Kristen Saban, Nick Saban's Daughter, Responds To Sorority Sister Sarah Grimes' Civil Suit
Kristen Saban, the daughter of Alabama head football coach Nick Saban -- who apparently inherited her father's famously short temper -- has finally responded to the civil lawsuit filed by Sarah Grimes, her fellow sorority sister at University of Alabama, for beating the living snot out of her on a Saturday night in 2010.
Here's a beatdown -- excuse me, breakdown -- of what happened: Kristen Saban and Sarah Grimes, both 19 years old at the time, were enjoying a night out with their sorority sisters on Saturday, Aug. 28, 2010. They pregamed their night with a power hour, and spent the night at the local bar Rounder's until the last call and the lights came on. Nevermind they fact nobody was 21 at the time. According to the original complaint filing, Saban grew upset after feeling like her boyfriend was ignoring her at the bar, and after driving everyone back home, she laid on the floor in her kitchen telling everyone that they couldn't understand how it was for her. Saban got emotional.
Several sisters tried to help Saban off the floor, but she reportedly refused to budge. Then Sarah Grimes, looking over at Kristen, reportedly said, Kristen, please just shut up. We're all sick and tired of hearing it.
At that point, Kristen jumped off the floor and reportedly screamed at Sarah, No one likes you, you don't have any friends, before storming off to her room.
Grimes tried to laugh off the comment and reportedly added one of her own: You really need therapy, she said. Kristen shouted back: Yeah, because that obviously worked so well for you! She then slammed her bedroom door.
Nobody thought much of the outburst until Grimes later checked her Facebook over her phone, and discovered that Saban had posted a status that read, No one likes Sarah! Yayyyy!
Upon seeing the message, Grimes reportedly got up, walked down the hall, and knocked on Kristen's door with the palm of her hand. You've got five seconds to take it off, or I'm going to tell everyone that you punched Daniel (Saban's former boyfriend) in the face last week, Grimes demanded. Try me.
Saban opened her door just to wave her phone in Grimes' face, telling her she removed the post. But then Grimes reportedly said, That's fine, but we're done. You're crazy.
Those words were the last straw, according to Grimes' original suit. Saban used both her hands to shove Grimes, who then shoved back and added, Don't touch me. Then, Saban proceeded to repeatedly punch Grimes in the head and face, beating her nose in and pulling her hair. Saban wouldn't let go of Grimes' hair, and she continued to attack her face, even as her fellow sisters attempted to pull Saban away from Grimes and threatened calling the cops. It took two sorority sisters to pull Grimes away from her attacker.
Once the fight ended, Saban reportedly returned to her room and sobbed on the floor nexst to her bed. Grimes, on the other hand, was bleeding profusely from her nose, and noticed her temple had swollen to the size of a tennis ball, which was extremely alarming. At that point, Grimes knelt down by Saban's side and said I would never do this to you. Saban responded, You grabbed my throat!
Grimes claimed the throat grab was self defense, and said she needed to go to the hospital. Apparently, Saban kept crying and screaming I'm going to jail! over and over.
The emergency physician at DCH, the trauma hospital in Tuscaloosa, diagnosed Grimes with a concussion, an elbow contusion, cervical strain and headache (Later, she was diagnosed with a deviated septum). The physician said the injuries were very serious and could have been life threatening.
Since the beating, Grimes had sustained lingering injuries and maladies, including migraine headaches, trouble sleeping, night terrors, anxiety, physical trembling, fears of dying from brain injuries, and troubling recollections of the event. Grimes began seeing a psychologist to help with her emotional issues, and after learning her nose had been deformed and shifted as a direct result of the attack, she was forced to get nasal surgery with osteotomies and reconstruction in December 2011.
Even though Saban originally was ordered for a psychological evaluation and to attend an anger management class, Grimes is looking for compensatory and punitive damages for more than $10,000.00.
On Tuesday, Saban finally responded to Grimes' complaint with the circuit court of Tuscaloosa County, Alabama.
In summation: Saban denies the complaint's allegations, and pleads Mitigating Circumstances that justified her actions, a Sudden Emergency existed, and there was Contributory Negligence and Assumption of Risk on the part of Grimes, the plaintiff. Saban's story is more or less the same as Grimes', but it paints the plaintiff as a much more violent, intrusive person in Saban's home, noting that Grimes was only a guest.
After posting the No one likes Sarah comment, Saban heard Grimes utter I will kill her, which was followed by knocking and expletive-laden screaming through her door. Saban sat in her room crying and eventually opened the door to show Grimes her phone, but Grimes reportedly continued to yell at Kristen and got within inches of her face. Once Sarah got in Kristen's personal space, bumping against her body in an offensive manner, Kristen pushed Sarah away.
Saban alleges that her push wasn't hard enough to hurt her, and Grimes' head did not hit the wall or a door frame as she claimed in her complaint. After being pushed, however, Saban claims Grimes tried to choke her. Saban threw her fists to defend herself, but she said she suffered a nosebleed and scratches on her back from the altercation. Saban said Grimes got on top of her at one point. She said it was Pretty much an even fight.
Saban's attorney claims several defenses, including a response to an immediate threat, acting in self-defense, and irresponsibility for Grimes' injuries. The response claims Grimes only went to the hospital to document the bruises and scratches in case they got worse; she was on the lookout for issues like these after being involved in a car wreck back in 2005.
The defense claims Grimes had suffered a concussion and sinus and migraine headaches, as well as several of her other symptoms, as a direct result of the car wreck, not the altercation with Saban. These problems and issues were present long before the fight. The attorneys also assert that Grimes had nasal surgery for cosmetic reasons, and that the trauma that caused the nasal defority was likely from an undocumented childhood fall.
We'll update the story with the judge's notes and response as soon as we know more.
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