Knicks Star Derrick Rose's Attorney Accuses LA Rape Accuser of Seeking Payout

LOS ANGELES, CA -- New York Knicks point guard Derrick Rose and two friends drugged and sexually assaulted a woman in her apartment just hours after she had visited the NBA star's rented Beverly Hills mansion, an attorney told a federal court jury today.

"Each of them took turns raping her, they don't even know who went first," the woman's attorney, Waukeen McCoy, told a jury hearing opening statements in the trial of his client's civil suit against Rose and the two men in U.S. District Court.

But Rose's lawyer, Mark Baute, called the woman's lawsuit "a fake case" in which she was seeking "a lottery hit" -- or a big financial payout - - from the NBA player. He said the sex was consensual, that the plaintiff was not drunk and that she beckoned Rose through a series of texts to come to her Washington Boulevard apartment for additional sex in addition to the oral copulation she performed on him at the mansion.

Baute said Rose and the woman had a "friends with benefits relationship" that began a few years earlier when they met at a Hollywood nightclub. They had sex many times before the night she alleges she was assaulted, Baute said.

The woman, identified in court papers as "Jane Doe," alleges Rose and a pair of his childhood friends, Randall Hampton and Ryan Allen, slipped a drug into her drink in August 2013 before "gang raping" her at her downtown Los Angeles apartment.

'This case is about sexual deviance," McCoy said.

The woman didn't report the alleged incident to police for two years. Her lawsuit was filed in August 2015.

McCoy said Rose and his companions all brought condoms with them to the plaintiff's apartment and that the alleged assaults took place in her bedroom.

"She remembers Mr. Rose pulling her to the edge of the bed...," McCoy said.

After the alleged rapes, the woman "tried to get up, but she couldn't," McCoy said. "She was trying to grab the blanket and she felt like throwing up."

Rose took the condom he used with him before he left, prompting his companions to laugh at him, McCoy said.

The plaintiff "never had any interest in sleeping with three men in one day," McCoy said. She later began "trying to piece together what happened" and later found a used condom on the floor and an unused one on her bed, McCoy said.

The woman hesitated before reporting the incident to the police, McCoy said.

"She felt she would be a target because Mr. Rose is a big celebrity basketball player," McCoy said.

He said Rose was not remorseful for his actions and that Rose had told Phil Jackson, the president of the New York Knicks and former Lakers head coach, that he hadn't lost any sleep over the incident. Rose was traded from the Chicago Bulls to the Knicks in June.

But Baute said Rose is a shy individual who emerged from poverty in Chicago, where he was raised by his mother, to become a basketball star for his hometown teams, winning awards for rookie of the year and most valuable player. He said Rose was no different from many young men when it came to his personal mores.

"We're not here to judge sexual, personal or moral values," Baute said.

Baute said the plaintiff wanted Rose and his friends to come to her apartment rather than the mansion for more sex because it was closer to her job, where she was scheduled to return to work about six hours after the 3 a.m. encounter.

"The evidence is they're invited there in multiple texts," Baute said.

Baute said basketball players are schooled to bring their used condoms with them after sexual encounters.

"When you're an NBA player, you don't leave your sperm around for someone to get pregnant with it," Baute said.

Lawyer Michael Monico, on behalf of Hampton and Allen, told jurors, "There was no gang rape, there was no rape at all. It is in many ways a sad, sad story."

Court papers show that the Los Angeles Police Department has opened an investigation into the woman's allegations, but no criminal charges have been filed.

Speaking at Knicks media day last week, Rose, 28, denied any wrongdoing.

"I'm innocent. I felt like I didn't do anything wrong," he said.

The 30-year-old woman -- whose name was revealed for the first time in court filings Tuesday, under a ruling by the judge -- is listed as the first witness to take the stand in the case.

Testimony is set to begin Thursday, when Rose is also expected to be in court. He was excused by the judge from attending the opening statements.

City News Service