New Knick Derrick Rose has come out firing against the woman accusing him and two friends of gang-raping her.
The woman, identified only as Jane Doe, says in a $21 million lawsuit filed
in California federal court last year that Rose and his two pals drugged her, entered her southern California apartment and gang raped her in August 2013.
Rose maintains what happened was consensual — and doubled down on his stance in court papers filed Monday.
"This is not a rape case. It's pure and simple extortion by a plaintiff who wants to hide behind the cloak of anonymity while seeking millions in damages from a celebrity with whom she was in a long-term nonexclusive consensual sexual relationship," the new filing says.
"Plaintiff is a 30-year old adult who was in a consensual relationship with Mr. Rose; she was the sexual aggressor that night; she brought another woman with her, she claimed she bought (and did bring) the sex toys, she drank before arriving, and asked Mr. Rose for drugs (which he declined) and alcohol."
The 27-year-old former Bulls star's lawyers say his defense is bolstered by Doe's own text messages.
"Plaintiff's own text messages — wrongfully withheld until the day after her deposition — contradict the allegations in the Complaint. The texts show Plaintiff being adventurous, claiming to buy and bringing a sex belt to have fun with Mr. Rose, and then asking Mr. Rose to drive over to her house at 1 a.m. for more consensual sexual interaction. Plaintiff also withheld texts showing that when she woke up the next morning, she asked Mr. Rose for reimbursement for her cab fare and the sex toys she claimed to purchase, and mentioned only that she had a hangover and had to get to work," the filing says.
The case is set to go trial in October. Rose is trying to use the texts to argue she should not be allowed to be identified as "Jane Doe" during the trial.
"The Court must ensure that Mr. Rose, who has not been charged or convicted of a crime, is not unfairly prejudiced at trial," the filing says.
"Rather than allow a calculating 30-year old adult to misuse the "Jane Doe" statute for her own financial gain by trying to threaten Mr. Rose with irreparable reputational damage as the basis for an extortionate settlement payment, the only fair way for this case to be tried to a jury is for Plaintiff to recognize that she cannot continue to hide behind the pseudonym when her credibility is a key issue and the evidence shows a clear consensual sexual encounter."
Lawyers for Doe blasted the Rose filings as "misogynistic."
"They have no response on the merits, so they call the victim a sexual aggressor when she's a rape victim," said one of the attorneys, Brandon Anand.
Another, Waukeen McCoy, said Rose's team was using "harassment tactics" by trying to get her name made public.
In her filings, the woman maintains she was drugged and raped, and says the incident left her life in tatters.
"She recalls defendant Rose walking towards her bed, lifting her dress and penetrating her," he court papers say. "She recalls feeling extremely sick and very dizzy and attempting to roll over as she was gagging and nauseous."
The suit says Doe did not go to the police the next day, as a coworker had suggested, because she didn't want her family to know and was afraid of retribution from the men.
The case is scheduled to go to trial for Oct. 4, the same day the NBA's preseason begins.
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