A federal jury found on Wednesday that the New York Knicks’ Derrick Rose and two of Rose’s friends should not be held liable in the civil lawsuit accusing them of gang-rape. Diana Moskovitz, who has been covering the trial for Deadspin, reports:
Rose was mostly emotionless as the not-liable verdicts were read on claims including sexual battery, battery, trespassing, conspiracy, gender violence and emotional distress, staring at his hands during the reading and closing his eyes and tilting his head back once it was over. Jane Doe had her head in her hands through the whole reading.
In a statement to the Associated Press, the 28-year-old Rose said, “I am thankful that the jury understood and agreed with me. This experience and my sensitivity to it was deep. I am ready to put this behind me and focus on my family and career.”
Rose stood accused of raping “Jane Doe” in her Los Angeles apartment on Aug. 27, 2013. Doe testified that she drank a lot on the day in question and suspects she may have been drugged. She says she was unconscious while Rose, Ryan Allen, and Randall Hampton—the latter two Rose’s childhood friends and current employees—had sex with her. Rose, Allen, and Hampton all say they had sex with Doe but that it was consensual. Rose and Doe had a pre-existing relationship, one the basketball player described as “sexual” and “non-exclusive.” In testimony two weeks ago, he said he interpreted a text message the woman sent 17 hours before they had sex—it read “U the reason why I wake up horny”—as an indicator of consent. “In my mind, she consented every time we had sex. Why wouldn’t she do it that one time?” he testified.
In closing arguments on Tuesday, Doe’s attorney described his client as the victim of a “classic” gang rape. Rose’s lawyer countered: “She wants money, and she’s upset that Derrick ended the sexual relationship.” Doe had asked for $21.5 million when she field her suit in 2015. The Knicks point guard is set to make $21.3 million this year in the last season of a five-year contract extension he signed in 2011 when he was still a member of the Chicago Bulls.
As ESPN.com reports, the woman filed a police report at the same time as the civil suit. The Los Angeles Police Department says it is continuing to look into the case and has no estimate on when its investigation will be complete. Last week, the LAPD detective assigned to the Rose case died of a gunshot wound. “At this time, there are no signs of foul play, and this incident is being investigated as a suicide,” a police spokesman said, adding that it was “an ongoing investigation.”
At the conclusion of today’s proceedings, Rose posed for photos with what a Los Angeles Times reporter described as “giddy jurors”:
