Mistrial is denied over undisclosed text messages in civil rape case against Derrick Rose
Derrick Rose. Photo by Natursports / Shutterstock.com.
Three undisclosed text messages sent by the plaintiff to Knicks guard Derrick Rose, the man she is suing for alleged sexual assault, won’t derail the trial.
U.S. District Judge Michael Fitzgerald of Los Angeles on Wednesday denied a motion for a mistrial, report the Wall Street Journal, the Associated Press and the Los Angeles Times. He instead allowed defense lawyers to call the plaintiff back to testify about the messages.
Fitzgerald said the plaintiff and her lawyers had failed to respond fully to discovery requests, but he was “not going to declare a mistrial when we have a jury in the box.”
Attorneys for Rose claim the texts demonstrate the plaintiff agreed to visit Rose’s rental home for sex. Her suit against Rose and two of his friends alleges they sexually assaulted her after she returned to her own apartment. She testified that she awoke in her bed to find Rose and his friends sexually assaulting her. The defense claims the sex was consensual.
