Getty Image / Porter Binks
Chris Beard was fired as the head coach of the Texas Longhorns basketball team in early January after he was arrested for a felony domestic charge.
Well, it sounds like all of those charges were recently dropped. The former head coach released a statement regarding his situation.
Jon Rothstein shares the full statement from Chris Beard.
Chris Beard has released a statement. pic.twitter.com/IYuZ5d2RUD
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) February 16, 2023
Additionally, Travis County District Attorney José Garza claims, “his agency takes all domestic abuse cases seriously but decided they did not have sufficient evidence to pursue a conviction,” per The Texas Tribune.
Here is an attorney’s full statement about the decision on Chris Beard.
“After a careful and thorough review of the evidence, recent public statements, and considering Ms. [Randi] Trew’s wishes, our office has determined that the felony offense cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.”
So, according to The Texas Tribune, “Beard faced a third-degree felony charge for family violence. Trew, his fiancee, later made public statements denying that Beard had strangled her.”
After Chris Beard’s statement about the issue, his lawyer, Perry Minton, also chimed in.
He states, “everyone knows that Coach Beard has maintained his absolute innocence since the moment he was arrested. Additionally, this district attorney has a well-earned reputation for being very tough regarding domestic violence cases. The fact that Mr. Garza’s review resulted in this determination so quickly says a lot. We are very pleased.”
From there, Minton called out the University of Texas for firing Beard in the first place, according to The Texas Tribune.
“I am concerned that the University of Texas has made a terrible decision against the interest of the University, based on Twitter feeds and editorials — and not the facts concerning a truly innocent man. The University has violated their agreement with the coach, and we are devastated.”
Even so, Texas allegedly had a clause in Beard’s contract stating they can suspend or fire him “for any behavior that is ‘unbecoming’ or leads to a criminal charge ‘involving a felony, or any crime involving theft, dishonesty, or moral turpitude'”.
This is a rather messy situation. But for now, it sounds like Chris Beard could make a return to coaching basketball. We’ll see though, as many schools may opt to steer clear.