FLINT (WWJ/AP) - Former Michigan State University basketball star and ex-Detroit Piston Mateen Cleaves is standing trial on sexual assault charges in his Michigan hometown.
Opening statements began Thursday in Genesee County Circuit Court in Flint, where Cleaves is charged with criminal sexual conduct, assault with intent to commit criminal sexual conduct and unlawful imprisonment. He's accused of assaulting a 24-year-old woman after a charity golf event and a visit to a Flint-area bar in September 2015.
Before the trial began, Cleaves led family and supporters in prayer saying, "God you know the truth. The truth will set you free." The jury is made up of 10 women and 4 men. Only 12 will deliberate the verdict; the other two are alternates.
According to police, the woman claims she twice tried to get away from Cleaves but was pulled back into a motel room and sexually assaulted. A witness testified that the woman was screaming "Help me!" while trying to escape a room at the Knights Inn in Mundy Township, and both times she was pulled back inside by a naked man, later identified as Cleaves.
Cleaves has denied the rape allegations, saying he and the woman had consensual sex.
A district judge dismissed the charges in 2016, saying that she believed the accuser went to Cleaves motel room willingly, but a circuit court reinstated them on appeal. Michigan's Court of Appeals in 2017 denied Cleaves' request to review the decision reinstating the charges and Michigan's Supreme Court declined last year to review that decision, setting up the case for trial.
Cleaves led Michigan State to the NCAA basketball championship in 2000, winning the NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player award. He was drafted by the Detroit Pistons with the 14th overall pick and appeared in 167 games for four NBA teams.
The charges carry up to 15 years in prison.
