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Man Suing Panthers Player Testifies About Incident

CHARLOTTE, N.C.,None — Things got a little testy inside a Charlotte courtroom Thursday as the man who says a Carolina Panthers football player punched him took the stand in their civil trial.

Greg Frye spent all of Thursday testifying in the case he filed after, he said, linebacker Jon Beason punched him and broke a bone in his face after an altercation in the Uptown Cabaret nightclub in Charlotte in November 2009.

Beason has denied the claim and filed a countersuit.

Frye told the jury Thursday that he has no doubt it was Beason who hit him after the two exchanged words, because Frye had told several people that he had seen Beason using cocaine at a party on Lake Norman that summer.

But Beason's attorney fired back with a vigorous cross examination, challenging Frye's credibility on several instances, including one in which Frye had claimed to be on the rugby team at UNC-Charlotte.

Attorney George Laughrun challenged Frye to show him where his name was on a list of everyone who had ever played rugby at the school.

The tension between the two sides peaked when one of Frye's attorneys suggested that a friend of Beason had mouthed a threat to him while the jury was out.

Judge Lane Williamson had that man sent out of the courtroom, and there were no further incidents.

Beason is expected to take the stand later in the trial.

Previous Stories: May 11, 2011: Testimony Gets Under Way In Lawsuit Involving Panthers Player May 9, 2011: Panthers Player In Court For Civil Case December 11, 2009: Assault Charges Against Beason Dropped December 9, 2009: Beason Blogs About Assault Accusation December 4, 2009: Doubts Surface In Beason Assault Case December 2, 2009: Man Who Accused Beason Of Assault Sues For Damages November 30, 2009: Panthers Player Beason Arrested On Assault Charge