BALTIMORE - A civil court jury is being asked to decide whether Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis is liable for injuries two women suffered during a brawl in a bar in 1999. <br>
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Catrice Hill and Sherita A. Williams are suing Lewis for $6 million. Their attorney, A. Dwight Pettit, said hospital records support his clients' claim that Lewis punched them. <br>
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Pettit told jurors Monday in an opening statement that the women were trying to walk out of the crowded Windsor Inn tavern on Nov. 29, 1999, when Lewis' friend, Eric Carter, blocked their path. <br>
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Williams put Carter in a headlock and Hill grabbed his arms before Lewis knocked Hill against the bar with a punch to the face, Pettit said. Lewis hit Williams in the shoulder, Pettit said. <br>
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``He came at them with the full ferocity of a middle linebacker, like we see on the football field,'' Pettit said. <br>
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Lewis' attorney, Ronald M. Cherry, said the women confused Lewis with the much-smaller Carter. He also said the women were ``mixing it up just like a couple of prizefighters'' that night. <br>
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Under cross-examination, Hill said she may have fought three to four men in the bar. Hill, who is 5-foot-4, said she stood eye-to-eye with Lewis, who is 6-foot-1. <br>
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Cherry said that in a statement to a Baltimore County District Court commissioner, Hill described Lewis as being 5-foot-5 and weighing 160 pounds. When asked Monday about the discrepancy, Hill said, ``I was upset.'' <br>
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Baltimore County prosecutors declined to prosecute Lewis, saying there was too much disagreement among witnesses. <br>
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``Ray was not involved in this fight,'' Cherry said. ``Ray did not hit anybody.'' <br>
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The case is expected to go to the jury by Wednesday or Thursday. <br>
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Two years ago, Lewis was charged with murder for the death of two men outside an Atlanta nightclub following a Super Bowl party. The case was settled when Lewis pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of obstruction of justice.
