During arguments in court Tuesday, Nick Saban’s daughter told lawyers that she was defending herself from a drunk woman when a brawl broke out in 2010, according to The Associated Press.
Saban is the head football coach at the University of Alabama. Written testimony was also presented on Tuesday. Kristen Saban said that her one-time best friend, Sarah Grimes, was the combatant during the fight. This was said even though Grimes sued Saban for the assault, which started because of a post on Facebook.
Neither woman was in attendance for the hearing, but the lawyers for Grimes filed copies of sworn testimony before the Tuscaloosa County Circuit Judge James H. Roberts Jr.
A request was made by Saban’s attorneys, Robert Prince and Joshua Hayes, that the case end in a ruling that favors Saban. Roberts noted that he would consider this request. The attorney for Grimes, Stephen Strickland, told Roberts that jurors should hear the argument.
Strickland said that Grimes was punched by Saban “like Boom Boom Mancini.” Mancini is a professional boxer.
“She had the devil beat out of her,” Strickland said.
The women were both members of the sorority Phi Mu at Alabama, but graduated last year.
Grimes claims that Saban began the fight, which caused Grimes to suffer a concussion and need nasal surgery. Despite this, Saban describes Grimes as angry and out of control when the fight occurred.
According to Saban, she, Grimes, and others ended up at Saban’s apartment after multiple hours of drinking. She also noted that everyone at the apartment was intoxicated. Saban said she went into her bedroom after Grimes told her to stop being ‘pathetic’ regarding her relationship with a boyfriend.
Grimes posted “No one likes Sarah, yay,” on Facebook. She then banged on the door of Saban’s bedroom. When Saban opened the door, things took a violent turn. Grimes claims that Saban pushed her first. But, Saban testified that Grimes grabber her neck. Hair was pulled and the two fought with “a lot of slapping and punching, not many landing, and scratching,” according to Saban.
Once the fight was over, Saban said she was on the floor in her bedroom crying. This is when Saban said Grimes entered the room and straddled her.
“She told me to look at her, because I had my hands over my eyes crying. She said, ‘We can’t do this to each other. We’re best friends,” Saban said.
In the testimony transcript, a lawyer asked, “And then what happened?”
Saban replied with, “I said, ‘You came at my throat. You came at my throat.’ And she said, ‘We can’t do this, we need to talk about this, but I need to go to the hospital to document this.'”
The lawsuit filed by Grimes against Saban came in 2012.
