A judge in the Derrick Rose trial is reportedly considering a mistrial due to the plaintiff's lawyers being "unbelievably careless" in production of exhibits.
Rose's lawyers have asked U.S. District Court Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald to declare a mistrial because they had not been given three text messages important to their case until Friday, the day in which Rose took the witness stand.
The lawyers for the woman, who is accusing Rose and two other men of raping her, claim the texts were already disclosed and that their argument was invalid. However, Fitzgerald is not on their side and has demanded that the plaintiff's lawyers prove that the text messages were disclosed.
According to ABC News, he used the phrase "unbelievably careless" multiple times when speaking with the lawyers.
"You have been very careless with the exhibits," Fitzgerald said. "I was not happy about it."
The texts that are being debated were reportedly sent from the woman to Derrick Rose, but weren't provided to the defense before the trial.
Per ABC News:
"The woman sent Rose a series of suggestive texts, starting with one that said he's the reason she "wakes up horny," followed by similar messages throughout the day of Aug. 26, 2013, Rose testified."
"He said he took the messages as consent for sex, though none said so explicitly."
"Rose said the only time the woman said "no" was when all three men tried to walk into her bedroom at once, and she told them to instead come one at a time."
When asked about if he felt any remorse from the night in question, Rose said "I'm sensitive to it," but added, "I feel I didn't do anything wrong."
The judge didn't indicate when he'd rule on the request for a mistrial, but has said if there is one it could push a new trial into the NBA regular season.
[Via]