Is Derrick Rose's Gang-Rape Case Close to Being Declared a Mistrial?

Lawyers representing former Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose in a civil lawsuit accusing him and two friends of gang rape asked the judge to declare a mistrial Tuesday, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Los Angeles U.S. District Court Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald said he's considering the defense's request after the plaintiff's lawyers waited until Friday — the day Rose testified — to give the defense three text messages vital to its case, the report stated. The judge called the lawyers' delay in producing those exhibits for the defense careless and serious enough to warrant a mistrial, the report added.

Attorneys for the plaintiff — a woman who met Rose in 2011 and was in a two-year relationship with the Chicago native — claim they had disclosed the text messages and that the mistrial request is frivilous, according to the report. Fitzgerald disagreed and has ordered the woman's lawyers to show proof they gave the messages to the defense, the report added.

Rose, 28, and two of his childhood friends are on trial in a civil lawsuit brought against them by a 30-year-old college student. In the suit, the woman accuses the three men of drugging her during a party at Rose's Los Angeles home in Augst of 2013. The men then went to her apartment later that night and allegedly raped her while she was unconscious. The woman is seeking $21.5 million in damages.

More Derrick Rose Lawsuit Coverage on Patch

• There's No Crying in Court: Lawyer in Derrick Rose's Gang-Rape Case Objects to Woman's Tearful Testimony
• L.A. Police Investigating Derrick Rose Gang Rape Accusations
• Gang-Rape Accuser: 'I Didn't Want Nobody to Know'
• Derrick Rose Sued by Woman Claiming He and 2 Friends Drugged and Gang Raped Her

In the past, Rose — who was traded this past offseason from the Bulls to the New York Knicks — has admitted to having group sex with the woman during that night in 2013, but he claims it was consensual. During his testimony Friday, the NBA All-Star claimed the woman texted him sexual messages throughout the day of the alleged rape, and he considered those texts to be consent for the sex that occurred later, the Sun-Times reports.

If declared, a mistrial would push a new trial into the NBA regular season, the report stated. Rose has already missed one preseason game because he needed to be in court, the report added.

Rose has proclaimed his innocence in the case since the lawsuit was filed in 2015. Although no criminal charges have been filed against Rose, the Los Angeles Police Department said last month detectives are actively investigating the allegations.

More via the Chicago Sun-Times

photo via Patch archives

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