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Michigan State's Mark Dantonio Must Sit for Deposition, Answer Questions on Auston Robertson

Mark Dantonio must answer questions on Auston Robertson

Michigan State football head coach Mark Dantonio lost his bid to limit questioning under oath about the recruitment and vetting of former player Auston Robertson.

According to the Associated Press, a federal judge on Tuesday ruled that Dantonio can wait until after the season ends to be deposed by attorneys for a former staff member who is suing over wrongful termination but will have to sit for seven hours and answer all questions.

Those questions include ones Dantonio's lawyers attempted to make off-limits, specifically about the recruitment of Robertson. 

In a suit filed in November, former recruiting director Curtis Blackwell insists he was made the scapegoat following an on-campus party in Jan. 2017 at which three MSU players, including Robertson, allegedly had inappropriate sexual conduct with a woman. The Spartans eventually dismissed the defensive end in 2017 after he allegedly raped the girlfriend of one of his teammates. Robertson pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and was sentenced to up to 10 years in prison.

Blackwell said under oath that three MSU football staff members warned Dantonio about Robertson's history of troubling behavior and sexual assault before he was charged with sexual assault while on the team. Dantonio signed Robertson in 2015 despite the warnings.

Blackwell was fired in May 2018.