Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III released a statement on Friday about the decision to not prosecute the case brought against two Michigan State basketball players who were accused of sexual assault. Dunnings released the statement, which can be read in its entirety below (via Spartan Nation), after more than a dozen people protested the lack of charges outside of his office.
As Prosecutor, I have prosecuted numerous prominent persons - including police officers, attorneys and athletes. In each instance, I believe that our office has handled the case regardless of status, and shown neither favor nor prejudice to any person.
I declined to prosecute a recent incident that occurred on the MSU campus. I would like to explain the reasoning behind this decision.
The Assistant Prosecutor (Debra Bouck) who initially screened this case met with the woman who reported the incident. At this point, the case was still under review. Ms. Bouck explained the legal process. As is the standard practice of this office, Ms. Bouck also questioned the Complainant regarding specific details of the incident, which were not covered in the police interview. This was done so that the young woman would understand the types of questions that she would be called to answer should the matter go to court, and also because we need to know the answers to those questions in evaluating the case.
Following this interview, Ms. Bouck indicated to the young woman that she still needed for the police to speak with a potential witness before any final decision was made. Following that further investigation, Ms. Bouck called her to indicate that no charges would be filed. Ms. Bouck also indicated the rationale for her decision and that the young woman could come in to meet with her to discuss this matter. Ms. Bouck then reviewed the case with Chief Assistant Prosecutor Lisa McCormick, who agreed with the decision.
There have been numerous reports that indicate that one of the two men "corroborated" the story told by the woman. However, the prosecutors who reviewed this case examined not only the police report, but also the actual interview of one of the men. I have attached transcripts of the police interview with one of the accused men. You can see from the transcript of the interview with the man that he did not, in fact, corroborate the facts necessary to substantiate a criminal sexual assault charge.
Based on our review of all of the materials, including the police report, actual interviews, and the specific details that were elicited directly from the Complainant, our office reached the conclusion that no crime had been committed. We therefore made the decision to decline to bring charges against the two young men.
Excerpts from the attached transcripts of the interview involving one of the players can be read below (via The State News).
"She didn’t say stop," the man told the detectives. "She was like, ‘I’m done.’"
According to the transcript, the man also told detectives that when she said she was done, he stopped, but the other man allegedly involved "talked her into" continuing. She could have stopped, he told detectives during the interview.
"The tone of her voice was like, she was done, but then he talked her into it, and she just let him go," he said. "So I mean, I don’t really. I mean see, so like, I guess he talked her into it, but she, she could have stopped."
He also told the detectives that he told her "I wasn’t going to make you stay there."’
"I mean, like, if she wanted to leave, she could have left because, like, I wasn’t going to make her stay there," he says in the transcript.
The decision to not file charges is final, and from a criminal standpoint this case is closed. It's always possible that a civil suit could be filed against the players or that they will be punished internally by Tom Izzo, but for now the book on this story has been closed.