March 21, 2008 09:14 am
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By Lacie Morrison
lmorrison@mineralwellsindex.com
PALO PINTO – Former Graford ISD coach Michael Craig Floyd took the stand in his own defense Thursday afternoon, denying allegations made by a former female student.
Floyd is charged with having an improper relationship with a then-17-year-old student that allegedly including kissing, groping and other sex acts.
District Attorney Michael Burns resumed presenting state’s evidence Thursday morning, beginning with Graford ISD counselor Sharla King, whose office is located inside the library.
According to King’s testimony, Floyd approached her with concerns over the alleged victim.
“He thought she might be suicidal,” King told jurors. When asked, she said she never would’ve thought the teen was suicidal. “She was always very pleasant. She had personal problems like any other teenager in the world.”
King described a change in the young woman over the course of the school year, transitioning from a “bubbly, giddy teenage girl” to “I wouldn’t go to the length of saying depressed but more down. … No big red flags flew up.”
During the course of her testimony, the counselor described one concern she had over the alleged victim’s contact with Floyd.
“An infatuation, especially the times he requested her to bring her tray to him in the cafeteria to see how much she had eaten,” she said. “My husband was a [girls] coach. He never went to any kind of length like that. …
“I thought it was very unusual. That’s going beyond the realm of coaching, to me.”
She didn’t testify to observing any other inappropriate actions between Floyd and the alleged victim.
Floyd’s defense attorneys Gary Connally and Sam Moore began calling defense witnesses before lunch, including a fellow 2005-06 Graford ISD athlete who testified she never saw “any indication of an improper relationship” while running track with the alleged victim.
Among the witnesses called Thursday for Floyd’s defense was his wife, Kristal Floyd. The former GISD teacher testified the alleged victim cleaned their home and babysat their children in the past.
“Did the students and athletes have your cell [phone] number?” asked Moore.
“Yes,” said Floyd. She added that she was “comfortable” with the students having her husband’s cell phone number as well.
Relating to the alleged victim’s interaction with her husband, Floyd was asked if the girl was near him often. She told jurors that the alleged victim “was almost always around.” During lunch, “she always made a direct effort to come by the table,” she added.
Moore continued questioning Floyd about her relationship with her husband, including the level of intimacy and if she continued to trust him; she stated that she did.
The date of the alleged first kiss between the coach and former student was also raised.
Floyd testified her husband was away on job interviews.
“It wouldn’t have been possible. He wasn’t there. He was not there. He was in Giddings, Texas,” she stated.
Following her testimony, former Palo Pinto County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Paige McFall was called to the stand. She was the investigating officer in the case. Connally asked her who was interviewed in the course of investigation; as she started naming individuals, including two students from Valley Mills ISD where Michael Floyd was employed at one time, Connally stopped her and specified those individuals at Graford ISD.
When he asked why she didn’t talk with students on the bus where the alleged leg rubbing occurred, she said, “To my knowledge, there were no criminal allegations that took place on the bus.”
The defendant himself took the stand, the last witness of the day. During the course of his testimony, he emphatically denied any improper relationship between himself and the alleged victim.
Connally queried Floyd as to the classes he taught and the curriculum of the Bible history class.
Floyd explained to the jurors he and fellow Graford ISD coach J.B. Littlejohn had an athletics parent meeting before the start of the 2005-06 school year. During the course of the meeting, Floyd said he gave the parents his cell phone and asked permission for the students’ phone numbers.
“It’s a great tool [for communication],” he said. “It gave me perfect lines of communication with both the parents and the athletes. They were communicating constantly with me.”
Floyd also testified as to his reluctance to be one-on-one with the alleged victim in the Bible history class.
“I did not like it. I told him [the principal] I was extremely uncomfortable with one student, a female student,” he said.
He also denied when questioned that his discussions with the girl digressed from the curriculum to personal topics of conversation – “not true.”
Connally went into lengthy discourse with Floyd over the track season and who was where when they traveled to track meets.
“There was only two opportunities when my wife was not there [to rub students’ legs],” Floyd said, and he denied ever doing so.
Floyd’s testimony is expected to resume today with the defense attorney still presenting questions.
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Floyd