The notorious Gophers cell phone sex video debuted Thursday in the rape trial of Dominic Jones. The packed Hennepin County courtroom went completely silent for the 30-second running time and the 21 still photos developed from the video.
Thursday: Cell phone sex video presented at ex-U player's rape trial
It was the most dramatic part of the first day of testimony in the courtroom proceedings against former Gophers football star Dominic Jones.
April 7, 2008 at 4:18PM
The video clearly showed the former football star, wearing only a sleeveless white T-shirt, kneeling over the torso of the alleged victim and masturbating. The woman, wearing a red top, lay with her eyes shut and was not talking. Some shots in the video were clear, others were difficult to track.
Jones looked to the camera and smiled in a close-up. He said something indiscernible.
At one point the camera panned to a closet showing a man appearing to peer out. Lawyers have said that was Robert McField, a key witness and one of the former football players who lived in the University Village apartment. Prosecutors say McField told them he saw Jones penetrate the woman, remove his condom and masturbate over her. Nothing approaching penetration appears in the video.
Defense lawyer Earl Gray said Jones never penetrated the woman and none of his DNA was found on any of the nine condoms found in the apartment shared by McField and three other former players.
He admits his client masturbated over the woman, but said the behavior was consensual. Prosecutors say the woman, after a shot-drinking contest with McField, was too drunk to consent.
The video was presented during afternoon testimony from the U.S. Secret Service agent who recovered it from the cell phone of Alex McDaniel, who also lived in the apartment with McField, Keith Massey and E.J. Jones. The defendant, who is not related to E.J. Jones, lived a floor down in the same University Village complex.
Assistant Hennepin County Attorney Marlene Senechal walked the witness, Michael Piper, through the photos, but neither provided any commentary on what jurors were seeing.
No one in the courtroom showed any reaction to the most dramatic part of the first day of testimony. The trial is expected to go into next week.
McField is expected to testify today, along with his former girlfriend Laquisha Malone. McField has been transported from a Missouri prison where he is doing time for armed robbery. He is a key witness, as is Malone, who claims a panic disorder so severe that she must testify in a third-floor courtroom rather than the 19th-floor where the rest of the case is being heard.
Thursday witnesses included Rebecca Willis, a state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension chemist who tested a shot glass for the state and found it contained 1.9 ounces.
Gray asked how many ounces are in a liter. Willis said she didn't know.
Gray said, "Is it 33 ounces, or you don't know?"
She said she didn't know.
Gray, who said McField bought a liter of Karkov vodka for the party, appears to be trying to raise doubts about the amount of vodka consumed by the alleged victim.
He has said that the woman was an experienced drinker and that Jones didn't know she was drinking that night.
Rochelle Olson • 612-673-1747
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