Closing Arguments Are Given in Trial of Three USC Players

Lawyers presented their closing arguments Monday in the Los Angeles Municipal Court trial of three USC football players charged with misdemeanor counts of false imprisonment, battery and sexual battery.

The lawyers representing Willie McGinest and Michael Jones recounted numerous inconsistencies in the woman’s account during two weeks of testimony, questioning whether the defendants could be found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

McGinest, Jones and Jason Oliver are accused of trapping a 23-year-old graduate student in a USC dormitory room last summer and sexually molesting her. The alleged incident occurred July 20 at the end of a remedial 29-day program for incoming freshmen.

Deputy City Atty. George Lomeli reviewed the penal codes and told the 12-person jury that Jones’ intent was to mistreat the woman, who was a peer counselor in the summer program.

“On the last day of the program he is going to show her who’s the boss,” Lomeli said.

James E. Blatt, Jones’ lawyer, countered that the woman entered the room voluntarily and was not assaulted.

“I think what happened is obvious,” Blatt said. “She got caught in a room, after curfew, fooling around with three men.”

Blatt also charged a Los Angeles Police Department detective with conducting a racist investigation, saying the case should never have been brought to trial. Blatt took exception with the detective’s interrogation techniques during taped interviews with the defendants.