Duggan seeks to reverse plea deal made for Knott 

BY JOE SWICKARD
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

Wayne County prosecutor Michael Duggan wants to renounce a plea bargain that would keep Eric Knott out of court on a felony sexual assault charge and on track for a college football career.

A deal struck Tuesday with prosecutors would have allowed Knott, a former star tight end at Detroit Henry Ford, to plead guilty to fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct instead of first-degree. The reduced charge is a misdemeanor.

Duggan, in a letter to Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Deborah Thomas, said the deal should be discarded.

"I did not approve this plea, and no one in this office is authorized to approve this sort of agreement in my stead," Duggan wrote. "Because the agreement was entered into without authority, we will be moving to set it aside."

Thomas did not return telephone calls seeking comment.

Knott's lawyer, Cornelius Pitts, could not be reached Friday, but son Byron -- also an attorney -- said: "This office is shocked and saddened by what has developed."

The deal appeared to open the way for Knott to play college football. Knott verbally committed to Michigan State in January 2000, but the Spartans withheld a scholarship offer after it was revealed that a rape charge was pending against him from July 1999.

Under the deal, Knott would have been under court monitoring for a year with community service, after which the charge would be reduced to aggravated assault. A conviction of first-degree criminal sexual conduct could bring up to life in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for June 21.

Last September, Thomas ruled that a statement by Knott admitting sexual contact with a 13-year-old couldn't be used as evidence in a trial, saying that police had intimidated Knott into giving it.

Contact JOE SWICKARD at 313-223-4557 or swickard@freepress.com

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