THE PRESS BOX: To prune a Rose
Illustration by Skye Ali
If a flower bloomed in a dark room, would you trust it?
Derrick Rose has maintained a pristine reputation throughout his career.
The sports world conceptualizes Rose as a trustworthy athlete for many reasons. He has never had any run-ins with the law or scuffles with fans. He is bashful and reserved at the mic, and rarely if ever provides reporters with a contentious sound-bite.
On the court, the youngest-ever NBA MVP shows no indication of the testosterone-fueled competitive fire that many athletes exude. He has even been a recipient of widespread sympathy in light of the fact that multiple knee surgeries have derailed his career.
This perception is why so many people have refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of rape allegations made a year ago by one of Rose’s ex-girlfriends.
You do not make assumptions about alleged rape, regardless of who they are levied against.
Rose, along with two of his closest friends — Randall Hampton and Ryan Allen — are accused of drugging and gang-raping a victim who wishes to remain anonymous. This has been public knowledge since the civil suit was filed more than a year ago on August 26 2015.
The allegations alone should have forestalled a firestorm of media coverage and public scrutiny.
Yet, when the victim filed a memorandum on Aug. 22 of this year arguing the pseudonym ‘Jane Doe’ should be precluded at trial so she could avoid public attention, Rose’s lawyers wrote they “do not think any media restrictions are warranted or necessary, partly because the media has, to some degree, lost interest in the case.”
Not that the media ever paid the case much interest in the first place.
Despite the ample opportunity for exposure in New York and Chicago, conversation surrounding the blockbuster deal was dominated by petty aspects. Sports writers discussed the haul of young players New York gave up, Rose’s much maligned health, how he would fit into Phil Jackson’s infamous triangle offensive scheme, and even how his social life would change in the Big Apple.
Unfathomably, allegations of gang-rape took a backseat to all of this.
This case demands attention. Rose’s camp has fallen under heightened scrutiny only recently because the defense has focused more upon smearing the victim rather than proving Rose’s innocence.
“This is not a rape case,” wrote Rose’s lawyers. “It’s pure and simple extortion by a plaintiff who wants to hide behind the cloak of anonymity while seeking millions in damages from a celebrity with whom she was in a long-term non-exclusive consensual sexual relationship.”
Before burying Rose any further, the elephant in the room must be addressed; some of these rape, assault and domestic violence cases brought against athletes are bogus.
Dallas Cowboy’s rookie running back Ezekiel Elliot was the subject of domestic violence allegations over the summer. Somehow, the media’s reaction to Rose pales in comparison to that of Elliot.
Elliot, whose story was corroborated by four objective witnesses, said he tried to help a supposed-friend out of the back of a car. That friend then accused him of domestic violence and sued him for millions of dollars. The case was dismissed after limited court proceedings.
This happens.
Athletes are rich, high-profile figures who garner their fair share of illegitimate allegations largely due to the aggressive nature of their profession.
Everybody and their mother assumed this was the case with Rose because he comes across as trustworthy and boasts a spotless record.
‘Assumed’ is the key word here. As sports writers, we all botched this one. We assumed.
Details released recently in court documents have thankfully shed much needed light on this case.
On August 26, 2013 Rose invited Doe and her friend, Jessica Groff, to his rental home in Beverly Hills.
Doe and Groff consumed an ample amount of vodka, wine and tequila en route to Rose’s house and upon their arrival. After a few hours, they went home in a cab. The parties disagree over whether consensual sex occured at Rose’s home.
Doe and Rose continued texting. She portrayed a desire for him to come over to her place alone, while he wanted to send his friends to pick her up and bring her back to his house. Doe eventually fell asleep.
At approximately 2 a.m. Rose, Hampton and Allen arrived at her apartment. They spent half an hour attempting to wake her up so she could let them in. The parties disagree over whether she eventually woke up and let them in or whether they forced entry.
Upon entering the apartment, the three men proceeded to have intercourse with her. They say it was consensual, but Doe denies even being awake during the encounter.
Rose’s own expert toxicologist estimated that Doe had a BAC level of .20 on the night in question, which should throw the issue of consent out the window entirely because she was not in a state to provide it.
And so, here we are.
Suddenly, the sports world is intrigued, and Rose is not helping his case. In the effort to have Doe’s name revealed, Rose’s defense made a ludicrous argument.
“Of special note, plaintiff is portraying herself as sexual,” the defense stated. “Photos from the plaintiff’s Instagram account are sexual in nature. In these images, Plaintiff is dressed in provocative attire, is in sexually suggestive poses, and is in photos indicating that she engages in sexually charged encounters with more than one man at a time.”
The judge hearing the case shot back at Rose’s defense team scathingly.
“The court is uncertain what to make of this reasoning,” the judge wrote. “Defendant Rose appears to suggest that women who publicly portray themselves as ‘sexual’ are less likely to experience embarrassment, humiliation, and harassment associated with gang rape. Such rhetoric has no place in this court.”
As if that wasn’t enough, it appears Rose broke up with Jane Doe because she repeatedly denied his requests to engage in group sex.
When asked if he called things off because of her refusals, Rose struggled to articulate a cogent response.
“No, I was just calling it off with her because I was just calling it off with her,” Rose said. “It wasn’t no point. Like it seemed like she had an attitude and something I didn’t want to deal with, so I was done. It probably could have been the way that I asked her.”
The case against Rose is wrought with damning factual evidence. Don’t get me wrong, he is innocent until proven guilty and the fact that the defendant is requesting more than $20 million for the case to be dismissed is highly questionable.
But as a country, we royally screwed this up. The New York Knicks and Phil Jackson, specifically, royally screwed this up when they traded for Rose without taking the case into account. Sports writers across the nation owe women around the world one hell of an apology.
We assumed innocence based on public reputation. That would be ok if we were talking about a misdemeanor. We are talking about gang-rape.
I ask again, in the eloquent words of Kendrick Lamar,
If a flower bloomed in a dark room….would you trust it?
We did. Now light has been shed and our vanity revealed.
SPORTS EDITOR
Zach Joachim
Zach is a junior pursuing a dual degree in print journalism and English. A proud Norfolk-ian, he enjoys long walks on the beach, English literature of the romantic period and anything pertaining to Harry Potter or baseball. Zach an avid Red Sox and Patriots fan who can usually be found working at the Student Media Center or running along the James.
joachimz@commonwealthtimes.org
