Shannon, mother seek $12 million over 'malicious prosecution'

Sep. 19—LAWRENCE, Kan. — A former Illini basketball star and his mother are claiming that local officials mishandled an accusation of sexual assault against the athlete and owe them $12 million for loss of income, attorney's fees and other damages, including emotional distress.

Terrence Shannon Jr. is seeking damages totaling a little over $11.5 million, and his mother, Treanette Redding, is seeking $500,000. The mother and son are represented by Rose Tanner and Rob Lang of Thompson Coburn LLP and Mark Sutter of Sutter Law Group.

Shannon, who has since joined the Minnesota Timberwolves after being selected in the first round of the NBA draft, was previously accused of sexually assaulting a woman at the Jayhawk Cafe during a 2023 trip to Kansas but was acquitted in June.

In response to an open-records request from The News-Gazette, the city of Lawrence on Thursday provided Shannon and Redding's claims but redacted certain information, such as the name of the employee that Shannon listed as being involved with his grievance. However, the form does state that the individual is a member of the Lawrence Police Department.

"Mr. Shannon has claims for intentional infliction of emotional distress, malicious prosecution, and abuse of process (amongst other possible claims) against (redacted) and potentially the City of Lawrence and the Lawrence Police Department (in addition to federal civil rights claims, including, but not limited to, violations of the 4th and 14th Amendments)," the claim states.

Shannon's claim states an individual "handled much of the investigation and submitted an October 4, 2023 probable cause affidavit that falsely accused Mr. Shannon of sexual assault, and omitted and/or concealed exculpatory facts."

Previous reporting by The News-Gazette revealed that LPD Detective Josh Leitner submitted an affidavit of his findings on the same date.

The claim argues that several factors should have been given more consideration during the investigation, including:

* An individual who was accused of a similar crime at the Jayhawk Cafe just days earlier was present on the night of the alleged incident.

* DNA testing results did not tie Shannon to the alleged assault but showed material from three other men.

* A friend of the accuser was "allegedly looking right at Mr. Shannon at the time of the alleged incident" but did not see the alleged assault occur.

The claim also states that the Lawrence Police Department failed to "conduct a lineup for identification purposes" and review cellphone messages that indicated that the accuser may have had "financial motives" for her claims.

Additionally, Shannon's counsel claimed that his accuser is "believed to be a prolific marijuana user" and told a nurse that she had smoked on the night of the alleged incident.

Shannon's claim also argues that while he was able to win a federal injunction to end his initial university suspension after missing six games, the charges and suspension still resulted in his NBA Draft position dropping from a lottery pick (top 14) to No. 27.

"Over the four-year term of his initial contract, that amounts to $8,484,683 in loss of income," Shannon's counsel wrote. "Other pecuniary damages include approximately $550,000 in attorney's fees, and $2,000,000 in lost income from lost Name Image Likeness (NIL) opportunities. Mr. Shannon's pecuniary damages are at least $11,034,683. Mr. Shannon's non-pecuniary damages exceed the $500,000 cap. Therefore, Mr. Shannon's total demand is $11,534,683."

The filing also states that Shannon has claims against "other possible defendants."

Lang told The News-Gazette that potential defendants include Douglas County District Attorney Suzanne Valdez, the DA's office and others.

Furthermore, counsel wrote, "We believe that Ms. Redding has an intentional infliction of emotional distress claim against (redacted), and potentially the City of Lawrence and the Lawrence Police Department. Ms. Redding faced incessant ridicule and humiliation as a result of the false charges against her son."

Both Shannon and his mother said they had required psychological counseling as a result of the events.

Shannon and Redding filed their claims with the city of Lawrence on Sept. 9 — the one-year anniversary of the accuser claiming she was assaulted.

Under Kansas law, the city has four months to respond to the filing before Shannon and Redding can file a lawsuit.