examined K.L.'s chest and saw a small bruise on her breast. Under cross examination, however, both physicians acknowleged they've not received any forensic medical training to determine what may have caused the bruising.

Cpl. Joyce Conley, who has been with the Eden Prairie police for 27 years, was supposed to take photos of K.L.'s chest for evidence. She testified she saw a "dime-sized bruise" on K.L.'s breast. However the officer said the photos didn't turn out and were lost.

The bruising on K.L.'s chest is especially important to the case because K.L. testified that Puckett caused that bruise by groping her in the men's bathroom. But the defense will have at least one restaurant patron testify that K.L. could've bruised herself because she allegedly pulled down her blouse and exposed her breasts about two hours before the incident with Puckett.

On Monday, the defense begins presenting its case, which is expected to take a couple of days. Puckett is expected to take the stand to testify that the alleged victim asked him to escort her into the men's bathroom because there was a line in front of the women's bathroom.

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