Star Montana quarterback takes the stand, denies rape allegation - KYTX CBS 19 Tyler Longview News Weather Sports
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It's being called a classic case of "he-said-she-said," playing out now in a Montana courtroom.
Jordan Johnson, the former star quarterback at the University of Montana, is accused of raping a classmate and former friend. Wednesday, on the stand, he insisted he is not guilty.
"No, I would never do that," he said.
The case has divided the university and surrounding college town of Missoula in western Montana, and it comes down to this crucial discrepancy: Johnson, 20, said he had consensual sex with his classmate. She said it was rape.
Today in court, Johnson took the stand and said, "No means no, and the accuser never said 'no.'"
The incident happened last February, but the 21-year-old alleged victim, whose name is not being reported, didn't tell authorities Johnson raped her until more than a month after the night of the incident. The accuser told authorities that the two had spent time together before the incident but were still getting to know each other.
According to her affidavit, she sent a text message to a friend shortly after the incident, saying, "Omg, I think I might have just gotten raped ... he kept pushing and pushing and I said no but he wouldn't listen ... I just wanna cry ... OMG, what do I do?"
The next day, according to court documents, she went to the University of Montana Student Assault Resource Center and then had a medical exam, where the prosecution said bruises were discovered.
Johnson admitted that, on the night of the incident, he initiated contact with the woman via a text that said, "hey." He said she later invited him to watch a movie in her room and ultimately picked him up. Johnson testified that he had consumed four or five beers at the time and didn't want to drive.
He said that, about 15 minutes into watching the movie in her room, they started kissing on her bed and things quickly escalated.
"She asked if I brought a condom," Johnson said. "I didn't. She said, 'It's OK.'"
He then testified that they had sex, but that there was no resistance and she seemed into it.
"Had she shown any kind of reluctance, I would have stopped," Johnson said.
But according to her account, she didn't want to have sex that night and told police she repeatedly told him, "No, not tonight," while they had sex.
"I just wanted to really get to know him," the alleged victim testified in court. "I didn't really hang out with him since a year prior, just kind of get to know him again, see how school was going."
The prosecution argued that shortly after Johnson arrived in her room, things got ugly, that Johnson positioned himself on top of the alleged victim and became aggressive.
She said he told her, "turn over or I'll make you," and then flipped her over and raped her. Johnson admitted that at one point, he did turn her over but that they were just changing positions. Johnson's defense attorney was quick to point out that it was Johnson's impression that she was enjoying it because "she was moaning."
Johnson is charged with sexual intercourse without consent -- a felony with a maximum sentence of 100 years in prison. While defendants are not required to testify in a criminal trial, Johnson told jurors today he wants people to know what happened.
The defense described the victim as a spurned woman who was jealous of a relationship Johnson was having with another woman he recently started seeing. They pointed to her conflicting text messages to support their argument.
In one text to a friend, the alleged victim wrote, "I don't think he did anything wrong," and in a message to a friend on Facebook, she wrote, "maybe I wanted it."
"When she says I don't think he did anything wrong, even if you put that into context, even if you explain why she would have said that, that's a real problem for prosecutors in this case," ABC News legal analyst Dan Abrams said.
The defense also argued the alleged victim's long delay in reporting the incident is significant, but psychologists said it is not unusual for victims to wait to coming forward.
"It is common for survivors to delay reporting to police, maybe blaming themselves or [have] fear of the unknown," said Katherine Hull, a spokeswoman for RAINN, the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network.
Rape is said to be the most common violent crime on American college campuses today. In the overwhelming majority of those cases, the rape is by an acquaintance, not a stranger. According to the National Institute of Justice, as many as 90 percent of college women who are victims of rape or attempted rape say they knew their assailant.
"Every two minutes a crime like this is reported," Hull said. "Half the time, the survivor is under 18 and, most of the time, they are college-age women."
Guilty or not, the allegation has been life-changing for the former starting quarterback, suspending his promising football career. He led the Montana Grizzlies to an 11-3 season as a sophomore and threw 21 touchdown passes in his last season.
"It's very hard to deal with. Not just me but my family. I don't remember what it's like to be normal," Johnson said in court.
The case is playing out against the backdrop of investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice and the NCAA, and it has made national headlines, with some calling it "trial by Twitter" because bloggers are feverishly tweeting play-by-play updates about every word and movement in the courtroom.
But it's a jury that will decide the case as early as Friday.
