Derrick Rose Must Face|Trial for Alleged Rape

LOS ANGELES (CN) - NBA star Derrick Rose must face a civil trial against a woman who accuses him of drugging and gang-raping her with two friends, a federal judge ruled.

U.S. District Judge Michael Fitzgerald found there is a "genuine dispute" whether Jane Doe consented to have sex with the men and that a jury, "not the court," should decide.

Fitzgerald rejected Rose's motion for summary judgment in the case his former girlfriend filed last year. She sued the Knicks point guard in Superior Court, then removed it to Federal Court, seeking punitive damages for sexual battery and other charges against Rose, his friend Randall Hampton and assistant Ryan Allen.

Doe claims Rose spiked her drink with an unknown drug at his rented Beverly Hills home, then the men trespassed at her downtown apartment while she was sleeping and raped her.

Fitzgerald denied Rose's motion on July 27, finding the record "far too equivocal" to rule.

The judge cited evidence that the woman was "severely and obviously intoxicated" when Rose, Hampton and Allen allegedly broke into her home and had sex with her.

In their motion for summary judgment, Rose, Hampton and Allen claimed the sex was consensual and that Doe had sent text messages to Rose telling him to come to her apartment after she left the residence with a girlfriend.

But the girlfriend, according to court records, did not believe it was safe to leave Doe alone with the defendants.

Fitzgerald said the texts do not "establish as a matter of law that she was able to consent to sex" and are "subject to conflicting interpretations."

"A reasonable jury could infer from those communications that plaintiff invited only defendant Rose to her apartment and never consented to any kind of sexual activity, and certainly not one involving multiple partners," Fitzgerald wrote in the 9-page ruling.

Fitzgerald added that based on her testimony, her "inability to give consent would have been obvious to any reasonable person," and that her prior romantic relationship with Rose was "irrelevant to the issue of consent."

Rose was the league's most valuable player in the 2010 to 2011 season with the Chicago Bulls. The 27-year-old's career has been plagued by injuries, and the Bulls traded him to the Knicks in June.

Rose said in court filings in June that he hopes to avoid a trial in the middle of the NBA season and would prefer that be scheduled before the NBA season begins on Oct. 25.

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