Defense in recruiting scandal puts hopes on 'reasonable doubt'

MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE - A wealthy businessman charged with paying $150,000 to get a top football recruit for Alabama put his hopes Tuesday on his chief accuser&#39;s history of lying and the legal standard for ``reasonable doubt.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Prosecutors, meanwhile, said in closing arguments for Logan Young&#39;s bribery trial that bank and phone records back up the testimony of their lead witness, former Trezevant High School head coach Lynn Lang.<br> <br> Lang says Young bribed him with a series of cash payments below the $10,000 threshold for IRS reporting to get Means to sign with Alabama in 2000.<br> <br> Young&#39;s U.S. District Court jury is expected to begin its deliberations Wednesday.<br> <br> Defense lawyer James Neal told the jury that Lang lied about Means&#39; recruitment to the NCAA, Memphis school officials and others before testifying against Young for the prosecution.<br> <br> ``To convict my client, you have to believe the testimony of Lynn Lang beyond a reasonable doubt,&#39;&#39; Neal said.<br> <br> Assistant U.S. Attorney Fred Godwin told the jury that the evidence against Young was more extensive than Lang&#39;s testimony alone.<br> <br> Records from one of Young&#39;s bank accounts show 64 cash withdrawals, totaling more than $270,000, during the time the government accuses him of paying Lang.<br> <br> Godwin said the timing for many of those withdrawals correspond closely to bank deposits made by Lang, though none matches exactly.<br> <br> He described the series of withdrawals and deposits as ``the stars aligning in strange ways.&#39;&#39; He also noted that phone records show numerous calls between Lang and Young.<br> <br> In testimony last week, Lang said eight schools, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Memphis, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi and Michigan State, offered jobs or money for Means, a highly recruited defensive lineman.<br> <br> Called by the defense, former coaches Rip Scherer of Memphis and Jim Donnan of Georgia along with former Alabama assistant Ivy Williams said Lang was lying.<br> <br> To believe Lang, Neal said, the jury would have to assume those witnesses were lying.<br> <br> Godwin told the jury that any coach who would admit trying to buy a football player would never again work at an NCAA college.<br> <br> Coaches, he said, are paid salaries ``that most people never even dream of making.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Former Michigan State assistant Brad Lawing, called as the trial&#39;s last witness, said he ended his attempt to recruit Means when Lang asked for $200,000.<br> <br> Lawing said Lang wanted $50,000 up front to repay money he already had taken from someone else wanting to recruit Means.<br> <br> Lawing said when he asked who had given that money, Lang replied, ``I can&#39;t tell you, but if you don&#39;t get in the game you&#39;ll find out on national signing day.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Lawing said he told other Michigan State team officials about Lang&#39;s offer, at which time they said they did not want to deal with Lang and decided to back off of recruiting Means. Lawing said the school never paid, or agreed to pay, any money.<br> <br> Means signed with Alabama, though he transferred to Memphis the following year when the scandal over his recruitment broke. He expects to graduate in the spring.<br> <br> Testifying at Young&#39;s trial, Means said he let Lang decide which college he would attend. He also said Lang arranged for a stand-in to take his college entrance exam and later told him to lie about it.<br> <br> ``Mr. Lang told a young Albert Means to lie and to lie to a federal grand jury,&#39;&#39; Neal said.<br> <br> Neal said Lang sent another former student to take Means&#39; exam and falsified paperwork required for the test.<br> <br> ``Can you believe a man like this?&#39;&#39; Neal said.<br> <br> The defense described Young, a millionaire, as a heavy drinker who likes to gamble and throw money around.<br> <br> But Godwin said many of Young&#39;s withdrawals, sometimes only a day apart, and Lang&#39;s bank deposits, which totaled more than $47,000, were too close together to be coincidental.<br> <br> ``What&#39;s the point of making a second trip to the bank to get the same amount the next day?&#39;&#39; Godwin asked the jury. ``See if you find a correlation.&#39;&#39;

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