Nutt, Wife Meet With Fan Who Obtained Phone Records

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) _ Houston Nutt and his wife Diana met for about an hour Thursday with a fan who used the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act to obtain the Arkansas coach's cell phone records.

Thursday, May 3rd 2007, 8:26 pm

By: News On 6

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) _ Houston Nutt and his wife Diana met for about an hour Thursday with a fan who used the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act to obtain the Arkansas coach's cell phone records.

Houston and Diana Nutt met with Thomas McAfee of Searcy in downtown Little Rock at the office of Nate Coulter, McAfee's attorney. Byron Freeland, Nutt's attorney, was also present.

Nutt and Freeland declined comment as they left the building. Coulter acknowledged some tension but described the meeting as ``polite, appropriate conversation.''

``I think it was probably a good thing for them to air their feelings about it _ from both sides,'' Coulter said.

McAfee earned some fame among Arkansas fans recently when he obtained Nutt's cell phone records and contacted the University of Arkansas System Board of Trustees about them. His name is also included in a 48-page document circulating around the Internet, which attempts to cast doubt on Nutt's declaration that the coach was unaware of a harsh e-mail sent by a family friend to Arkansas quarterback Mitch Mustain in December.

The document notes phone contact among Houston Nutt, his brother and running backs coach Danny Nutt and Teresa Prewett on the day Mustain received the e-mail from Prewett. Mustain is set to transfer to Southern California. Houston Nutt gave Prewett an official reprimand and barred her from the sidelines during games after the e-mail was traced to her.

Prewett has said Houston and Danny Nutt had nothing to do with the e-mail _ and that her communication with them was regarding a death in Houston Nutt's family.

McAfee said he didn't write the 48-page document and doesn't know who did. He did acknowledge passing the phone records on to others.

Phone records also showed that Houston Nutt exchanged text messages with the cell phone of a female television news anchor more than 1,000 times over a six-week period. Nutt released an open letter last month, saying fans who suggested he had an improper relationship with the woman were spreading ``unfounded gossip.''

Nutt said his correspondence was appropriate communication with a friend and colleague, some of it about her work for a nonprofit organization with which he is involved. ``Any allegation or suggestion that our professional and personal friendship or involvement goes beyond that is false, careless, and purposefully vindictive,'' Nutt wrote.

McAfee pointed out the high volume of calls to the news anchor's phone in his letter to the trustees.

Coulter said he didn't know Diana Nutt would be at Thursday's meeting.