CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- A judge threw out a gang rape case Wednesday against six University of Tennessee-Chattanooga football players, ruling that there was not enough evidence to prove that their sex with a female student was not consensual.
Hamilton County General Sessions Court Judge Clarence Shattuck said there was insufficient evidence to refer the case to a grand jury after hearing a day of testimony from the 18-year-old alleged victim and others.
She testified Wednesday that she attended a football game and cheered for the players the day after the alleged Oct. 21 rape and then had consensual sex with another player hours before going to police Oct. 23.
The six players, all out on bond since they were charged in early November, hugged each other and celebrated quietly after the judge announced his decision.
The judge threw out rape charges against DeJuan Payne, 21, of Stone Mountain, Ga.; Muhammad Ahmad Abdus-Salaam, 19, of Atlanta; Lironnie Davis, 19, of Macon, Ga.; Cori Stukes, 22, of Wilmington, N.C.; Terrence Thomas, 20, of Lithonia, Ga.; and Larry White, 21, of College Park, Ga.
The woman said she was never threatened or treated violently at the player's apartment where the alleged rape occurred and tried to resist by saying no to some of them, although she couldn't remember who.
She said she waited two days before going to police because they are "football players and everybody would believe their side and not mine."
Shattuck said the testimony did not show the woman -- who testified she drank three malt liquors, at least two beers and sipped some mixed liquor drinks -- was unable to either attract attention of nearby residents by screaming or just leave the apartment.
"It does not look like to me, from the proof I have heard, that she was physically helpless," Shattuck said.
The players were kicked out of the university after the student told investigators she got intoxicated at a fraternity party and was later repeatedly sexually assaulted.
Defense attorneys attempted to focus on the woman's reputation and filed a motion to pierce the state's rape shield law. Shattuck refused to allow evidence from a Web site maintained by the woman that included profane, sexual references.
Police sent the woman to a rape crisis center Oct. 23 and a nurse testified there were some bruises and a tear in the woman's vaginal area was likely caused by rape. Defense attorneys said the tear could have been an injury from slipping on football bleachers or from the consensual sex.
Thomas' attorney, Jerry Summers, said the case involved "consensual sex by a confused young woman."
The university held an academic hearing on the players last week related to the charges but had not made a decision before Wednesday's dismissal. The woman is no longer a student at the university.
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