A woman has asked the Michigan attorney general’s office to investigate a Michigan State University men’s basketball player for sexual assault.
According to ESPN, the woman turned to Michigan attorney general Dana Nessel after local prosecutors declined to file charges in her case against Michigan State sophomore Brock Washington. ESPN reported details of the case after obtaining a police report and emails from the Ingham County prosecutor’s office.
Michigan State University police reportedly recommended charging Washington with first-degree criminal sexual conduct after interviewing Washington, the woman, the woman’s roommate and an Uber driver who drove the woman home. MSU police told prosecutors that they had probable cause that Washington raped the woman on Jan. 19, as she was too intoxicated to consent.
University police referred the case to prosecutors, who declined to file charges, with Ingham County prosecutor Carol Siemon telling ESPN the case “does not meet the burden of proof that we must present to a jury.”
The woman told ESPN that assistant prosecuting attorney Sarah Pulda told her she had been “too intoxicated to prove that it was forced.”
“That was the whole point of the charge, that I was too drunk to consent to what happened,” the woman said. “The prosecutor failed me completely. I have to take it into my own hands … and hopefully get justice in the long run.”
According to ESPN, the police report says that Washington admitted that he had sexual contact with the woman, and acknowledged that she was incapacitated. Washington was suspended by Michigan State coach Tom Izzo in late January.
A Michigan State police spokesman said that the case file is being sent to the attorney general’s office for further investigation.
Peter Samouris, Washington’s former attorney, spoke with Washington and his father last Friday, telling ESPN, “It’s my understanding he’s not going to be charged, and he doesn’t wish to speak. He’s maintained his innocence 100 percent of the time.”
Washington was previously charged with misdemeanor assault in Ingham County on March 8, 2018, for an incident that was classified as “fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct.”
