Cellphone video at center of rape trial of two former Ohio State football players

Jordan Laird, The Columbus Dispatch
·4 min read
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Amir Riep, left, and Jahsen L. Wint, right, are shown Monday in Franklin County Common Please Court, where the two former defensive players for the Ohio State University football team are facing trial on charges accusing them of raping a 19-year-old woman in 2020.
Amir Riep, left, and Jahsen L. Wint, right, are shown Monday in Franklin County Common Please Court, where the two former defensive players for the Ohio State University football team are facing trial on charges accusing them of raping a 19-year-old woman in 2020.

A cellphone video capturing the sound of a woman crying and discussing her consent to sex is at the center of the trial underway this week against two former Ohio State football players accused of rape.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys disagreed in their opening arguments Tuesday on whether the woman was coerced and what the video taken by one of the men should mean to the jury.

Amir I. Riep and Jahsen L. Wint, both 24, are on trial in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, accused of raping a then-19-year-old woman on Feb. 4, 2020 at a Northwest Side apartment. The men are each charged with two counts of rape and one count of kidnapping, all first-degree felonies.

The Dispatch does not publish the names of alleged sexual violence victims without their consent.

Previous related story:Trial to begin for former Ohio State football players accused of rape

The woman took the witness stand Tuesday and testified that she went to Riep and Wint's shared apartment that night to hang out for a few hours with Riep and maybe play some video games.

She described in graphic detail, often through tears, how Riep proceeded to take off her clothes and forcibly rape her and then Wint joined in raping her.

Defense attorneys for Riep and Wint said during opening arguments Tuesday that the woman had consensual sex with both men but felt ashamed afterward.

Dan Sabol, defense attorney for Amir Riep, introduces himself Monday to potential jurors during jury selection in the trial of his client and Jahsen L. Wint, former defensive players for Ohio State University's football team, who are on trial on charges of rape and kidnapping a 19-year-old woman three years ago in a Northeast Side apartment.
Dan Sabol, defense attorney for Amir Riep, introduces himself Monday to potential jurors during jury selection in the trial of his client and Jahsen L. Wint, former defensive players for Ohio State University's football team, who are on trial on charges of rape and kidnapping a 19-year-old woman three years ago in a Northeast Side apartment.

Riep’s defense attorney, Dan Sabol, said that when the woman felt uncomfortable, the men backed off.

The woman said that after the sex acts, while she was still naked, Riep intimidated her into agreeing on video that the sex was consensual.

Sabol said his client took a video because he was instructed at an OSU football team meeting a week prior to "always make sure you get it on record that whatever you do is consensual" to avoid ending up in a Franklin County courtroom. Sabol did not say who gave the players this instruction.

Franklin County Assistant Prosecutor Daniel Meyer, who is with the the special victims unit, speaks Monday to jury candidates in Franklin County Common Pleas Court in the trial of Amir Riep and Jahsen L. Wint, both 24, who were defensive players for the Ohio State University football team when they were accused of raping a 19-year-old woman in February 2020.

Video at the center of the case

Franklin County Assistant Prosecutor Daniel Meyer told the jury during his opening arguments to pay close attention to who says what on the video and how it sounds.

The short video played in court was dark and didn't show anything, but included the voices of Riep and the woman.

In the video, the woman asks Riep if he wants her face in the video since she's crying. Riep asks the woman in the video to say the sex was consensual and she agrees.

The woman said Tuesday, "I was worried I couldn’t go home if I didn’t say" that.

The woman said Riep then forced her to take a shower and directed her to wash everything, pointing at her vagina, in what the prosecution contends was to get her to wash away DNA evidence.

Sabol said Riep always takes a shower after sex and the woman willingly joined him, apologizing to him the whole time for the awkward encounter.

The woman reported the alleged rape to Columbus police a few hours later. The next day, she said she sought a civil protection order protecting her from the two men. On Feb. 6, a sexual assault nurse examiner met with the woman and took photos of bruises and scratches on the woman's body, which were shown in court.

Sam Shamansky, defense attorney for Jahsen L. Wint, speaks during jury selection on Monday in the trial for Wint and Amir I. Riep, 24-year-old former defensive players for the Ohio State University football team who were removed from the team after they were accused of raping a 19-year-old woman in February 2020.
Sam Shamansky, defense attorney for Jahsen L. Wint, speaks during jury selection on Monday in the trial for Wint and Amir I. Riep, 24-year-old former defensive players for the Ohio State University football team who were removed from the team after they were accused of raping a 19-year-old woman in February 2020.

Defense attorneys said the woman's story about that night has changed over time while Riep's and Wint's stories have stayed the same.

"The truth doesn't change ... the truth is consistent," said Sam Shamansky, Wint's defense attorney. "She’s lying and I’m going to prove it."

In one example offered by the defense, Sabol said the woman initially told police the sex with Riep started off consensual. This matches the affidavit submitted by police to Franklin County Municipal Court when Riep and Wint were first charged.

The jury trial of Riep and Wint is expected to last for several days.

Ohio State head football coach Ryan Day dismissed both players from the team on Feb. 12, 2020, saying they had failed to live up to the standards of Day and the program.

Past reportingAmir Riep, Jahsen Wint dismissed from Ohio State football team after being accused of rape

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Rape trial against two former Ohio State football players begins