Former Illinois star Terrence Shannon Jr.'s legal team may show video evidence at his felony rape trial next week to support his claim that mistaken identity could have led police to charge the wrong man , a judge ruled Friday.
At a hearing in Lawrence, Kansas, Shannon's attorneys argued that video evidence they will present during trial will show another man standing next to the alleged victim on the night of the alleged sexual assault at the same Lawrence bar that the judge Amy Hanley called. “relevant” to the case during its ruling. That “third defendant,” according to Shannon's legal team, had been accused of nonconsensual sexual touching of another woman two weeks earlier at the bar where the woman in Shannon's case had told police in September that a man He had penetrated her sexually. with her fingers. He later identified Shannon through a Google search.
“Furthermore, it is alleged that the defendant, the third defendant, to be very precise, was present at the scene of this case and this alleged crime,” Hanley said in his Friday ruling. “The court considers that this evidence is relevant and admissible and the defense may present it.”
Shannon was charged with felony rape and arrested in December. She missed six games before rejoining the Illinois men's basketball team and leading the program to the NCAA Tournament. She is ranked 31st among NBA prospects by ESPN.
The woman in Shannon's case told police that the former Illinois star assaulted her while she was against a wall at the bar with limited ability to move. She said she never gave him any indication that she was consensual and said she had not had any interactions with Shannon before that night. She said she thought Shannon committed the act, which she said lasted about 30 seconds, “by proxy” and “just to prove that she could do it.”
According to Shannon's attorneys at Friday's hearing, video evidence shows an unnamed third party standing “exactly” in the same place, next to a Kansas basketball player who will testify in Shannon's defense, at the same time and “at an arm's length away” from where The woman in the NBA prospect case said he was standing the night of the alleged sexual assault.
In a separate incident, the third defendant was accused of sexually assaulting a woman prior to the allegations against Shannon, but those charges were later dropped. Shannon's legal team said the woman who had told police that the third defendant had touched her sexually at the same bar two weeks before Shannon was accused of a similar act with a different woman at that location, in addition to another eyewitness, will testify at Shannon's trial. next week. The unnamed third party has not been accused of allegedly sexually touching the woman he will testify.
On Thursday, Shannon's legal team filed a motion to allow video evidence to be admitted at his trial. Kansas prosecutors also filed a motion to block that request. A different judge had initially called the third-party defendant's video evidence “unfettered speculation” and blocked an earlier motion by Shannon's legal team to admit it.
In their motion Thursday, Shannon's attorneys said: “No male DNA was found on vaginal swabs or external genitalia taken from the alleged victim on the date of the alleged incident and no other male DNA was found on the thighs, buttocks, o The underwear could match Mr. Shannon's.”
Attorneys for the defense team also allege that Lawrence police knew about the allegations against the third defendant, but failed to adequately investigate those allegations before charging and arresting Shannon.
