Jury selection began Tuesday in the trial for a $21 million lawsuit by a former girlfriend who accuses NBA star Derrick Rose and two friends of gang raping her three years ago when she was incapacitated.
The start of jury selection in the trial Tuesday in U.S. District Court conflicts with the Knicks preseason opener in Houston and it's not clear which Rose will attend. Lawyers for the player have said he probably won't appear in court for jury selection, though he's expected later.
The woman, identified only as Jane Doe, says Rose and two friends had sex with her without her consent in 2013 after she passed out following a night of drinking.
Rose and his friends deny the allegations and say the woman invited them into her apartment and willingly had sex.
Rose had dated the woman during the previous two years.
Defense attorneys complained Tuesday about the lack of black people in the Los Angeles jury pool. An attorney for Rose's two co-defendants said Tuesday that only two of the 50 prospective jurors were African-Americans.
All three defendants are black.
Local
Get Los Angeles's latest local news on crime, entertainment, weather, schools, COVID, cost of living and more. Here's your go-to source for today's LA news.
The judge said the jury pool is selected at random from a diverse population.
