ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — A judge on Tuesday granted a request for a hearing to learn more about the investigation that led to charges against former University of Michigan football coach Sherron Moore. Moore was arrested shortly after he was fired over his relationship with an administrative assistant.
Judge J. Cedric Simpson set a hearing date for March 2. Simpson expressed concern that when a magistrate issued a warrant for Moore’s arrest in December, a detective failed to disclose that Moore had an employer-employee relationship with the woman.
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“The defendant’s due process may have been violated,” Simpson said, adding that not mentioning the context was a “glaring” omission.
Moore, 40, was charged with felony counts of burglary, stalking and unlawful entry. His lawyers are trying to have the case dismissed.
Moore is accused of entering the woman’s apartment without permission and threatening to kill himself in her presence. Authorities quoted Moore as saying she was responsible for his loss of one of the top college football jobs in the country.
Moore was fired in December and arrested hours later after the school said he had an inappropriate relationship with an administrative assistant.
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She didn’t answer more than a dozen of his phone calls and didn’t respond to some text messages in the two days before he was fired, according to the police report.
Defense attorney Ellen Michaels said it was reasonable for Moore to call and text his administrative assistant multiple times while preparing for a bowl game.
“If the communication has a legitimate purpose, it’s not tracking,” Michaels said.
Moore coached the Wolverines for two seasons as the successor to Jim Harbaugh, who won a national championship before resigning to become coach of the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers. Kyle Whittingham, who coached Utah for two decades, becomes Michigan’s new coach.
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The university said Moore was abruptly fired on Dec. 10 for having an inappropriate relationship with the staff member and lying during the investigation.
Michaels accused the woman’s personal attorney of providing information to police to “vilify Mr. Moore and maximize his chances of obtaining a large settlement from the University of Michigan’s deep-pocketed institutions.”
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Associated Press writer Ed White contributed to this report.
