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Apologetic Chmura heads to Disney

Compiled from Times wires, published February 5, 2001

[Times photo: AP photo] Former Green Bay Packers tight end Mark Chmura signs a fans newspaper announcing he was acquitted following a news conference Sunday.

WAUKESHA, Wis. -- One day after being acquitted of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old, Mark Chmura cried as he apologized for his conduct and hoped to resume his NFL career.

"I know as a Green Bay Packer and as a professional athlete, I've disappointed many, many people. And for that I am truly sorry," Chmura said Sunday. "I promise you nothing like this will ever happen again."

Chmura, 31, said he would celebrate his acquittal by going to Disney World and that he plans to resume his pro football career.

The foreman of the jury said Chmura was guilty of one thing: bad judgment.

"He put himself in a bad situation by being drunk with kids and in a hot tub in his underwear," foreman Brad Breidenstein said.

Saying she is neither a liar nor a fraud, the teenager who accused Chmura said she was devastated by the acquittal and has not decided whether to sue him.

She said she "absolutely did not" falsely accuse Chmura or exaggerate a more limited or consensual liaison. "God, no, I would really have to be evil to do something like that," said the woman, now 18, in a telephone interview from her college freshman dorm. "I will be happy when justice is served."

She said it was painful to see Chmura signing autographs at a news conference Sunday: "That's sick; that's absolutely disgusting."

The 12-member jury disagreed with District Attorney Paul Bucher's contention that Chmura lured the teen into a bathroom and sexually assaulted her April 9. He was acquitted Saturday night of charges of child enticement and sexual assault that carried up to 40 years in prison.

"None of us believed nothing happened. We all believed something happened in there," said a 59-year-old female juror who asked that her name not be used. "But we had no evidence to prove it."

"The evidence clearly indicates there was sexual contact," Bucher said. "The real issue became if it was consensual or not."

"Baloney," defense lawyer Gerald Boyle said. "I argued there wasn't any sexual contact. That's what the jury found."

At a news conference in which Boyle didn't allow his client to discuss what happened at the party because of the threat of a civil lawsuit, Chmura broke down crying. "This has opened my eyes up to a lot of things," Chmura said.

Chmura's agent, Eric Metz, said several teams have inquired about Chmura, who was cut by the Packers after he was charged.

Chmura said his neck injury that put his career in jeopardy in 1999 is not an issue and that two doctors have given him medical clearance.

Breidenstein said the accuser's inconsistent testimony and surly demeanor on the stand also helped them acquit Chmura.

The deciding factor was the testimony of two teens, Michael Kleber and Val Buscemi, Breidenstein and the 59-year-old juror said.

Kleber testified that he warned the accuser not to enter the bathroom and that she turned to him, smiled and went in anyway. Buscemi said Chmura's accuser told her she had been inappropriately touched by Chmura in a hot tub before the alleged assault in the bathroom.

Breidenstein said that when the jury got the case, a secret straw poll found there were five guilty votes on sexual assault, which carries 10 years in prison. After debate and two more polls, the vote to acquit was unanimous.

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