NBA star Derrick Rose took the stand Friday, denying allegations that he and two friends raped a former girlfriend.Derrick Rose waits for a reporter’s question during a press conference at the New York Knicks Media Day on Sept. 26, 2016, in White Plains, New York.
Rose,a player for the New York Knicks, and the two other men are being sued in federal civil court by a woman who claims that they drugged her while she was drunk and later sneaked into her apartment to have sex with her while she was incapacitated. The plaintiff has asked to be awarded $21 million.
The men have not been charged criminally in the case. Los Angeles police officials have said they are continuing to investigate the 2013 incident, which the woman reported in 2015.
Rose, 28, was called to testify by his accuser’s attorney in the afternoon and answered questions for several hours until U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald ended testimony for the day. Rose will continue his testimony Tuesday when the trial resumes. The other two defendants, Randall Hampton and Ryan Allen, childhood friends of Rose’s whom he now employs, are expected to testify later.