COLUMBUS, OHIO ? Ohio State athletic director Andy Geiger said Saturday that a legal maneuver by Maurice Clarett would not affect the school’s effort to have the suspended tailback reinstated.

Clarett has asked Franklin County Common Pleas Court to allow his attorneys to take sworn statements from university officials about a charge that he lied to police about the value of items stolen from a car. The information will help determine if Clarett should file a lawsuit charging that his rights were violated, according to a complaint filed Thursday.

The university, by withholding information, subjected Clarett to prosecution and possibly deprived him of his property rights under the U.S. Constitution, the complaint said.

Geiger said he was not surprised by the complaint.

“I don’t know that it’s against the school. I think it’s discovery in a trial situation. I think they’re trying to build a defense, and that’s understandable. It’s not alarming,” Geiger said before Ohio State’s game against Bowling Green.

“It’s just part of the system. They’re building a defense for the misdemeanor charge that was filed by the city attorney. I don’t see it as anything beyond that.”

Percy Squire and Lloyd Pierre-Louis, the lawyers who filed the complaint, did not return phone calls Saturday.

Clarett has pleaded innocent to a misdemeanor falsification charge, which has a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Clarett was suspended by the Buckeyes after Ohio State said he violated NCAA bylaws by receiving improper benefits and lying to investigators.