KCSO arrest reports
Court documents
Police have yet to speak with a Knoxville mother and her daughter who provided a rental car to four University of Tennessee basketball players accused after a traffic stop on drug and weapons crimes.
"It's a matter of scheduling," Knoxville attorney T. Scott Jones said Wednesday. "I have not had time yet to set that up."
Jones was in court all day Wednesday but expects to contact an investigator with the Knoxville Police Department this morning to schedule an interview time for Teresa Dixon and her 26-year-old daughter, Niya Goins.
In other developments Wednesday, two of the accused players - Brian Williams and Cameron Tatum - retained lawyers. Williams will be represented by David Eldridge, who said he would launch his own investigation into the New Year's Day incident, and
Tatum retained Wade Davies, who declined comment.
Tyler Smith is represented by Don Bosch. It's not clear if Melvin Goins has counsel.
Dixon on Dec. 29 rented a black 2010 Dodge Charger that was stopped at 11:30 a.m. Jan. 1 after being clocked doing 70 mph on eastbound Interstate 40 near the Alcoa Highway interchange.
Tatum was at the wheel, with Smith, Williams and Goins inside, police say.
Dixon's daughter is friends with Smith and loaned him the car, Jones said.
When police searched the car, they found a Smith & Wesson handgun and a Taurus handgun, loaded magazines for each, a bag of marijuana and an open container of alcohol, according to records.
Jones said both Dixon and Niya Goins deny any connection with the two 9 mm semiautomatic handguns.
Coach Bruce Pearl has indefinitely suspended the four players.
Jones said Dixon rented the car because her personal vehicle had mechanical problems and was being repaired. Dixon allowed her daughter to use the Charger, Jones said.
"Her daughter was utilizing the car, and she let somebody else use it," Jones said. Neither mother nor daughter are season ticket holders for UT sporting events, he said.
With Jones saying his clients have no connection to the weapons, that leaves only the four players' admission to police that they knew about the guns, and that at least one of them had tried to remove the magazines from each weapon.
None of the players, however, has claimed ownership of the weapons or the bag of marijuana found in a backpack that bore Williams' name.
Police have finished a check for fingerprints on the guns, Knoxville Police Department spokesman Darrell DeBusk said. He wouldn't discuss the fingerprint results.
The four players were charged with possessing weapons for the purpose of going armed.
Williams, 22, of Bronx, N.Y., and Smith, 23, of Pulaski, Tenn., who were sitting near where the Taurus handgun was found, also were charged with possessing an item with an altered serial number. The Taurus' serial number had been filed down.
All the state charges are misdemeanor offenses.
Federal agents are running traces on the guns to determine if they had been reported stolen or had been linked through ballistics to any crimes.
Although Dixon didn't specifically give permission for her daughter to loan the Charger to Smith, Jones said Dixon knew Smith "as a fine young man" and would not have objected to letting him drive the rental car.
Niya Goins is not related to Melvin Goins, Jones said. She does not attend UT.
Don Jacobs may be reached at 865-342-6345. Matt Lakin may be reached at 865-342-6306.
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Comments » 53
give_him_6 writes:
It was the one armed man!!!!!!
cdldoc#211897 writes:
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
graphpro#231211 writes:
Those four young men don't matter to Tennessee or to me as a fan. It's time to be on your own. Good luck.
utallvol writes:
Not racist or anything."Hang them now."
jmr68ut writes:
I doubt the police would have any trouble scheduling me for an interview if they needed to!!!! These ladies must have lawyered up!!
viper_vol writes:
And apparently Tennessee doesn't matter to these guys either.
smokey_vols writes:
I would say you hit the nail on the head.
out_of_town_vol_fan writes:
hahaha. i couldn't have said it better myself.
beachvol writes:
Well, since the article specifically states their lawyer is coordinating the upcoming interview, I'd say you are correct. If I had loaned the players a car and they were subsequently arrested with guns and drugs, I would "lawyer up" as well to protect myself from people who are likely to say anything to get themselves off the charge.
lahvolman2 writes:
it never ceases to amaze me how apparently low income, inner city kids come to a big city and all of a sudden they have access to cars, money, attorneys and whatever else they desire or need to screw theirs and their universities worlds all to hell. I think Tennessee and all big schools need to do better background checks on these kids and if they have so much as ever farted into the wind, they should be left at home.
Voicesnmyhead writes:
I think they were all armed and stoned.
ghstmn46 writes:
What if......they had gotten permits for the guns? Thats the only thing that makes them illegal..not being registered. Smoking pot is a misdemeanor. If I drive under 70 on I40 I get honked at and flipped off for driving too slow. I bet Dave Hooker drives 70 on 40.
ghstmn46 writes:
I dont think Palaski Tn is inner city.
Yeah just like the background check you get at your job.
utallvol writes:
One of the most stupid statements of the year. Cam from ATL, Brian from the Bronx, Mevin from Dallas. How are they coming from a small city to a big one in Knoxville. No one was saying anything when they were on the court winnin. Take the good with the bad not just the good.How do you suppose the background checks be done. By the way ever University does background checks upon admission.
VolFaninTriCities writes:
1) Having loaded guns without a carrying permit - Illegal
2) Having drugs - Illegal
3) Having drugs and guns - Really Illegal
4) Having drugs and guns without a permit and one with an altered serial number - Really Really Illegal and stupid
It's more than just the registration of the guns. It amazes me everyday how stupid kids get when they are given a scholarship to play Division 1 ball and then get caught doing phooey like this.
At least they didn't try to rob somebody with a pea shooter. Those 2 are stupid as well.
Man I miss the class and swagger our ball players had for a long time. I know we have great players on the team now but these idiots make the good ones and the University look bad. We should be focused on bball and recruiting right now, not how many former and soon to be former players are wrapped up in court.
Sorry I got on the soap box today everybody. I am glad the bball Vols bounced back with a great win last night. I hope they can carry that momentum into the game with kansas. Go Vols!
ghstmn46 writes:
Where are all the gun totin tea party fans now who say every citizen should have a gun
y9since80 writes:
My Dad gave me my first gun when I was 12 years old. That was in 1968, now in 2010 my wife and I both have carrying permits.
NeylandWest writes:
Ditto - I'm really growing tired of people making excuses for these guys or acting as if we're "supposed to take the good with the bad". Sorry, but that's not how the real world works. We have prisons for a reason - b/c the law abiding citizens don't really enjoy mingling with the ones that are running around with drugs and guns and acting like bangers.
Before any of you blast me just ask yourself, "Would I leave my daughter alone with any of these guys for a weekend?".
If your answer to that is anything other than "OMFG H3LL NO!!!!!!!" then you have issues, unless your daughter could make Chuck Norris cry...then I'd love to see her break out some action on them.
VolFanFtl writes:
I am really getting a little tired of people trying to insinuate that there is something wrong with hiring a lawyer. If I was ever accused of anything, the first thing I would do is get a defense attorney and have them speak on my behalf and guide me through the legal process.
So for all of the people over the last few days that have made comments about hiring a lawyer, I trust that if you or your child or a family member ever got in trouble you would simply give up your constitutional rights, not hire an attorney and talk freely to police.
Good luck with that.
Look, I am not defending these athletes for their actions; however, I believe a story about criminal defendants hiring attorneys is just ridiculous. What do KNS expect them to do?
RockyTop1 writes:
Here is one!!! You are an idiot if you do not understand the difference in this incident and reality of most who bear arms legally.
If you study our history and founders a strong state militia was always considered important to ensure freedom for all.
The government is not a welfare system of robbing from those who work and are law abiding to give to the lazy and stupid!
We all need to take a breath and concentrate on how to get this behind us as fans! Let the justice system work and see where the chips fall.
Freedom from oppression at every hand and liberty for all! Armed citizens make America stronger not weaker!
GO VOLS!!
ghstmn46 writes:
Do you really think that everybody is held to the same standard of conduct? What if Steven Pearl and Skylar McBee are driving down 40 doing 70. They get pulled over and there is an empty PBR can in the back seat with a loaded shotgun and they have prescription Adderall. I know this is hypothetical, but what would the out come be?
Speeding...drugs...guns....alcohol
do think it would even make the news?
Volumnus writes:
I don't know that your statement is entirely accurate, but I do know that this coaching staff(not specifically CBP but some of the assistants, have walked over talented kids with good character holding out for kids with more questionable backgrounds. Melvin Goins is playing on a scholarship that should have gone to Skylar McBee. Skylar was home with his family. Just one example, there are more. They are rumored to have been less then honorable on committments and such. This accounts for some of the decommittments and fall out in the recruiting process. Perhaps it is time to visit the staff and the procedures that let this occur. They have some responsibility here(granted they did not supply guns, dope or booze but they are the mentors and the watchdogs). Just a thought....
lomas98 writes:
You'll shoot your eye out, you'll shoot your eye out.
ghstmn46 writes:
Idiot...typical response. I dont see any evidence that these guys are lazy or stupid...they worked hard enough and were smart enough to get in college. Did the founding fathers say that if you have dreadlocks and tattos then you cant own a gun?
The justice system is not going to be half as hard on these guys as messege boards are. They will get a fine and probation.
If this were Washinton DC or New York City, they would be facing 5 years in prison. Which laws do you like better? DC and NYC or Tennessee?
ghstmn46 writes:
LMAO
tennrich1 writes:
Not enough info to form an opinion....
rlshepa#259432 writes:
Again I will try to post - If you want these four as part of your family then take them. I do not want them as part of my Vol family - period period
ghstmn46 writes:
Ok then add a butterfly tattoo to Steven Pearls lower back.
ghstmn46 writes:
Ill take JP Prince so he can trash talk all me neighbors and I dont think he would eat as much
BeRealistic writes:
I can tell you've never experinced a mugging, robbery, or had your home broken into. I believe in (THE RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS) and do.
ghstmn46 writes:
Looks like Tyler Smith, Brian Williams, Cameron Tatum and Melvin Goins believe in the right to bear arms, too. How come none of the gun people are saying anything about their right? That was the question. Do only certain people have the right to go armed?
TommyJack writes:
Ol TJ has packed heat in the car for over 40 yrs...never had a problem...never shot anyone, either. Yet.
DandyVol writes:
I would like to point out something that has not been mentioned. That is that Melvin Goins may be guilty by association only. If this is so, I would like to see him return to the team. Brian Williams is obviously guilty of possession of pot. I'm not familiar with a charger, but most cars I've seen, the back seat rider does not have access to any thing under the front seats. If that is so on the Charger then the gun charges on Williams and Goins is also by association only. Tatem and Smith are both in big trouble. I hope clear heads prevail and these men are not convicted for stupidity. I am not a legal beagle, this is only the way I see it. Sure glad I got my permit.
BeRealistic writes:
Sorry, forget to mention, it's the only certain people who qualify, go to class, & firing range. Thugs can get them almost a dime a dozen.
NeylandWest writes:
At one time they did have that right, but due to the circumstances (driving over the speed limit, having an open container and illegal drugs) they got to exercise another set of rights - the right to remain silent and the right to an attorney.
VolfaninKS writes:
We are legally carrying our firearms, not filing off the serial numbers and in possesion of illegal substances. They made the choice to break the law and now they will pay for their choices. Nothing like throwing away 4 years of free college for some drugs.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
Didn't seem to me that KNS was putting anybody down for getting lawyers, just reporting that they had done so, which you admit was a good idea under the circumstances. This was a natural part of the evolution of the story.
volfan112 writes:
Thank you so much! Finally someone who agrees with me to the letter on this subject.
robynsnest writes:
Brian Williams' attorney is David Eldridge, who also represented Mike Edwards, one of the football players in the 'hold up' at the gas station on Cumberland this past fall.
Btw - David Eldridge also represented LeMarcus Davidson in the Christian-Newsom murder trial. If you remember he went right up to the line, but never crossing it, questioning the character of the murder victims. (For the other two trials concerning these murders, the attorneys spoke about the victims being an innocent couple being in the wrong place at the wrong time.) LeMarcus Davidson was found guilty and sentenced to death.
Another, fine upstanding attorney. The state paid him for his services for Davidson. I wonder who is paying for his services for these players. Opps, I better not question him. He's the one who whined to the media about public comment during the murder trials.
NeylandWest writes:
Do you wear a bluetooth device on your ear?
finn writes:
Anyone, thug or otherwise, can get them 'a dime a dozen.' A gun show, private seller, and pocket full of cash is all you need to walk out with a weapon. I'd be willing to bet that they knew nothing about the altered serial number and definitely did not know the legal implications of such. I don't condone carrying the guns around without a permit but I also can't speak to their exact circumstances. I'd bet these guys grew up in much different environments than I or most of the other folks on these boards. You didn't need to pack heat to feel safe in my whitebread middle-class neighborhoods of 25 years ago but the times and neighborhoods have changed. These guys made some dumb choices but they are not stupid, lazy, or a drain on our society like some clowns in previous posts have stated. Have any of them been in any sort of trouble in the past (please don't say it was only a matter of time?) This is a major screw-up but is throwing these kids under the bus and patting ourselves on the back for being smarter than them going to utimately help these boys get on the right track and start making better decisions? We have a right to bear arms but a duty to not make it absolute requirement to carry. For everyone who states, 'you've obviously never been a victim if you don't support gun rights,' how many of you have actually shot someone before. There's some baggage that goes along with that as well.
mciahf#240671 writes:
I'd still like to have seen how Brian Williams got his 6'10" frame into the backseat of that car......or any car!
TNPilgrim writes:
Question: Who is paying for the lawyers representing these basketball players? Notice that the best player in the group (like Jantzen Jackson) always gets Don Bosch. Is it an NCAA violation for UT or one of their supporters to pay the legal fees and retainers for players' lawyers?
The deal with the car smells fishy also. Ostensibly it was rented by the girlfriend's mother due to trouble with her own car. If that's the case, why would she give it to her daughter so she could loan it to her boyfriend (to drive it to Nashville for a New Year's Eve party) who happens to be under age 25. Any car agency contract is going to have contracted limitations on permissable drivers of a rental. Underage third party drivers are NEVER allowed. In spite of the firewall they're attempting to set up, this could easily be construed as an NCAA violation - providing unacceptable benefits to players. Combine this with the football players' armed robbery charges, and the lack of institutional control is becoming more apparent.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
Seems to be a number of unfounded assumptions in this. Jackson has parents who are no doubt footing his bill, however reluctantly; the same is probably true for the guys in this case. If they are poor enough, lawyers can be appointed for them or the lawyers may work pro-bono, which happens often enough even for far less-prominent clients. No question Bosch has the most experience in cases like these. If it were me in that situation, I would try to get him, too.
How many people know all the ins-and-outs of car-rental contracts? Maybe the girl's mother didn't need the car because it was a holiday weekend and she didn't need it to get to work. She may not have been thrilled that the daughter lent it to somebody else, but that doesn't, IMHO, rise to the level of a crime.
Finally, lack of institutional control can only refer to things a school's officials know about but didn't DO anything about. No one can point to any university policy that PERMITTED such behavior and no school can be completely responsible for everything a student-athlete does on his/her own time off-campus. I know that the standard of "institutional control" can go beyond that, but I don't see any prima-facie case here.
BeRealistic writes:
You posted (These guys made some dumb choices but they ara not stupid). Smith is a Senior & if he didn't advise the others what chance they were taking, He is STUPID. I spent 13 months in Vietnam & am an ex-Deputy Sheriff. Yes, I have shot people before & have no regrets.
volcycle writes:
It would probably make the news...but if they had an open container, a bag of marijuana, the smell of marijuana lingering in the air, and two pistols, one with a filed off serial number...now that would definitely make the news.
bigorange61 writes:
I'll take that a step further and wonder if a man that big would have easier access to the weapon under the front seat opposite him than the one directly in front of him.
sgtvols writes:
who is the ut pres? does he have any thoughts on the subject? if these bums were jsut plain ole students who woul dhave jurisdiction?
TNPilgrim writes:
"She may not have been thrilled that the daughter lent it to somebody else, but that doesn't, IMHO, rise to the level of a crime."
Of course it doesn't rise to the level of a crime. However, the driver's age is not some obscure technicality of a rental contract - in most cases underage drivers are prohibited, period. If she had purchased insurance coverage through the rental company, it would have been voided had there been an accident when these guys were driving it - especially out of the Knoxville area. My point was that providing the car for these guys for their use during a holiday weekend could be interpreted as an NCAA violation. They can make up all the wacko scenarios they want with the car coming from the daughter who got it from her mother, but the players were given a benefit that's prohibited by the NCAA.
Regarding the lawyers - would Don Bosch take the case of just any student that gets caught in a similar situation? And what would he charge? If he does it pro bono or at a significantly reduced rate, could that be interpreted as giving the jocks special benefits not available to regular students? I don't know the answer, but it seems the NCAA has penalized colleges for a lot of violations that were more obscure than these. My concern is that they're already looking at the football team; if they really want to find something to nail the Big Orange with, they can if they dig deep enough. In spite of the impression that so many people around here seem to have, UT's sports program is not pure as the wind driven snow and never has been. They just haven't gotten caught.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
I don't disagree with anything you say here, except that many people who rent cars don't know much about the provisions of their contracts beyond "I pay you money, you give me a car" especially if they don't rent them all the time. Of course, such people may well suffer if they run afoul of such provisions, but that is true of a lot of things in life. I have no doubt that the NCAA will take an interest in this case and I agree that if they look hard enough they can probably find something. I would only say that the school and the program have had, unfortunately, a great deal of experience in cases like this and no doubt know how to avoid the obvious pitfalls inherent in such cases.
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