Several USC Students Watched Alleged Assault, Witness Says

A USC student testified Friday in Los Angeles Municipal Court that about 12 students, all athletes, on his campus dormitory floor huddled outside a room and whispered to each other about what was occurring inside between a woman and three football players.

The student, Michael Verta, said he could not see or hear what happened inside, but added that the athletes outside appeared to be laughing.

A 23-year-old graduate student alleges that she was pinned to a bed and sexually assaulted in the USC dormitory July 20, the final night of a special one-month summer program.

Verta, who was enrolled in the USC Summer College for incoming freshmen, said he could not recall the woman’s exact words, but said she sounded as if she were threatening someone. The woman was a peer counselor in the program.

Verta was one of two main witnesses who testified Friday in the trial of Michael Jones, Willie McGinest and Jason Oliver, USC sophomore football players.

They are charged with misdemeanor counts of false imprisonment, battery and sexual battery.

Because of a scheduling conflict, the defense was allowed to call Candy Duncan, director of Student Athlete Academic Services, before the prosecution rested its case.

Duncan, a key defense witness, testified that she saw the woman repeatedly touch McGinest at two Summer College social gatherings. She characterized the touching as “pawing,” and said she reported the behavior to college officials after the second incident.

Duncan, who has worked with USC athletes for almost three years, said she believed the woman should have been removed as a peer counselor.

“She was bossy, a stickler for the rules,” Duncan testified. “She was making the students’ lives miserable.”

Duncan also testified that the woman challenged Duncan’s decisions on a number of occasions.