On Oct. 4, New York Knicks guard Derrick Rose will face a California jury on claims that he and two friends gang-raped a woman. That day, the woman's full name will be revealed for the first time in open court.
The 30-year-old college student has been known only as "Jane Doe" since August 2015, when she filed the civil lawsuit against Rose and his two friends. But last week, the federal court overseeing the case decided that Doe must disclose her identity at trial. On Sept. 25, the woman asked the court to reconsider its ruling.
The alleged victim has spoken to media outlets, including the Associated Press and ThinkProgress, about what she claims Rose and his associates did to her. In court filings, Doe alleges that Rose, whom she'd been dating for two years, and his friends broke into her Los Angeles apartment on Aug. 27, 2013, and took turns raping her while she went in and out of consciousness, too intoxicated to give consent.
But Doe's recent public interviews likely didn't impact the court's decision requiring she use her true name at trial.
In criminal rape cases, the alleged victim's identity is concealed for many reasons -- to encourage victims to come forward, to insulate them from the stigma of rape and the like. But this is a civil trial, where the stakes are different.
Civil rape cases can be just as traumatic for victims as criminal rape cases, and the consequences can be meaningful for the accused. But civil cases are not about guilt or innocence; they're about liability. Generally, that means money is on the line. In this case, Doe wants to hold Rose and his two friends liable to the tune of $21.5 million.
After the alleged events in August 2013, she initially didn't file a police report. But she reported the matter to police in August 2015, the same month she filed the civil case. The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed Monday it has been investigating a complaint against Rose, but charges haven't been filed.
The court had to decide, and has been asked to reconsider, whether Doe's need for anonymity outweighed the potential prejudice to Rose and his friends. On the one hand, Doe could be exposed to harassment or humiliation if her name is disclosed, particularly given that Rose is a high-profile athlete and that this case is attracting media attention. Also, Doe said she fears for her safety and that of her family if forced to disclose her name.
Alternatively, if Doe were allowed to conceal her identity at trial, the jury could interpret that as a suggestion that Rose caused her harm. Plus, the public and press would be denied their First Amendment right to fully access the court proceedings. On balance, the court concluded that the prejudice to Rose and the right to access the court outweighed Doe's desire for anonymity.
The court made no mention of her press interviews in his ruling, nor did Doe disclose her identity during any of those interviews, although Rose insisted that her speaking to the media undermined her need for anonymity.
But according to Doe, she felt compelled to speak out to combat Rose's "victim-blaming campaign" and his attempt to portray her as a fraud in the public eye. The point guard has gone to lengths to disparage Doe and sexual assault victims, so much so that the court has admonished Rose for repeatedly using "language that shames and blames the victims of rape."
Now the court must decide whether to change its mind, whether Doe's need for anonymity outweighs any prejudice to Rose and any knock on the right to access the courts. Doe believes the ongoing police investigation heightens her need to conceal her identity, because once her identity is out, there's no way of hiding it in any potential criminal case in the future.
But unless the court changes its mind, when the trial starts on the first Tuesday in October, Rose will be allowed to use language he hasn't been permitted to use before: Jane Doe's name.
Adrienne Lawrence has a B.S. and an M.A. in criminal justice, as well as a J.D. from The George Washington University Law School. She completed the M.A. specialized journalism program at USC Annenberg in 2015 focusing on multimedia sports journalism. She practiced law from 2008 to 2015 before joining ESPN in August 2015.
