By ANDREW DEMILLO
Staff Writer

Written testimony from two witnesses conflicts with the findings of a University Police internal affairs investigation of former officer Parks Owens, which included charges of domestic violence and providing alcohol to a minor.

Morris Wiltshire, the attorney for the former University Police officer, called the findings of the investigation into Owens unfair and unwarranted and provided sworn affidavits from witnesses who denied wrongdoing by Owens.

According to the internal affairs report, University Police began their investigation of Owens after an allegation that Owens assaulted his 19-year-old girlfriend on the morning of Jan. 1.

Two witnesses told police that Owens’ former girlfriend, who was a student at the time of the alleged assault, had "bruises about her body, extreme swelling on the side of her head, and a scar on her back," the report said.

In an interview with The Red and Black, Shannon Ould and Jessica Rice said they had struggled with the girlfriend on Jan. 1 at Owens’ University Commons apartment resulting in the girlfriend’s bruises.

Ould, 20, and Rice, 19, both signed affidavits saying the girlfriend pushed Rice and pulled her hair. After the two were separated, the affidavits said the girlfriend attacked Rice and Ould several times throughout the night.

Ould said the only physical contact Owens had with his former girlfriend was when he held her back from attacking her and Rice.

Wiltshire called the claims of domestic violence "ridiculous" and also produced an affidavit from the girlfriend saying Owens had never caused her physical harm.

"At this point we’re mainly concerned with this ridiculous claim of Owens assaulting his girlfriend," Wiltshire said. "Anyone who knows him knows that he’s not the type of person to do that."

One of the witnesses named in the University’s report, when reached by telephone Thursday afternoon, said he stood behind his testimony of the girlfriend’s claims that Owens hit her.

In a written statement by the witness released in the internal affairs report, the girlfriend told the witness that Owens "hit her because he ‘did not know what else to do.’"

"I’ll stand behind what I saw," the witness said.

Wiltshire also denied charges in the report that Owens had provided alcohol to Davis and other minors and criticized the internal investigation which led to Owens’ resignation.

"It’s just apparent that this investigation wasn’t conducted with a fair purpose in mind," Wiltshire said. "Our plan is to vigorously defend (Owens) against any of these unfounded and unwarranted claims."

Owens resigned before the conclusion of the investigation because it was in the "best interest of his family," Wiltshire said.

University Police Maj. Jimmy Williamson had no comment on Wiltshire’s criticism.

"All I can say is that I’m not surprised," Williamson said.

In an incident unrelated to the internal investigation, Owens claimed he had been attacked by James McLeod Norman, 22, and Joseph Sean Ragsdale, 24, at the Kappa Sigma fraternity house Nov. 15.

Criminal and judicial charges were dropped against Norman, a senior from Thomasville, and Ragsdale, a 1995 University graduate from Chamblee, after the release of the investigation report.

University Police and the Athens-Clarke County District’s Attorney Office said the release of the investigation damaged Owens’ credibility, and the best decision was to drop the charges against Norman and Ragsdale.