Knicks guard Derrick Rose was found not liable on all three counts (trespassing, sexual battery and battery) over the allegations he and two friends gang-raped a woman back in 2013, an L.A. County Superior court announced today. Roses two friends were cleared of all counts as well.
TMZ reports that as the verdict was read, the accuser and her legal team appeared distraught and she had her head down as if she was praying. Rose remained his stoic and emotionless, reportedly staring at his hands and closing his eyes and tilting his head back once the verdict was read.
After the trial, Derrick Rose posed for pictures with multiple eager jury members, which will certainly spark doubt on whether Rose’s celebrity played a factor in the outcome.
Don't see this every day. @drose and atty posing with giddy jurors after verdict. #DoevRose pic.twitter.com/hbmxnPnyf6
— Joel Rubin (@joelrubin) October 19, 2016
Jurors posed for photos with Derrick Rose after finding him not liable in civil trial for rape: https://t.co/KXcUPVRZeR pic.twitter.com/f26eHJ7VM6
— Deadspin (@Deadspin) October 19, 2016
Mark Baute, Rose’s lawyer who was adamant about the innocence from the beginning said “the system worked,” according to Deadspin.
Waukeen McCoy, the lawyer for Jane Doe, predictably had a very different opinion on the outcome. He told reporters “a celebrity can come to court and slut shame a plaintiff.”
Both parties agreed that Jane Doe went over to Roses Beverly Hills apartment to take shots of tequila. Where the dissension comes is after that–where Doe claims that she got home, puked, and passed out on her bed in her dress. She woke up with her dress around her neck and lube all over the bed. Rose and his friends claim that the woman consented to let them in and have sex with all three of them, even instructing them on how the sex acts.
From an outsider’s perspective, details from the two-week trial looked bleak for Rose, as it was made public that when asked at his deposition, Rose did not have any answer as to what consent means.
Also, after Rose had sex with the accuser, he took the condom and put it back in the wrapper and took it with him like he was never there. Rose’s lawyers countered by saying that is what NBA players are told to do, as they are instructed to flush their condoms down the toilet or take them so women can’t use the sperm to impregnate themselves.
Really ugly situation all around. No one wins.
[h/t Deadspin]