Former Illinois star Terrence Shannon Jr. will be tried on felony counts of first-degree rape and felony counts of aggravated sexual assault on June 10, a Kansas judge ruled at his preliminary hearing Friday.
Shannon was arraigned and pleaded not guilty before a judge ruled there was probable cause for a trial in his case to proceed.
Last year, a woman accused Shannon of sexually penetrating her with his fingers at a bar in Lawrence, Kansas, on September 9. The woman found Shannon's photo through a Google search and told local police that he was her attacker. Shannon was arrested and charged with “unlawful, knowingly criminal offense.” [engaging] “in sexual intercourse with a person… who did not consent to sexual intercourse under circumstances in which he or she was overcome by force or fear, a level 1 felony.”
In December, Illinois suspended him indefinitely and he missed six games, but a federal judge granted him a temporary restraining order and he returned to the team on January 21. He played the rest of the season and led the team to the Elite Eight. . In April, the university dropped its investigation into Shannon.
Shannon, according to his lawyers, is expected to complete his trial, if the June 10 date stands, before the NBA draft, June 26-27. Before his legal case, he was a projected first-round pick.
Before Shannon's preliminary hearing, her attorneys requested that DNA evidence in the case not be admissible at trial.
In a statement Friday, Shannon's legal team said the judge's ruling has no bearing on his guilt or innocence in the case.
“Our legal team is neither surprised nor disappointed by the outcome of this event,” Mark Sutter, one of Shannon's attorneys, said in a statement. “A preliminary hearing is a procedural process that simply talks about the threshold of evidence and whether there may be an issue of fact for a jury. It has nothing to do with guilt or innocence. Those issues will be decided at trial, and “We look forward to our day in court.”
