By Peter Kranenburg
A Provo jury acquitted two former BYU football players Friday of charges alleging they raped a 17-year-old girl in their apartment last year after a night of drinking.
B.J. Mathis and Ibrahim Rashada left the courtroom innocent of all charges. Mathis and Rashada were found innocent on two counts of aggravated sexual assault, one count of obstruction of justice, and one count of furnishing alcohol to a minor.
?They are as innocent as they were when they first walked in here,? said Jere Reneer, defense attorney for B.J. Mathis. ?I?ve never felt prouder to be a lawyer. I don?t know that I?ve ever felt proud to be a lawyer right until this moment.?
After almost five hours of deliberation Friday, the jury returned to the courtroom deadlocked with five jurors opting for acquittal and three for delivering a guilty verdict. Judge Samuel D. McVey read the jury more instructions concerning the burden of proof resting upon the state and sent them back out for another try at reaching a verdict.
The jury came back to the courtroom about 45 minutes later to deliver their verdict ? not guilty. Jury members said they felt there was not enough evidence to convict ?beyond a reasonable doubt.?
Tears of joy fell from Mathis? grandmother?s eyes as she cried on a friend?s shoulder when the verdict was read, saying ?Thank you, Jesus! Thank you, Jesus! Thank you, Jesus!?
Dean Zabriskie, defense attorney for Ibrahim Rashada, said the case turned on the issue of consent. He argued throughout the trial that the question of consent focused on how much alcohol the girl consumed, because she claimed to have blacked out that night.
The girl?s statements concerning how much vodka she drank varied during the trial. The defense constantly made reference to the fact the she was very unclear about how much alcohol she drank and drove the point home during their closing arguments.
?Summations are a little more important in a longer trial,? Zabriskie said. ?With that, I think we had an effect.?
Rashada said he has no bad feelings toward BYU and that he would be at the football game on Saturday. He said he still has a lot of friends on the team and he wants to see them do well. Rashada now looks to the future as he prepares to play strong safety for Southwest Missouri?s football team next fall.
?We did nothing illegal, but we did make a mistake,? Mathis said after the trial.
Mathis said he is happy and relieved. He has no ill feelings and is not angry with Karland Bennett, former friend and BYU football player, who testified against them.
Bennett testified for the prosecution as part of a plea bargain. Charges of sexual assault against him were dropped, and he pleaded guilty to lesser charges of obstruction of justice and dealing harmful material to a minor.
At trial, Bennett said he agreed with his former teammates to lie to police and the BYU Honor Code office about the alleged rape. Bennett also said the sexual acts he saw at the apartment that night appeared to be consensual.
Mathis said he plans on playing college football again. Some of the schools he is considering include Oklahoma State, Kansas, and Baylor. Mathis said he would love to play with BYU again if given the opportunity. He said the team has supported him throughout the trial sending emails and words of encouragement.
The accuser?s family issued a written statement after the trial. They thanked all those who have been involved with helping them during the past year.
?It has been a traumatic time for all of us,? it read. ?Their persistence, sensitivity and comfort have been invaluable.?
The statement applauded the efforts of their daughter in reporting the incident and spoke of recent state reports finding that rape and sexual assault in Utah is on the rise, as one in eight Utah women will be raped in their lifetime, and one in three Utah women will be sexually assaulted.
The family said the community has a responsibility to pass laws that do not only protect the accused, but also the accusers.
?Our daughter was not on trial here,? the family said. ?What was on trial was the measure of doubt as to the level of consent or non-consent of the despicable actions that were admittedly perpetrated that night. Only those in the room that night know the level of consent.?