The Summit County Attorney’s Office filed notice on Wednesday that it will appeal the dismissal of criminal charges against Lani Wilcox, a Park City High School tennis coach who was accused of assaulting a student player last year by putting her in a choke hold after the girl slapped her.
In a May 26 ruling, 3rd District Court Judge Richard Mrazik said the prosecution had not proven by clear and convincing evidence that the force used by Wilcox to restrain the girl was not justified.
Summit County Attorney Margaret Olson said at the time that her office would appeal the dismissal, “as there is a paucity of guidance at the appellate level” on the justification issue. A judge, rather than the prosecution, makes the decision, she said.
“The parties and the Court followed the statutory process in this matter where justification was claimed,” Olson said in a written statement. “It was the purview of the Court to determine justification. If any adult, let alone an individual in a position of special trust, restricts the breathing of a child in Summit County or strangles a child, they will also go through this same statutory process for the judge to determine justification.”
The appeal will be filed at the Utah Court of Appeals.
Defense attorney Clayton Simms said a jury would make the same decision as the judge: that the case is one of self-defense.
“I think that the prosecutor’s case is already dead and they are just trying to do CPR on a corpse,” he said. “At the end of the day, we know that Coach Wilcox is innocent.”
Wilcox, 62, who was head coach of the girls varsity tennis team, was charged with one count of aggravated child abuse, a third-degree felony, and one count of interruption of a communication device, a class B misdemeanor.
The charges stemmed from an argument with the girl that turned physical at the Park City Municipal Athletic & Recreation Center (MARC) during an Aug. 29, 2022 practice. Wilcox was accused of putting the girl in a choke hold and taking her phone away from her. State law prohibits an individual from interrupting another person’s attempt to call for emergency aid by force, intimidation or violence.
Wilcox testified at a January hearing on the justification issues that the student-athlete was angry after being told she would not be playing in an upcoming match because she had missed practice. The girl struck her on the left cheek and she put her in a “bear hug” from behind to protect herself and others at the tennis courts, Wilcox said.
The two fell to the ground and the girl got up and kicked the assistant tennis coach, Brad Smith, in the groin, she said.
The girl said in her testimony that she struck Wilcox and cursed at her because she thought she was going to push her, but didn’t hit her hard. She said Wilcox grabbed her around the neck and she thinks the coach’s hand hit her own face when they fell.
The student also acknowledged kicking Smith and said in a written statement to Park City police she was scared that “he would do something as well.”