At rape trial of Illinois basketball star Terrence Shannon, jury hears from accuser’s friend, other players

Editor’s note: This story includes graphic language.

LAWRENCE, Kansas — Douglas County prosecutors rested their case Wednesday in the rape trial of Terrence Shannon Jr. as jurors heard testimony from his accuser’s best friend and others who were present at the crowded bar near the University of Kansas campus the night of the alleged sexual assault.

Shannon, a Chicago native and University of Illinois men’s basketball standout, faces one count of rape or an alternative count of aggravated sexual battery, also a felony. He stands accused of putting his hand under an 18-year-old woman’s skirt, grabbing her buttocks and penetrating her vagina with his finger while in an area of the Jayhawk Cafe called the Martini Room.

Shannon has denied the allegations, which stem from a September trip he and two others took to Lawrence to watch an Illini-Jayhawks football game. His NBA hopes — some prognosticators believe he could be a first-round pick in this month’s draft — likely hinge on the outcome of a trial that is scheduled to conclude two weeks before the NBA draft.

Day three of the trial also included testimony from two forensic scientists, one from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, the other privately hired by the defense, whose analysis and interpretation of DNA in the case reached somewhat different conclusions.

Both agreed that no male DNA was detected in swabs taken from the 18-year-old’s vagina and genital area.

The KBI forensic scientist wrote in her report that swabs from the interior and exterior crotch of the woman’s underwear revealed an “insufficient amount of male DNA” to move forward with testing, though she told jurors Wednesday that those levels were essentially too low to say conclusively whether they were even DNA.

But the defense’s forensic scientist called the report’s reference to male DNA “a very misleading statement.”

Using a different measurement threshold than the KBI, the defense’s scientist also concluded “with scientific certainty” that Shannon’s DNA was not in a sample collected from the 18-year-old’s buttocks.

The day began with testimony from the accuser’s 19-year-old best friend and roommate, who gave jurors a now-familiar account of the night, starting with their attendance at the KU-Illini football game, followed by a bite to eat at their apartment, stops at the Jayhawk Cafe (known locally as The Hawk) and a second bar in downtown Lawrence and, then, a return visit to The Hawk.

She told jurors she was next to the 18-year-old as they tried to weave through the packed Martini Room toward the exit, and that she was the one who encouraged her to go back inside after the 18-year-old told her about a cute guy who waved her over to him.

“I figured it would make her night more fun,” she told jurors.

The friend testified she did not see the alleged assault take place and only realized later that night that her roommate’s urgent request to leave was not because of the crowd.

The friend also told jurors that she saw Shannon grab the 18-year-old’s hand or wrist and pull her toward him. But on questioning from Shannon’s attorney, Tricia Bath, she acknowledged she did not share that detail in previous interviews with police or prosecutors.

Later in the trial, Bath called a computer forensics expert to the stand who, acting on a defense subpoena, extracted data from the accuser’s friend’s phone. That data, he testified, showed that the two women returned to the Martini Room about 24 hours after the alleged sexual assault.

Phone records also showed a December group message thread involving the two women and their two other roommates, including the best friend’s sister. The exchange included a link to an ESPN article on Shannon’s suspension from the Illini men’s team following the rape charge, and a message from the friend’s sister that read “got his ass,” followed by two face emojis with dollar signs for eyes and cash for tongues.

The testimony did not mention any response from the 18-year-old to that message.

KU men’s basketball players Hunter Dickinson and Kevin McCullar Jr. also testified on the defense’s behalf, as did Illini guard Justin Harmon and the team’s graduate assistant, DyShawn Hobson. All four were with Shannon at the Martini Room that night; all four said they never saw him grab any woman at the bar.

Shannon’s academic adviser at Illinois, Reba Daniels, also took the stand. She said she also taught courses Shannon took and worked with him during an internship with the university.

“I was completely shocked,” she said when asked about her reaction to the allegations against Shannon, whom she described as kind, trustworthy, hardworking, and a “gentle giant.”

“It’s just not the person I know,” she told jurors. “Even to this day, I’m shocked I’m sitting here.”

Closing arguments are expected to take place Thursday.