Former UT football players A.J. Johnson and Michael Williams shake hands as they leave a motions hearing in Knox County Criminal Court on Sept. 17. The two former athletes are charged with two counts each of aggravated rape and two counts of aiding and abetting the other in those rapes after a female athlete, then 19, told police Johnson and Williams forced her to have sex with both men in a bedroom of Johnson's South Knoxville apartment during a party in November 2014. (MICHAEL PATRICK/NEWS SENTINEL)

SHARE Knox County Criminal Court Judge Bob McGee during a motions hearing for former University of Tennessee football players A.J. Johnson and Michael Williams on Sept. 17. The two former athletes are charged with two counts each of aggravated rape and two counts of aiding and abetting the other in those rapes after a female athlete, then 19, told police Johnson and Williams forced her to have sex with both men in a bedroom of Johnson's South Knoxville apartment during a party in November 2014. (MICHAEL PATRICK/NEWS SENTINEL) Related Coverage Court brief: Rape accuser, ex-Vol sex partners for 'months'

By Jamie Satterfield of the Knoxville News Sentinel

A judge on Tuesday put another hold on trials and blocked the public again from seeing sealed records in the case of a former University of Tennessee star linebacker and a teammate accused of rape.

Knox County Criminal Court Judge Bob McGee agreed at a hearing Tuesday to issue a stay of the trials of former UT linebacker A.J. Johnson and fellow ex-Vol Michael Williams. The request to put the trials on hold came at the request of prosecutors, who cited as cause an appeal still pending in the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals over the availability of social media and digital communications by the players' accuser and witnesses.

McGee also shot down a bid by the News Sentinel to make public records the judge has placed under seal, including transcripts of police interviews with the accuser and witnesses and the Knoxville Police Department's affidavit for a search warrant for Johnson's apartment.

Johnson and Williams face two counts of aggravated rape and two counts of aiding and abetting aggravated rape. They are accused of raping a female UT athlete during a drunken party at Johnson's South Knoxville apartment. The ex-Vols contend the encounter was consensual and that their accuser claimed rape to protect her reputation.

Evidence revealed so far indicates Johnson and his accuser had been flirting for months and that the then-19-year-old woman willingly went to Johnson's bedroom to meet him.

Statements by the accuser and her female friends to police made clear that social media via various messenger services offered by Facebook and Yik Yak, along with texting, were the primary means of communication among all those involved, witnesses included. But the Knoxville Police Department took no steps to either retrieve those messages or preserve them.

That, in turn, forced the two former players' attorneys to file subpoenas to get the information. The judge blocked the move, and the players' attorneys appealed. The appeal has not yet been decided.

In the meantime, Johnson's defense team of Stephen Ross Johnson, no relation, and Tom Dillard, along with Williams' attorneys — David Eldridge and Loretta Cravens — have made headway with convincing social media providers to turn over dates and times — but not the content of — messages posted via their respective sites.

Attorney Johnson noted Tuesday prosecutors Kyle Hixson and Leslie Nassios did not seek a stay of the trials when the appeal was filed in November. He argued their intent in doing so now is to shut down the defense from receiving that social media information.

Although the judge granted a stay of the trials, he is allowing the defense to continue its efforts to get that information.

News Sentinel attorney Richard Hollow used Tuesday's hearing to push for a decision in a petition the newspaper filed months ago over records McGee has placed under seal without any hearing on why secrecy would be needed.

Hollow noted the accuser in the case is one of a group of women who have filed a federal lawsuit in Nashville against UT over the handling of sexual assault allegations. The lawsuit itself has generated a trove of information about the two ex-players' cases, including revelations Knoxville Police Chief David Rausch called UT football coach Butch Jones to alert him of the rape accusations long before the accuser or the players were interviewed.

"We have this situation where information is swirling around, and (the records sealed by McGee are) evidence that could put (questions) to rest," Hollow said.

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The players' attorneys took no position on the newspaper's request. Hixson countered the lawsuit and its resulting media coverage argues not for the unsealing of records in the rape case but against it.

"Both sides are entitled to a fair trial," Hixson said. "The defendants are effectively being tried in the media (because of the lawsuit)."

That prompted Dillard to respond, "Our clients are already being tried in the media. That's one of the reasons we take no position."

The judge also cited the lawsuit as proof why the records in the criminal case should remain hidden from public view until unveiled at trial.

"Publicity is the enemy of a fair trial," McGee said. "The more things (potential jurors) see in the paper and hear in the press, the harder it will be (to find an impartial panel). The public will get everything as it happens (during the trial), but the court needs to mitigate (pretrial) damage."

New trial dates won't be set until the appellate court has ruled. Even when a ruling is issued, the losing side will have 60 days to petition the state Supreme Court to hear it.

Nearly all the witnesses in the case are or were UT students, so most will have graduated by the time the case goes to trial. That prompted worries Tuesday witnesses may ignore subpoenas to testify.

The judge twice stated he would, although loath to do so, issue warrants to force the students' appearances in court.