Beason accuser testifies: I know Beason hit me

Gregory Frye testified Thursday that he is certain it was Carolina Panthers linebacker Jon Beason who beat him up at a Charlotte strip club in November 2009.

Frye told jurors that an angry Beason confronted him at the Uptown Cabaret shortly after he told Panthers tight end Dante Rosario that he had seen Beason snorting cocaine on a boat at Lake Norman.

"He was angry," Frye, 30, recalled. "He was yelling at me. He was enraged."

Frye said he acknowledged to Beason that he had made the remark about the cocaine use. "It made him even more mad," Frye said.

"He pummeled me down...," Frye told the jurors. "It was real quick. I've never seen anyone move that fast.

"When he hit me, I saw white. I hit the ground."

Frye testified that he was kicked while on the ground, but didn't see who did it. When he got up, he said, Beason struck him again in the head. Frye has alleged he suffered a crushed nasal cavity in the attack.

Frye told jurors that in hindsight, his remark to Rosario about Beason "wasn't the best thing to say."

"I wouldn't be here today," he added. "I wouldn't have been beaten by Mr. Beason."

Beason has denied hitting Frye, as well as the drug use allegation. The 26-year-old Panthers player countersued, accusing Frye of damaging his reputation.

During his testimony Thursday, Frye said he's been threatened and harassed since the confrontation with Beason. He said even his friends have "steered clear" of him.

He described himself as afraid and feeling a higher level of anxiety.

"I've been ostracized from the city of Charlotte...," Frye told the jurors. "It's ruined my reputation.

"I plan on moving out of the city."

George Laughrun, one of Beason's attorneys, asked Frye who else had seen Beason using cocaine.

"Nobody is going to come in here and say that," Frye replied.

"It's just you?" Laughrun then asked.

"Yeah," Frye said.

At one point while being cross-examined, Frye called what has happened "a charade."

When Laughrun questioned what he meant by that, Frye replied: "It's a charade that he can't admit what he did."

Laughrun also questioned Frye about why he had a fake NFL Carolina Panthers player's ID card. Frye called it "an icebreaker" he used to meet women.

"It's a harmless piece of paper," he said.

On cross examination, Beason's attorney raised questions about Frye's credibility. Frye admitted that he told police that night that he was a member of the Panther's practice squad, which isn't true. When asked why, Frye said at the time he was still confused after being punched.

Frye's lawsuit alleges that Beason, when asked if he had punched Frye, responded by saying: "Yeah, I hit him. It might cost me a hundred grand, but you don't go around telling people I'm doing coke and frontin' like you play in the league."

But Frye testified he never heard Beason say that, adding his attorneys or a police officer had told him about it.

With the jury out of the courtroom, Curtis Osborne, one of Frye's attorneys, said the officer who heard Beason make the statement has been unwilling to testify, but he would try to get him to court today.

"Please do," Beason interjected, which drew a rebuke from Superior Court Judge Lane Williamson.

Osborne then accused Brian Monroe, Beason's roommate in Miami, of mouthing a threat to him.

Williamson had Monroe, who is expected to testify in the trial, removed from the courtroom.

Frye's attorneys have called one witness - Eddie Biggers - who told the jurors he saw Beason throw a punch that made contact with Frye.
But Biggers, who called Frye an acquaintance, offered no more details about the confrontation. He told jurors that immediately after the punch he paid his tab and left the club.

Biggers acknowledged he never came forward and told police what he saw. He also acknowledged under cross-examination that he'd been unable to pick Beason from a photo display of Panthers players during a deposition.

Beason has not testified yet. But Frye's attorneys have played a portion of Beason's videotaped deposition for the jury.

In the tape, Beason acknowledged he was upset - even angry - after learning that Frye had told someone that he'd seen Beason using cocaine. The Panthers player also admitted he tried to throw a punch at Frye, but said a friend grabbed his arm.

Beason and his friends soon left the strip club after learning Frye had called police.

Asked why he hadn't stuck around to talk to police, Beason replied: "I didn't do anything... Nothing happened. It wasn't a fight."

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(charlotteobserver.com)