Illinois Basketball Player Defense Questions Depth of Police Investigation During Rape Trial – The Lawrence Times

By Trend News Line 2024-06-12 01:09:40.

Illinois basketball player Terrence Shannon Jr. may be the one facing a charge of rape in connection with an incident at a Lawrence bar in September, but defense attorneys on Tuesday put the Lawrence Police Department on trial. The woman alleging that she was raped took the stand Tuesday morning to explain the events of the evening and her response to what happened. The incident that led to the charges took place just after midnight Sept. 9 at the Jayhawk Cafe (The Hawk), 1340 Ohio St. The woman, who was 18 at the time, had gone with a friend to the bar’s Martini Room, where she said she was groped and then digitally penetrated by a man she did not know. She later told police that she had identified the man as a basketball player after searching through team rosters online.

“I was terrified,” the woman said. “I was scared and I was shocked. I didn’t know how to react. I didn’t react. All I did was stand there in shock.” Shannon, 23, was charged in December with rape for engaging in intercourse with a person who did not consent or who was overcome by force or fear, or, in the alternative, one count of aggravated sexual battery for touching a person over the age of 16 who did not consent under circumstances when the victim was overcome by force or fear.

In her opening statement, Douglas County Assistant District Attorney Samantha Foster described the scene at The Hawk as “packed,” and then detailed how the woman, who is white, was attempting to leave the crowded bar when she was waved over by a tall, Black man wearing a mustard-colored shirt. Surveillance video from inside the bar shown by prosecutors later in the day illustrated the chaotic scene and showed both Shannon and his accuser within feet of each other prior to the alleged incident. However, there was no video presented showing the two standing side by side as the woman described in police interviews and in court.

Foster said the woman believed she was walking over to talk, exchange phone numbers, or share Snapchat information, but instead found herself being pulled close by her assailant’s right arm and then touched without consent. “There are no phone numbers exchanged,” Foster said. “There are no words exchanged at all. She was absolutely shocked. She didn’t know this man.”

The woman took the stand immediately after opening statements Tuesday morning and told the jury that she and a roommate had gone to The Hawk looking for friends she believed would be there. Although she had already been to the bar and one other earlier in the evening prior to returning to the Martini Room, the woman said she had only a few sips of alcohol and nothing else throughout the evening. She testified that she doesn’t care for crowds and was beginning to get overstimulated in the hot, loud environment of the Martini Room.

Much of defense attorney Tricia Bath’s cross-examination focused on inconsistent statements the woman made to police and to health care professionals who participated in the investigation. Bath asked the woman to describe how she had been pulled through the crowd by the man she identified as Shannon. In court Tuesday, the woman said the man at The Hawk had grabbed her wrist or arm to help her through the crowd. But Bath presented a transcript from the preliminary hearing to show that the woman had earlier said specifically that the man had not pulled on her wrists because she was carrying a drink in one hand and her phone in the other.

Bath also brought up differences in how the woman characterized the amount of alcohol she had consumed. During a police interview and in court, the woman said she had only a few sips of a drink. However, a report generated after the woman submitted to a sexual assault nurse examiner — or SANE — screening at Lawrence Memorial Hospital said the woman reported having three drinks over the course of the evening.

Swabs taken from the woman’s vaginal area, buttocks, and inner thigh areas showed negligible amounts of DNA from several people— amounts that could be picked up through casual contact or transfer, such as from sitting down somewhere — but none was substantial enough to create a profile.

Senior Assistant District Attorney Ricardo Leal briefly questioned Lawrence police Officer Bryan Martes Muñoz, who took the initial report on the afternoon of Sept. 9. Martes interviewed the woman and her roommate together in the lobby of the police station before proceeding with more formal, individual interviews. Martes also testified that he accepted the woman’s identification of Shannon without questioning her further or presenting her with any kind of photo lineup.

Defense attorney Mark Sutter asked Martes why he hadn’t pressed the woman regarding how she had identified Shannon. He also asked Martes whether he’d asked for the names of the woman’s roommates or even the friend she had gone out with that night whom he had spoken to. “I corrected by calling and asking,” Martes said. “I called and collected her information because I forgot at that time.”

Lawrence Police Detective Joshua Leitner was the final witness to take the stand on Tuesday. Leal asked him about his responsibilities as lead detective on the case, and then asked him about evidence Leitner collected from the scene of the incident.

“I responded to The Hawk, and I collected some surveillance video,” Leitner said. “I contacted the manager and downloaded video footage from three or four cameras.” Leitner said that while the bar does have 13-14 additional cameras throughout the facility, he only sought surveillance from the area near where the alleged crime took place. He also said multiple cameras were reportedly out of operation at the time.

Approximately 30 minutes of video was played in court Tuesday. A 25-minute video timestamped 12:23 a.m. Sept. 9 shows the woman and her roommate slowly making their way through the Martini Room as a crowd of people stands shoulder to shoulder near the bar. During the video, Leitner identified Hunter Dickinson, Kevin McCullar, and Elmarko Jackson among the crowd. At one point, a man’s hand and part of his arm can be seen around McCullar’s neck.

Prosecutors submitted into evidence a photograph from former KU basketball player Arterio Morris’ Facebook page showing him with a tattooed left hand and watch on the same wrist that appear to match the hand and arm seen around McCullar’s neck in the video. Morris was accused of raping a woman in his McCarthy Hall room in summer 2023. Those charges were later dropped by the DA’s office for insufficient evidence, but they revealed another accusation against Morris that was remarkably similar to the allegations currently being made against Shannon.

In that case, which was investigated by the KU Police Department with some assistance from the LPD, Morris allegedly rubbed the crotch of an 18-year-old woman in the Martini Room of The Hawk less than two weeks before the incident alleged by the woman in Shannon’s case. No charges were filed against Morris in connection with the alleged incident at The Hawk. He was released from KU’s basketball program after being charged in the case that was later dropped.

The woman testified that a KU football player and friend bought her a vodka and Red Bull before she….

– Defense questions depth of police investigation during rape trial Illinois basketball player
– Defense questions police investigation during rape trial Illinois basketball player.