Affichage des articles dont le libellé est Steubenville. Afficher tous les articles
Affichage des articles dont le libellé est Steubenville. Afficher tous les articles

Steubenville Rape Trial: Judge Says Verdict Coming

The 16-year-old accuser in the Steubenville, Ohio, rape trial took the stand this afternoon, saying she was "embarrassed and scared" after hearing about the night she was allegedly sexually assaulted by two high school football players.

"I honestly did not know what to think because I didn't remember anything," she testified.

The accuser said the last thing she remembers that night was "walking outside of [the first] house and down the steps and that's it."

After the accuser's testimony, the defense and prosecution rested and gave their closing arguments, and the judge said there would be a verdict Sunday at 10 a.m.

RELATED: Witness Testifies to Recording Alleged Assault

She said she drank a slushie she spiked with Smirnoff vodka, a Smirnoff malt beverage, and a shot of vodka that night. She said she knew she felt drunk and was not acting like herself.

The next morning, the girl said, she woke up naked next to 17-year-old Trent Mays, one of the two defendants, at the house of a boy she had never met, but knew of. She said she asked where her clothing was, but was unable to retrieve her underwear, shoes, or earrings.

The girl said she never met Ma'lik Richmond, 16, the other defendant.

Prosecutors accuse Richmond and Mays of using their fingers to vaginally penetrate the girl at an alcohol-fueled party in Steubenville on the night of Aug. 11, as other teenagers watched. Mays is also accused of later sending text messages that included photographs of the girl with her clothing removed and is charged with distributing nude images of a minor.

Brian Duncan, a lawyer representing Mays, said simply: "Trent Mays did not rape the young lady in question."

Richmond, in an exclusive interview recently with "20/20" anchor Elizabeth Vargas, said, "I didn't rape anybody. I didn't witness a rape going on."

"And if I would have thought that somebody was being raped or anything like that, I would have stopped it," he said.

RELATED: Accuser Texts 'They Were Taking Advantage of Me'

The alleged victim said her mother picked her up from a friend's house later that day. She said she told her she could not remember anything from the night before and didn't know where her phone was.

The girl said she saw tweets regarding what had happened at the party the night of the alleged attack, but said she "didn't know what to believe."

Eventually, a friend sent her a picture of herself from the night, she said. In the picture, she is seen nude and lying on her side. She said she did not remember the photo being taken or giving permission for it to be taken.

She was also shown a second photo on the stand where she is seen lying naked on her stomach. When asked if she remembered it being taken, she began crying.

"How does that photo make you feel?" the prosecutor asked her.

"Not good," the accuser said.

The girl testified that she eventually found out what happened that night through communicating via text message with an eyewitness, who told her that 18-year-old former Ohio State University student Michael Nodianos had made a 12-minute YouTube video making fun of her. When she went to watch it online, she could only stomach one minute of the video, she said.

"Honestly, I was praying everything I heard wasn't true. I thought everyone would blame me," she said.

On Aug. 13, the alleged victim testified she was taken to the hospital by her aunt and mother. She said she did not want to give her name, and said she doesn't remember using the word rape while she was there.

She said the nurse at the hospital told her that a rape kit would be a waste since it was a day after the alleged attack happened.

Steubenville Teens Guilty in Rape Trial

Two Steubenville, Ohio, high school football players accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl have been found delinquent by a judge -- the juvenile court equivalent of guilty.

Trent Mays, 17, and Ma'lik Richmond, 16, were both sentenced to at least one year in juvenile jail and could be held until they are 21 years old. Mays was sentenced to an additional year for a charge related to distributing nude images of a minor. Both teens were told to avoid contact with the victim at least until they are 21.

Judge Thomas Lipps told the court that he reviewed the case's documents and text messages again. He said that many of the things learned during the trial were "profane" and "ugly."

Lipps said the case showed alcohol "as a particular danger to our teenage youth" before finding the teens "delinquent beyond a reasonable doubt."

RELATED: Witness Testifies to Recording Alleged Assault

Cries could be heard in court from the teens and their families.

Mays' attorney called him a "family-oriented, loving, young man" and asked the judge for leniency. Richmond's lawyer cried as he spoke about his client and his difficult family history.

Mays briefly addressed the court saying, "I would truly like to apologize to [the victim] and her family."

Richmond cried as he approached the front of the courtroom.

"I would like to apologize," he said, struggling to speak through his sobs. "I had no intentions to do anything like that. I'm sorry to put you guys through this."

Richmond's father also addressed the court and discussed not being there for his son and his own struggles with alcoholism.

"I'm sorry for what you all had to go through," Richmond's father told the victim's parents, "and I hope somewhere in your hearts that you can forgive Trent and Ma'lik for the pain that they caused your daughter and put you through."

He said he felt responsible for his son's actions.

"I apologize to the world, not only my community, for the bad light that has been shone on Steubenville and everybody else," Richmond said.

The verdict came after a four-day trial that included tearful testimony from the accuser who said she was "embarrassed and scared" after hearing about the night she was allegedly sexually assaulted while intoxicated.

"I honestly did not know what to think because I didn't remember anything," she testified.

The teen pieced together the night's events from Twitter, Instagram photos, a YouTube video, text messages and witnesses.

RELATED: Accuser Texts 'They Were Taking Advantage of Me'

Prosecutors accused Mays and Richmond of using their fingers to vaginally penetrate the girl at an alcohol-fueled party in Steubenville on the night of Aug. 11, 2012, as other teenagers watched. Mays was also accused of later sending text messages that included photographs of the girl with her clothing removed and charged with distributing nude images of a minor.

Brian Duncan, a lawyer representing Mays, told ABC News' "20/20" that what occurred that night was consensual.

"Trent Mays did not rape the young lady in question," Duncan said.

Richmond, in an exclusive interview recently with "20/20" anchor Elizabeth Vargas, said, "I didn't rape anybody. I didn't witness a rape going on.

"And if I would have thought that somebody was being raped or anything like that," he added, "I would have stopped it."

The case drew further attention when some outside the small Rust Belt town accused local officials of willfully protecting the football players, seen as hometown heroes.

ABC News' Russell Goldman contributed to this report.

Steubenville Script Goes Awry for Accused Teen

Ma'lik Richmond, a high school sophomore football player in Steubenville, Ohio, is accused of raping a 16-year-old girl from across the Ohio River in West Virginia while at a party with several other teenage boys.

The case has created a firestorm in the small football-obsessed city stoked by allegations that officials protected football Steubenville players at the expense of the alleged victim. Residents there follow the storied Big Red high school football team religiously. It is a program that Ma'lik, 16, had dreamed of joining and, on the night of Aug. 11, 2012, he relished the role he played in their first scrimmage win.

"I had two touchdowns and the fans were screaming and cheering," Ma'lik told ABC News' Elizabeth Vargas in an exclusive interview with "20/20" given a little more than a week before his trial, which begins today. "I was just thinking, 'I just can't wait for the season to start.'"

RELATED: Steubenville Scandal in Photos

It's no surprise that he was in a celebratory mood. But even Ma'lik admits that some of what happened at the parties he and several of his teammates attended that night crossed the line.

"I knew one person had a fake I.D.," Ma'lik said. "People had Bud Light Platinum, and different variety of beers and vodka. Everybody was drinking."

But, Ma'lik insists, that was the only crime committed that night.

Watch the full story on "20/20" Friday, March 22, at 10 ET

Prosecutors will argue that the young girl who was allegedly raped was intoxicated and beyond the point of consent when Ma'lik and teammate Trent Mays, 17, allegedly used their hands to penetrate her vaginally. In Ohio, as in many states, that constitutes the crime of rape.

"The state doesn't have to prove that she was flat-lined, but it's clear during both of these digital penetrations she was not in the state to consent," Prosecutor Marianne Hemmeter said at a probable cause hearing in October.

RELATED: The Story You Haven't Heard From Steubenville

The alleged victim's civil attorney also insists it would have been impossible for his client to consent that night. "My client was unconscious that night. She doesn't have any memory of what happened," Bob Fitzsimmons told "20/20."

ABC News does not name the victims of alleged sexual assaults.

Ma'lik says he was stunned to get a text from a friend three days after the party saying that one of the girls present that night had accused him of rape.

"I just texted him, like, 'What are you talking about? Stop playing with me,'" he said.

Up until that fateful night, Ma'lik's life had read like a script from the movie "The Blind Side." Growing up, it was not uncommon for him to dodge gunfire at home.

"One day we were all just sitting in my living room and it was dark and all you hear is a big gunshot," he said. "The bullet flew past my cousin's head and we all just hit the floor. I just remember basically every house I lived in was the same exact thing."

Sports soon became an escape from his home life. By the age of 8, he had already become a gifted athlete who excelled at baseball, basketball and track. It was football, though, that afforded him the first real opportunity for a better life.

Greg Agresta is a successful banker living on the other side of Steubenville with his wife, Jennifer, a teacher, and their two sons. He was encouraged nine years ago to sign his 8-year-old son, Robby, up for a pee-wee football league whose rosters included disadvantaged kids. Greg was soon recruited to coach the team, and he immediately took notice of one player.

Affaire de viol de Steubenville : Untold Story

Les yeux de la nation se concentrera cette semaine sur ce qui se passe à l'intérieur d'un palais de justice de Steubenville, Ohio, minuscule. L'ensemble du procès juvénile pour commencer il est le cauchemar de tous les parents et un récit édifiant pour les adolescents vivant dans le monde numérique d'aujourd'hui.

Steubenville est une ville habituée à avoir de l'attention des médias prodiguée sur un bâtiment très différent. Au milieu de cette ville de 18 000 niché à la frontière orientale de l'Ohio se dresse Harding Stadium, le joyau de cette ancienne ville en acier. Surnommé la vallée de la mort, la structure de 10 000 places est abrite l'équipe de football de Big Red, un des programmes d'études secondaires plus riche de l'Ohio.

Steubenville est un endroit où le football est plus qu'un temps passé ; C'est une religion. Et ici les résidents adorent le vendredi soir.

Des scores de chaque temps Big Red, une sculpture d'un étalon nommé Man o ' War respire un flot de 6 pieds de feu dans le ciel nocturne au stade de Harding. Mais la saison passée, défaite des éliminatoires du deuxième tour de l'équipe a été éclipsée par une tempête de feu très différent qui a englouti l'équipe et toute la ville.

Steubenville lance un site Web sur le prétendu viol Teen

Tout comme la saison était prépare à la fin de l'été dernier, deux joueurs de football de Big Red ont été accusés d'avoir participé au viol d'une jeune fille ivre de 16 ans avec des amis, documentant le crime allégué par le biais de téléphone portable photos et la vidéo. La frénésie des médias sociaux a pris une vie propre, avec des rapports allant jusqu'à appeler l'incident un "viol" d'un inconscient fille. En réalité, les procureurs soutiennent que Trent Mays, 17 et Ma'lik Richmond, 16, utilisé leurs mains pour pénétrer pendant qu'elle était trop ivre pour consentir, droit de l'Ohio, un tel crime constitue un viol, comme il le fait dans de nombreux endroits.

Au moins trois autres étudiants de Steubenville dire ils voyaient les rencontres alléguées, et d'autres encore entendu parler d'eux et posté des messages, les photos et les vidéos de l'incident sur les sites de médias sociaux.

Voir l'article complet sur "20/20" ABC vendredi 22 mars, à 22

La nouvelle se répandit bientôt au-delà de Steubenville, conduisant le pirate-activistes et groupes de défense des femmes pour faire sauter le couvercle de l'histoire à l'échelle nationale, interrogatoire pourquoi ceux qui connaissait les allégations n'étaient pas aussi facturés conformément à une loi de l'Ohio, obligeant les gens à dénoncer les crimes dont ils sont au courant.