Former Oklahoma State basketball player Darrell Williams proclaimed his innocence from the start and he yelled “I didn’t do it” in the end in an Oklahoma courtroom Monday after a jury used just eight hours of deliberation to find him guilty of sexually assaulting two women who used a team photograph to identify him.
The visibly distraught Williams, 22, was convicted of two counts of rape by instrumentation and one count of sexual battery. They recommended that he be sentenced to a year in prison for each rape by instrumentation count. His sentencing date has been set for August 24.
The women testified that Williams groped them and reached inside their pants without their consent during a party in December 2010.
When the verdicts were read, Williams burst into tears and said “Oh my Jesus God” as he bent over and banged his hands on the defense table.
“No means just that. It means no,” assistant district attorney Jill Tontz said during closing arguments. “These girls felt dehumanized, embarrassed.”
According to the testimony of one of the women, Williams held her against her will and dragged her into a yard. She added that the attack happened in the basement of the house and that no one came to her aid.
This testimony seemed to bolster defense attorney Cheryl Ramsey’s claim that this case was a “he said, she said situation.” Williams has always said he was misidentified, and witnesses testified that several players at the party wore the same Oklahoma State warm-up suits.
Ramsey also mentioned that no one heard anyone scream at the party, saw any struggles or reported anything inappropriate. There was no physical evidence of his guilt. Neither of the two accusers suffered any cuts or scratches, and there was no sign of a struggle between the two (ripped clothing, etc.) after the alleged assault.
The two women testified that they identified Williams as the attacker after police showed them a picture of the Oklahoma State basketball team.
Despite being suspended from the team in February 2011, Oklahoma State basketball coach Travis Ford testified on his former players behalf, saying Williams was innocent.
