A California judge Thursday affirmed his earlier ruling requiring the woman who has accused Knicks guard Derrick Rose of raping her in 2013 to use her real name during the civil trial that is set to start on Oct. 4.
The 30-year-old woman, who is only identified as Jane Doe in the 2015 lawsuit, asked the judge to reconsider his decision about her anonymity after the LAPD said it was still investigating her sexual assault claims.
“My concern is the jury,” said Los Angeles federal Judge Michael Fitzgerald at a pretrial hearing Thursday.
Fitzgerald ruled last week that granting anonymity to the accuser could influence the jurors, leading them to believe that she is a rape victim before the allegations were proven during trial.
Fitzgerald also noted the woman’s fears about “significant harassment and humiliation” if she’s named during trial, but ultimately sided with Rose’s request that she name herself.
“Although plaintiff’s need for a pseudonym has not vanished, the prejudice to defendant Rose and the public’s interest in disclosure together weigh against allowing Plaintiff to proceed under a pseudonym at trial,” Fitzgerald ruled.
The woman, who had been dating Rose on and off, says the NBA player and two pals broke into her home on Aug. 27, 2013, and gang-raped her while she was passed out after a long night of drinking.
Rose and his pals say the sex was consensual.
Fitzgerald said the eight-day trial will be open to the public and press, but for now he has put a gag order on the attorneys, barring them from discussing the case at least until Oct. 4.
He is expected to rule Friday on whether the gag order will remain throughout the trial.
On Thursday the judge closed the courtroom while considering the admissibility of evidence about the accuser’s sexual history. He also is considering whether to allow statements from witnesses who claim Doe admitted that she falsified the rape claims to extract an out-of-court settlement from Rose.
Doe’s side says the two issues are inadmissible because the first is not related to the night in question and the second is hearsay.
The couple stopped seeing each other in 2013, shortly after the alleged assault.
