Tuesday, November 6, 2012 twitter.com/@msureporter
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Minnesota State University, Mankato
www.themsureporter.com
TUESDAY
H 46 • L 33
WEDNESDAY
H 46 • L 30
Hoffner makes public statement, no official decision made Child pornography charges not dismissed, Judge Krista Jass asks for all case briefs to be submitted by Nov. 14 so a subsequent ruling can be made
Weh Photo Head football coach Todd Hoffner (left), and his wife Melodee (right), flank attorney Jim Flemming, who addressed the media following the trial Wednesday. JOEY DENTON
staff writer
After filing a motion to have both of his felony charges of child pornography dismissed on Oct. 27, Minnesota State University, Mankato head football coach Todd Hoffner took the stand in a pre-trial hearing last Wednesday at the Blue Earth County Justice Center. Once Hoffner was on the stand, his lawyer, Jim Fleming, began asking the veteran head coach simple questions about his occupation and his tenure at the university before moving into details of his arrest on Aug. 21.
According to Hoffner’s testimony, he was trying to download new software on his school-issued blackberry to help him communicate with his players, recruits and recruits’ families faster, and that his phone wasn’t working correctly. A few days later, he was escorted off the practice field, told by officials that he was being put on administrative leave and needed to pack up his belongings and leave the campus. Hoffner didn’t know why he was put on leave but did as the officials requested and went home. Hoffner later explained that
he and his wife had agreed to cut back on unnecessary expenses once he returned home, disconnecting their phone service as Hoffner believed he was being fired. The family also cancelled their cable service, as well as their golf membership at the Mankato Country Club. On Aug. 21, Hoffner was working on chores around the house and was about to return their Charter Cable equipment when Mankato detective Jerry Billiar approached him, arresting Hoffner on charges related to child pornography. Fleming later began questioning Hoffner about
the three videos specifically, starting with the first, recorded on June 26, 2012. On June 26, Hoffner was working on football related in his family room after he sent his kids upstairs to take a bath in their Jacuzzi tub in the master bathroom, when his three children came downstairs asking him to record a “show” they have been working on in the bathroom, and that’s when the first video started. The “show” consisted of the three children dropping their towels and singing and dancing. Hoffner’s son was trying to disrupt their show and that is when he was grabbing his penis. Shortly afterwards all three of the children bent over and showed their anuses. Video two consisted of the two girls singing and dancing naked, then about half way through, the boy flashed through the background naked with one of Hoffner’s alumni helmets on his head. His son was trying to disrupt the girls’ performance, according to Hoffner. Hoffner stated that it was his kids’ idea for him to record them in the first two videos as they were trying to perform an act they have been practicing on their own. He also stated he never gave the kids any instructions or choreographed their show. In the third video, Hoffner explained the video as a simple act of good parenting; helping his daughter overcome
a bed-wetting problem. This video was taken after Hoffner woke up his daughter and videotaped her while she was walking to the bathroom. In his testimony, Hoffner stated his daughter wanted him to help her with her bed-wetting problem and to videotape her. When the video was focusing on her as she walked to the bathroom, her head was cut off from the frame, and that was because Hoffner was going back and forth from looking at her and looking through the phone. He also stated he never zoomed in. “There’s nothing inappropriate about those videos,” Hoffner said. Fleming started the pretrial stating that they want all of the charges dismissed due to a lack of probable cause. After both Fleming and Blue Earth County prosecutor Blue Earth County Michael Hanson handed in their evidence, including a DVD copy of the videos, they asked for witnesses to testify. Fleming started the examinations with Matt DuRose, Commander of Mankato Public Safety. DuRose stated when he first saw the videos he didn’t think that they constituted child pornography, but he wanted to send it to the sheriff’s department for further investigation, which isn’t out of the ordinary.
Trial / page 3
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