Clearing Up What Happened in Chris Beard Abuse Incident

Arkansas Razorbacks fans given chance to examine evidence before deciding where to stand on Ole Miss coach

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The talk across sports radio and social media is Arkansas should consider Chris Beard as an option for the Razorbacks' next coach should Eric Musselman get the job at USC.

When anyone mentions Beard's name, the discussion begins whether he should be considered because of his felony arrest in Austin for attacking his fiancee, Randi Trew, who was living with him at the time. The brush back by those who want Beard at Arkansas comes in one ill-informed argument – "Didn't she say he didn't do it?"

This isn't a piece to tell Hogs fans whether to support Beard as the next Arkansas coach. Instead, it's merely a presentation of the facts that are available so people can make an informed decision as to whether they truly want to make that stand.

Didn't She Say He Didn't Do It?

The technical answer to this is no unless this refers specifically to the semantics of the charge. If "he didn't do it" references physically abusing Trew that night, that's not what she said.

When Trew spoke with police, she had a bite mark on her right forearm, a cut on her right eyebrow, a cut on her temple, a scrape on her left leg and a cut on her left thumb. Physical abuse was easily observable by the officers and there was nothing that could deny it.

Trew told police Beard "choked me, threw me off the bed, bit me, bruises all over my leg, throwing me around and going nuts" per the affidavit of the incident. "I could not breathe," she later told police.

From that statement, the bite mark and leg injury is undeniable. The physical evidence was there to show she wasn't lying. Her other injuries support the account of being thrown around.

The affidavit describes Trew physically motioning and explaining Beard laying his arm across her neck from behind, causing her to not breathe "for probably like five seconds" after he allegedly attacked her after slapping her glasses off her face.

Beard told officers he had a recording on his phone that would prove he wasn't the "primary aggressor." However, when asked to share the recording with police to help clear his name, Beard refused.

The specific charge Beard faced was assault by strangulation/suffocation-family violence, a third-degree felony that comes with 2-10 years in prison if convicted. This is where the loophole that saved Beard was created.

Because Beard allegedly used his forearm from behind as opposed to applying pressure using his fingers and hands from the front, the typical bruising that often forms from an attempted strangulation wasn't immediately present while officers spoke to Trew. With this being the one part of her statement that didn't have undeniable evidence and the charges being written in a way that required unquestionable proof strangulation took place, her denial that it took place is all that would be needed to kill the charges.

So, nearly two weeks after the incident, with the University of Texas in the midst of an investigation as to whether Beard should be fired from a contract paying him more than $5 million per year, Trew recanted her statement, claiming Beard had not choked her.

It wasn't a denial that any other part of her claim wasn't true. There was too much evidence for such a statement to hold up. However, by denying the choking, prosecutors no longer had a case as their star witness would simply say on the stand it didn't happen. None of the other evidence mattered when the charge was strangulation.

Texas was still doing its own independent investigation and offered a statement saying it would take into consideration Trew's recant of the choking part of her account of the events of that night. Two weeks later, a month after the initial incident, the university determined there wasn't enough evidence to justify keeping Beard on staff.

Texas paid Texas Tech $4 million to buy out his contract, then paid him $5 million for his first season. The Longhorns were in the middle of what many believed was a possible national championship run with Beard at the helm in his second season in Austin. Yet, the determination was still made that he must be fired with cause, backing away from a large financial investment and handing national championship aspirations to assistant coach Rodney Terry.

So, that's the situation. There is no denying abuse took place. Beard avoided potential prison time on a technicality based on semantics within the charges. Texas still saw so much wrong-doing the Longhorns were willing to lose out on a national championship season and give up on a huge financial investment to no longer be associated with what was done.

Fans can do with that information what they will just so long as the argument isn't "Didn't she say he didn't do it?" The correct line of questioning is "Didn't she deny he choked her?"

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