The “nothing happened” defense quickly has evaporated in the Gareon Conley case.
After witnesses in the hotel room where an alleged rape involving the Raiders first-round draft pick occurred last month claimed that Conley and the alleged victim did nothing together, Conley’s lawyer now admits that Conley and the alleged victim had consensual sex, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Media.
That changes everything, contradicting the witness accounts and making the case a matter of he said/she said. This means that prosecutors easily could pursue charges if they so choose, with the case ultimately turning on whether a jury chooses to believe the victim and to disbelieve Conley.
Which means that the Raiders may have drafted a player who eventually will be indicted on first-degree felony charges, which carry a prison term in Ohio three to eight years.
Conley likely had no choice but to admit that which the forensic evidence would have confirmed. The rape kit coupled with the DNA sample Conley provided would have quickly debunked the “nothing happened” defense.