HELENA, Mont. ― The state decided to settle claims that the University of Montana mishandled the investigation of a former school quarterback accused of rape rather than re-open the widely publicized case, an attorney representing the state said Wednesday.
The decision was made even though the state believes school officials acted properly, said attorney Dale Cockrell, who was hired by the Montana Department of Administration’s Risk Management and Tort Defense Division.
Under the agreement, the state will pay Jordan Johnson $245,000 to drop his claims that school officials had predetermined his guilt after the rape accusation was made in 2012 and ran a biased investigation that resulted in a recommendation of expulsion.
Johnson was not expelled, and a jury in 2013 acquitted him of rape.
The settlement between Johnson, the university and the Montana University System was approved Tuesday by District Judge Deann Cooney of Helena after months of mediation. The money will come from a fund that state agencies and universities pay into to resolve legal claims.
Cockrell said the state would have prevailed in a lawsuit over the investigation, but officials believed it would be better to settle the matter than go through the dispute again.
“We believed it was just better to put this matter to bed,” Cockrell said.
Neither the woman who made the allegation nor her representatives were involved in the mediation or settlement, Cockrell said.
“It would not have been appropriate,” he said.
The settlement lists 11 claims made by Johnson, including violations of due process and civil rights along with sexual discrimination, negligence and destroying evidence.
