On Tuesday we learned that Jane Doe, the woman suing Derrick Rose and two of his friends over an alleged gang rape, will have to reveal her name on the first day of civil court proceedings if she wants to continue with the case.
Rose and his legal team have been fighting for Jane Doe’s name to be revealed for some time now, and because the court believes that the use of a pseudonym could create an unfair prejudice against Rose during trial, her name must be revealed, according to the official court order.
In that same court order, however, is a tiny nugget that is a major win for Jane Doe. A huge part of the Rose defense has been to question the character of Doe by portraying her as “sexually aggressive.” According to the court order, if Rose “continues to utilize language that shames and blames the victims of rape either in his motion practice or before the jury, the Court will consider sanctions.”
https://twitter.com/werlysportslaw/status/779024685728018432
While it’s unclear at the moment what those sanctions could be, it makes the work for the defense team that much harder. Up until this point, the crux of their defense has been to drag Doe’s character through the mud instead of addressing the issue of consent, which is why this case has been brought about in the first place.
Doe is suing Rose and his two friends for $21.5 million in damages resulting from the August 2013 incident. The trial is set to start on October 4, which is when Doe’s name will be released if no settlement is reached between now and then.
(via Dan Werly)
