Former Duquesne U. Basketball Player, Accused Of Raping Pitt Student, Headed To Trial

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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A former Duquesne University men's basketball player accused of raping a Pitt student in his dorm room faced a judge Wednesday.

His attorney says there is a whole other story about what happened that the judge didn't get to hear.

But the alleged victim started shaking as soon as the case was called. She began crying almost immediately, before she was even asked any questions about the alleged assault.

On cross exam, the defense attorney was trying to ask whether she resisted or tried to fight him off or run away. The prosecutor kept objecting, and the judge would not allow many of those questions to be answered.

Nick Washington, 19, of Puerto Rico, came to court with his parents to face the rape allegations stemming from Sept. 1, 2017, when he and the alleged victim were partying together at Duquesne University.

"Mr. Washington had consensual relations with this young lady. That was our position at the start, that's our position today, and that will be our position at trial," said Casey White, Nick Washington's Attorney.

The alleged victim admits to drinking at the Towers dorm, leaving campus with Washington and other friends to go to a fraternity party and then going back to Washington's dorm room to charge her cell phone.

That's when she said the sexual assault occurred.

"We have some evidence to suggest that her phone was not in fact dead. We have some evidence to suggest that she had a phone charger with her. Those are questions I really wasn't allowed to explore today. I look forward to exploring them at a later time," said White.

The alleged victim admitted she never yelled for help.

When asked if she tried to fight him off or physically resist, the magistrate judge would not allow those questions to be answered.

"I look forward to presenting a defense on behalf of Mr. Washington at the trial level. There's a lot of evidence that doesn't come in at a preliminary hearing, unfortunately, for the accused. So the accuser gets to say what she wants to say," said White.

As to the alleged rape, she said, "He kept forcing my legs down to the bed and I kept telling him to stop."

As to the alleged digital sexual assault, she said, "I told him it hurt and told him to stop."

She admitted she was making out with Washington at the fraternity party.

"This is devastating to Mr. Washington and his family. Mr. Washington had a college career, a basketball career. He was a freshmen excited to be here in the city of Pittsburgh," White said.

Washington will have his formal arraignment on March 22, 2018. He is out on bond and will be heading back to Puerto Rico to stay with his parents in the meantime.