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| NBA star Derrick Rose and friends cleared in rape case | NBA star Derrick Rose and friends cleared in rape case |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| A federal jury has cleared NBA star Derrick Rose and two of his friends of rape in a civil trial that put the legal definition of consent under scrutiny. | A federal jury has cleared NBA star Derrick Rose and two of his friends of rape in a civil trial that put the legal definition of consent under scrutiny. |
| The jury of six women and two men declared the defendants not liable for damages on Wednesday after a two-week civil trial that channelled issues of sex, consent, race, money and celebrity into a Los Angeles courtroom. | The jury of six women and two men declared the defendants not liable for damages on Wednesday after a two-week civil trial that channelled issues of sex, consent, race, money and celebrity into a Los Angeles courtroom. |
| After the verdict, reached after less than four hours of deliberation, some jury members grinned and posed with Rose for photos outside the courtroom. | After the verdict, reached after less than four hours of deliberation, some jury members grinned and posed with Rose for photos outside the courtroom. |
| Don't see this every day. @drose and atty posing with giddy jurors after verdict. #DoevRose pic.twitter.com/hbmxnPnyf6 | Don't see this every day. @drose and atty posing with giddy jurors after verdict. #DoevRose pic.twitter.com/hbmxnPnyf6 |
| The jury sided against the alleged victim, who was depicted as a sexually adventurous gold-digger, despite tearful testimony that she had been drugged and raped. She had sought $21.5m in damages. | The jury sided against the alleged victim, who was depicted as a sexually adventurous gold-digger, despite tearful testimony that she had been drugged and raped. She had sought $21.5m in damages. |
| Upon hearing the decision, Rose cast his eyes to the floor and hugged his attorney; his accuser clamped her face in her hands in a prayer position. | |
| It was a climactic finale to a trial that put the judicial system’s treatment of sexual assault cases under fresh scrutiny in the wake of controversy over the Stanford sexual assault case and allegations against Bill Cosby and Donald Trump. | It was a climactic finale to a trial that put the judicial system’s treatment of sexual assault cases under fresh scrutiny in the wake of controversy over the Stanford sexual assault case and allegations against Bill Cosby and Donald Trump. |
| The New York Knicks point guard declined to comment on the case. “I’m just focused on the season,” he told reporters before being driven away in an SUV. | The New York Knicks point guard declined to comment on the case. “I’m just focused on the season,” he told reporters before being driven away in an SUV. |
| In a statement issued later he said: “It was important to prove I did not do what I was accused of, even if it meant publicly sharing very private details.” | In a statement issued later he said: “It was important to prove I did not do what I was accused of, even if it meant publicly sharing very private details.” |
| The alleged victim’s lawyer, Waukeen McCoy, called the outcome unjust and said his client was devastated. “I think it’s a shame for this country that a celebrity can come to court and slut-shame a woman.” Her legal team is weighing an appeal, he said. | |
| Several jurors told reporters after the verdict that they found the defendants more credible than Doe. “I felt like she was playing us,” said one, who gave his name only as Jared. | |
| “I think most of us believe it’s possible there are pieces of her story that were true, but there just wasn’t any evidence” said another unnamed juror. | |
| I don’t want to call her a liar ... I just didn’t feel there was enough evidence. | |
| The jury forewoman, Janet, said: “I don’t want to call her a liar ... I just didn’t feel there was enough evidence.” | |
| The New York Post quoted one unnamed female juror: “We really tried to believe her. We tried our hardest.” But in the end her story “didn’t add up”. | |
| Rose’s lawyer, Mark Baute, depicted the plaintiff as a manipulative liar who preyed on racist perceptions of black men to try extract a fortune even though she had welcomed the trio with “open arms and open legs”. He said he was “very happy the system worked” and lambasted the media for what he said was biased trial coverage. | |
| Michael Monico, an attorney for Rose’s two co-defendants, Randall Hampton and Ryan Allen, said: “It’s amazing that one woman and her false claims could cause this much difficulty for these three men.” | Michael Monico, an attorney for Rose’s two co-defendants, Randall Hampton and Ryan Allen, said: “It’s amazing that one woman and her false claims could cause this much difficulty for these three men.” |
| Within minutes of the verdict, Adidas said it would continue sponsoring Rose: “Our partnership with Derrick remains unchanged.” Rose and his friends, who grew up together in Chicago, had been accused of trespassing, sexual battery and battery. | |
| Sex and texts, sport and celebrity, claim and counter-claim, even, in a tragic sub-plot, the death of an investigating LAPD detective: it was a trial with conflicting, lurid details. | |
| The central fact was this: Rose, 28, and his two friends visited the plaintiff’s LA apartment in the early hours of 27 August 2013 and had sex with her. The men said it was consensual. The plaintiff, known as Jane Doe to shield her identity, said she was too intoxicated to give consent. | The central fact was this: Rose, 28, and his two friends visited the plaintiff’s LA apartment in the early hours of 27 August 2013 and had sex with her. The men said it was consensual. The plaintiff, known as Jane Doe to shield her identity, said she was too intoxicated to give consent. |
| As civil litigation, rather than a criminal trial, the defendants faced paying damages but not jail time or a criminal conviction. They were found not liable, as opposed to not guilty. | As civil litigation, rather than a criminal trial, the defendants faced paying damages but not jail time or a criminal conviction. They were found not liable, as opposed to not guilty. |
| A criminal investigation by the LAPD remains open, but observers said the lack of physical evidence made charges unlikely. | A criminal investigation by the LAPD remains open, but observers said the lack of physical evidence made charges unlikely. |
| In the interest of transparency and not prejudicing the jury, Judge Michel Fitzgerald lifted Doe’s anonymity once proceedings began. Most media outlets declined to use her real name but it seeped, along with photos and insults, onto the internet. Activists warned that this would deter victims from reporting sexual assaults. | In the interest of transparency and not prejudicing the jury, Judge Michel Fitzgerald lifted Doe’s anonymity once proceedings began. Most media outlets declined to use her real name but it seeped, along with photos and insults, onto the internet. Activists warned that this would deter victims from reporting sexual assaults. |
| Some legal analysts had queried Rose’s decision to gamble in court rather than settle. The New York Knicks point guard, the youngest player ever to win the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award, imperilled his career and sponsorship deals. | |
| Wearing a dark suit, for almost two weeks he had sat under a clock, facing his alleged victim. They took turns facing ferocious barrages from opposing lawyers who accused them of lying, and worse. | Wearing a dark suit, for almost two weeks he had sat under a clock, facing his alleged victim. They took turns facing ferocious barrages from opposing lawyers who accused them of lying, and worse. |
| Rose and his friends committed rape, Doe’s lawyer, McCoy, had said in closing arguments on Tuesday. “They have no remorse, they are not apologetic. She’s not looking for a quick dollar. She’s looking for accountability.” | Rose and his friends committed rape, Doe’s lawyer, McCoy, had said in closing arguments on Tuesday. “They have no remorse, they are not apologetic. She’s not looking for a quick dollar. She’s looking for accountability.” |
| Rose’s equally combative lawyer, Baute, called Doe a gold-digger who was exploiting racist stereotypes of black men to extort a fortune. “She wants money,” he said. “She lied 50 times on the stand.” The media, he added, “loves taking a black man down”. | Rose’s equally combative lawyer, Baute, called Doe a gold-digger who was exploiting racist stereotypes of black men to extort a fortune. “She wants money,” he said. “She lied 50 times on the stand.” The media, he added, “loves taking a black man down”. |
| Monico, the other defence lawyer, scorned Doe’s testimony tears: “She has no evidence, but she can cry.” | Monico, the other defence lawyer, scorned Doe’s testimony tears: “She has no evidence, but she can cry.” |
| They have no remorse, they are not apologetic. She’s not looking for a quick dollar. She’s looking for accountability | They have no remorse, they are not apologetic. She’s not looking for a quick dollar. She’s looking for accountability |
| Much of the case hinged on text messages Doe and Rose exchanged on the disputed night. One side argued they showed she had not agreed to group sex. The other agued that the fact she could text, including with punctuation, undercut her claim to have been too drunk – and possibly drugged – to consent. | |
| Doe and Rose had dated on and off for two years before the alleged assault. On the night of 26 August 2013 Doe went with a friend, Jessica “Kendra” Groff, to Rose’s rented Beverly Hills home. She became inebriated and after midnight took a taxi back to her apartment. | Doe and Rose had dated on and off for two years before the alleged assault. On the night of 26 August 2013 Doe went with a friend, Jessica “Kendra” Groff, to Rose’s rented Beverly Hills home. She became inebriated and after midnight took a taxi back to her apartment. |
| Rose, Hampton and Allen arrived there a short time later, had intercourse with her and left. The case hinged on whether Doe was too incapacitated to agree to sex. | |
| Doe said she had blacked out, vomited and woke up around 3am to find the three men having sex with her but could not stop them and woke again after dawn with her dress around her neck, lubricant on her legs, a burning sensation between her legs and condoms around the bed. | |
| She was distraught, and told some confidantes she had been raped, but confusion and embarrassment delayed her filing a case for two years, she said. | She was distraught, and told some confidantes she had been raped, but confusion and embarrassment delayed her filing a case for two years, she said. |
| Concluding the case, Fitzgerald wished Doe the best, then turned to the basketball star and made a joke. “Mr Rose, my best wishes to you and your career – except when the Knicks play the Lakers.” | |
| According to the advocacy group Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, each year there are on average 288,820 victims of sexual assault in the US, most of whom do not report the crime. | According to the advocacy group Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, each year there are on average 288,820 victims of sexual assault in the US, most of whom do not report the crime. |
| The collapse of Doe’s case will likely draw comparisons with that of “Jackie”, who claimed to be the victim of a rape portrayed in a now discredited Rolling Stone article that is currently the subject of a defamation lawsuit. The magazine deleted a separate article, about the Rose trial, last week. |