Was the sex consensual? That is one of the primary questions before jurors in the rape trial of two former UT football players that is underway this week in Knoxville.
A.J. Johnson and Michael Williams are accused of raping a University of Tennessee coed in Johnson's room during a party at Johnson's South Knoxville apartment in November 2014. The men say they're innocent and allege the young woman had had consensual sex with Johnson in the past.
Because of the high profile nature of the case, it took an entire week to pick a jury to hear the case. Opening statements got underway Monday morning.
Prosecutors opening statement
Prosecutors acknowledged that the alleged victim had sex with Johnson twice before the night of the alleged rape, but that it was not consensual on the night of November 14, 2015.
Johnson hosted the party to celebrate the football team's win over Kentucky that made the Vols bowl eligible. The alleged victim told investigators she followed Johnson up to his room to look at his fish tank. Williams and a friend of the victim were with them.
She said she sat on the bed and began to take off her shoes because her feet were tired, according to the state.
“You don’t need to take your shoes off for what we’re about to do,” Johnson said, according to prosecutors, before initiating sex.
The alleged victim said she wasn't comfortable having sex with her friend in the room, that it surprised, her, and that it happened very fast, according to the state.
At the same time, the state claimed Williams began assaulting the friend, who said no and left the room. Williams followed her out, but then returned.
That's when the state said Johnson told Williams to make sure the door was locked, according to prosecutors, and that Williams also started to have sex with the alleged victim.
At that point, prosecutors said the victim told the men, "No, this is not right, let me leave." She cried, they said, but didn't fight back because she was scared.
Prosecutors pointed out that Johnson and Williams were not only big, strong men, but also that they were "big men on campus" because they were football players. That status, they argued, gave the men power, privilege and protection.
After the alleged rape, the woman left the apartment, met up with some people she knew, then called 911 on her way home.
Prosecutors said after the players were suspended and word got out that she was the accuser, she moved home because she didn't feel safe in Knoxville anymore.
Defense opening statement
After a break for lunch, jurors heard from the defense. Williams and Johnson are represented by two different lawyers.
Johnson's attorney addressed the jury first. He displayed a slide that read "Not Guilty" and said the alleged victim is locked in a lie.
He said that the alleged victim and Johnson had consensual sex several times, but pointed out that it wasn't a romantic relationship. He claimed that the sex the two had on the night of the alleged rape was "consistent with their prior relationship”.
He argued that in the heat of the moment, the three of them decided to have group sex. She wanted it to be kept secret, but when she realized that it wasn't possible, she came up with a story.
The alleged rape, the lawyer said, is a lie that has “warped out of control.” He believed that the state would not be able to prove that Johnson and Williams raped the woman.
Williams' attorney echoed many of the same arguments in his opening statement, he said the alleged victim's tears that night were not because she was raped, but because she was embarrassed.
First witness: a friend in town for the weekend
The prosecution called its first witness, Anna Lawn, around 3 p.m.
She is a close friend of the alleged victim from high school.
Lawn was in town for the weekend to visit the alleged victim. She said they went to a UT football game and then to Johnson's house for a party afterwards.
She said she spoke to Michael Williams at the party and that he attempted to move her hand to his crotch. However, Lawn said he stopped when he protested.
Later at the party, she said she went upstairs along with Johnson, Williams and the alleged victim. She said she wasn't expecting to have sex, but rather was going to look at fish tanks Johnson had in his room.
When they got upstairs, she said Williams and Johnson began attempting to make her and her friend perform sex acts.
She said she tried to stop Williams. He pushed her head toward him and continued to encourage her to have sex with him. She said she refused and got out of the room.
The defense asked several times why she left her friend, the alleged victim, behind. She said she froze and was trying to keep herself out of a dangerous situation.
Later, she testified that she saw the alleged victim come out of Johnson's bedroom.
"She was crying hysterically, tears streaming down her face. Hands covering her mouth, hands covering her face."
The case is due to continue with another witness from the prosecution Tuesday at 10 a.m.
Continuing coverage
WBIR reporter Cole Sullivan is providing updates from the courtroom via Twitter as this trial continues: