Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz testified this morning in the sexual assault trial of one of his former players. A former female Iowa athlete accuses 21-year-old Cedric Everson of raping her in a dorm room in October 2007. Ferentz was on the stand for less than two minutes and said Everson denied assaulting the woman in the days after the alleged attack.
The victim, a former U-I swimmer, testified Tuesday that she drank too much and was raped after she passed out. Johnson County Assistant Attorney Anne Lahey asked the woman if she remembered seeing Everson on the night in question. The victim said she didn’t recall having any contact with Everson. She said she went to the room with another football player, Abe Satterfield, who was also accused of raping her. Satterfield accepted a plea agreement to a lesser assault charge and agreed to testify against Everson.
The victim said she woke up naked, bloody and scared. She said she learned weeks later that Everson had sex with her while she was passed out. University of Iowa Assistant Athletic Director Fred Mimms also took the stand Tuesday and recalled meeting with Everson the Monday following the alleged assault.
Mimms said Everson believed his “name would be brought up” in connection with activity in which he said he wasn’t involved. “He was certain his name might be brought up because the person didn’t like him,” Mimms testified. Everson’s defense attorney claims the sex was consensual.
Several current or former Hawkeye athletes are taking the witness stand today.
By Mark Carlson, KCRG-TV, Cedar Rapids