Clemens testifies in son’s lawsuit
Two Minor League Baseball players, both of whom are sons of former Astros players, on Monday took a Washington Avenue bar to court, saying they were assaulted there in 2019.
Kacy Clemens and Conner Capel contend they were innocent bystanders to a commotion at Concrete Cowboy when the bar owner threw them out of the establishment on New Year’s, injuring them, attorney Randy Sorrels said during opening arguments in the trial.
Clemens’ father, a two-time World Series champion and seventime Cy Young award winner, told jurors his jaw dropped when his son and godson arrived home in the early morning. Capel had a skull injury as well as various cuts and bruises on his body, and Clemens had an elbow injury.
Like a car accident
“It looked to me like they had been in a car accident,” Roger Clemens said.
The friends were ringing in the New Year when a person they believed was a bouncer asked them to move to a different part of the bar, Sorrels said. Despite doing
what was asked, the man started to escort them out and assaulted them, they said.
Clemens and Capel spoke to police, and a bouncer was arrested on a misdemeanor assault charge over Capel’s injuries, court documents show.
That bouncer ended up being the wrong person, and Clemens and Capel now believe bar owner Daniel Wierck was behind the assault, Sorrels said.
He added that the incident highlights a pattern at the company, whose negligence resulted in harm.
“Dan Wierck chose to create a dangerous environment by packing too many people in this bar,” Sorrels said.
The suit is lodged against the bar’s parent company, 34th S&S, LLC. Wierck is also named.
Attorney Kent Adams, representing the company, said all of the allegations are false. Clemens and Capel were associated with the group involved in the initial commotion, Adams said. The duo won’t be able to prove who attacked them, making the $5 million they’re seeking in damages an unreasonable request, he argued.
“For $5 million you would expect someone to be really clear,” he said. “You’re not going to hear that.”
On the stand
Capel and Clemens’ attorney on Monday brought out the heavy hitters early in the trial, calling pitcher Roger Clemens to the stand.
The All-Star wore a face shield and sat alone in the jury box as jurors scattered around the courtroom in an effort to follow social distancing guidelines.
Clemens described how he raised his four sons, trying to keep them grounded despite his major success. He was the “Mr. Mom” at their sporting events, he encouraged them to get involved in his charity efforts, and he urged them to positively represent their baseball teams off the field.
“If I thought my boys were raised poorly, we wouldn’t even be here today,” he said.
The bar’s attorney questioned whether Clemens was always a positive influence and raised wellknown allegations that he used steroids late in his career. He also questioned whether that has stood in his way to a spot in the Cooperstown Hall of Fame.
Clemens has never admitted to the claims, even testifying to Congress denying that he used performance-enhancing drugs. He was later acquitted of charges of perjury, making false statements and obstructing Congress over that testimony.
He stayed quiet on the subject Monday, pointing to his acquittals.
“We proved all that,” he said.