Local attorney Glen Lenhoff called the case one of the biggest in the history of Genesee County because of who was on trial and what was at stake. Cleaves grew up in Flint, a town of about ,, and still calls the community his home.
He is probably the area's biggest celebrity. Many people in the area watched him go from high school All-American to one of the "Flintstones" who led Michigan State to a national championship in and then went on to the NBA. All of the Flintstones were represented, sort of, in the seven-day trial. Morris Peterson showed up for one day of testimony, and Charlie Bell's mom, Belle Bell, was in the courtroom for multiple days. Men's basketball coach Tom Izzo was there for closing arguments Tuesday.
He hugged Cleaves before they entered the courtroom and sat roughly 15 feet away from him. I watched my mother house women that had been raped and put them in safe situations. I watched my father fight for peoples' rights in this community. So I want to apologize for dampening that somewhat with this crazy issue we had to deal with. Prosecutors had suggested that Cleaves' celebrity status might have led to preferential treatment, at least from the Mundy Township police, who did not take an incident report in the early morning hours of Sept.
Ron Johnson testified that the woman, who appeared to be intoxicated, initially didn't say she was assaulted. Wayne County assistant prosecutor Lisa Lindsey declined to comment as she left the courtroom. The woman's mother did not immediately respond to a call from ESPN.
The case did not move seamlessly through the court system. Mateen Cleaves was never an NBA star , but he made a name for himself in college basketball while playing at Michigan State University. Recently, his name came up in headlines for the wrong reasons after he faced rape accusations. While Cleaves was acquitted by a jury, the story got darker after a video of the alleged incident appeared to show Cleaves dragging the victim back to his room.
It is the latest in a case of high-profile athletes receiving allegations and an important reminder that sports have real-world implications. Do you want the news without having to hunt for it? Sign up for our morning s'newsletter. It's everything your friends are talking about and then some. And it's free! Sunday, November 14, Lindsey told jurors that the woman was the "perfect victim" and that Cleaves targeted her specifically because she was drunk and therefore less likely to resist, flee or to be believed.
Mike Manley said in his closing argument that the sex was consensual, noting that the woman posed for pictures with Cleaves, put his phone number into her phone, went to a motel room with him, where she acknowledged kissing him.
When the woman left the room wearing only her bra, Cleaves was doing the right thing by bringing her back so she could get dressed, Manley said. Manley also offered a blistering critique of Cleaves' accuser, saying that when she spoke with police who were called to the motel, "you had an obnoxious, belligerent, remorseful drunk at that point.
Cleaves wore a gray pinstripe suit to court and hugged several supporters on the courthouse steps as he entered. He sat silently through the closing arguments. Izzo sat in the front row about 10 feet from Cleaves.
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