Ex-detective: Jon Beason case not prosecutable

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg police detective who investigated the alleged November 2009 altercation between Carolina Panthers' player Jon Beason and another man at a strip club testified Monday that he found no reason to prosecute the case.

"The probable cause had evaporated," William Guild, now retired from CMPD, told jurors hearing a lawsuit filed by Gregory Frye against Beason.

Guild said a lack of witnesses and Frye's lack of credibility prevented the case from being pursued.

Frye is suing Beason, saying the Panthers player punched him in the head at the Uptown Cabaret, after Frye told another Panthers player that he had seen Beason snorting cocaine several months earlier at Lake Norman. Beason denies that he punched Frye or used drugs and is countersuing, saying his reputation was hurt by the charge.

Beason was arrested and charged with assault initially, but prosecutors dismissed the case less than two weeks later.

Guild's comments about the case were made Monday in front of the jury. Later, with the jury outside the courtroom, the former detective discussed an interview he conducted with Natalie Ramirez, a woman who at one time had dated Frye and later dated Raymond Felton, then a member of the Charlotte Bobcats' NBA team.

Guild said Monday that Ramirez told him Frye planned to find a way to get Felton, since traded to the New York Knicks, to hit him. Frye's plan was to sue Felton, Guild said Ramirez told him.

During testimony last week, Frye admitted making the comment about Beason's alleged drug use and said the Panthers' player was furious with him. He told jurors Beason knocked him down with a punch, then hit him again when he got up.

Dante Rosario, the Panthers player to whom Frye had made the remark about Beason, testified late last week that he never saw Beason take a swing at Frye. Rosario said Beason told him that he and Frye bumped chests after Beason confronted him about the cocaine allegation.

In a videotaped deposition played for jurors earlier in the civil trial, Beason said he tried to throw a punch at Frye, but a friend grabbed his arm.

Joe Simmons, a part-time Panthers equipment manager who also is Beason's personal chef, testified that he hooked Beason's arm and "told him to get the (expletive) out of here."

Beason is expected to testify later this week in the trial.

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(charlotteobserver.com)