Westchester Case Remains a Puzzle

It was a beautiful, sunny day in Los Angeles on Friday, perfect for riding a bike, taking a walk in the park, shooting some hoops or playing a round of golf.

I was at home, waiting for a phone call from the Los Angeles Unified School District to tell me whether Westchester High’s appeal of its postseason ban from the boys’ basketball playoffs would be overturned.

Thursday was supposed to be the day of reckoning, then it was postponed to Friday. Finally, just before 3 p.m., my phone rang. No decision would be announced until Monday, the district spokeswoman said, because outside legal counsel was reviewing documents.

Now that the lawyers are involved, maybe the truth will come out, because it’s imperative that anyone who is lying be exposed in this messy look at the seedy side of high school basketball.

It comes down to which seemingly unbelievable story is true: Did Westchester assistant Marlon Morton, in broad daylight and in front of two adults in the Los Angeles Verbum Dei gym, tell 6-foot-9 center Amir Johnson to “dump this” and go to Westchester?

Or did a group of Verbum Dei coaches, administrators and parents concoct a recruiting tale that would deny Johnson the chance to transfer to Westchester and make Morton the fall guy?

Morton has called the allegations “blatant lies.” He said he’d gladly take a polygraph test.

“Hell, yeah,” he said. “In a heartbeat.”

Johnson said he never even spoke to Morton while attending Verbum Dei. Johnson was declared ineligible for one year because the City Section rules committee decided he gave false testimony at a hearing in December. Westchester was banished from the postseason for one year.

Meanwhile, nine days have passed since a three-person appeal panel heard Westchester’s plea to overturn the sanctions.

Coach Ed Azzam wanted a decision before Saturday’s game against the top-ranked team in the nation, Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy. His frustration is growing that Johnson remains in limbo -- not playing, not practicing.

After listening to about five hours of sworn testimony from the accusers and the accused, I’m no closer to figuring out the truth.

Verbum Dei’s witnesses refuse to back down from their allegations, but their failure to give a specific date for the alleged recruiting incident during the summer is troubling. With no date, they make it very difficult to prove their argument.

Could Morton possibly be stupid enough to try to recruit Johnson in front of Verbum Dei coaches? And if he did, why didn’t Johnson enroll at Westchester in September instead of November?

Azzam is correct when he says there’s no neutral third party who can corroborate either side’s story.

The delay in announcing the decision may be because the panel voted to uphold the rules committee, but outside counsel either disagrees with the decision or is trying to come up with a response that will withstand a legal challenge.

And that very well may be where this case is headed -- to Superior Court. Maybe that’s good. It seems to me that the truth will come out only after a judge and some aggressive attorneys get the chance to interrogate witnesses under oath, with the threat of prosecution for perjury, because the lying appears to be continuing nonstop by someone.

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Eric Sondheimer can be reached at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.