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Video contradicts girl's claim of violent rape

Posted at 4:55 PM, Jun 24, 2018
and last updated 2018-06-24 18:55:16-04

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — Defense attorneys are seeking a new trial for a 21-year-old Colorado man convicted of forcibly raping a 13-year-old girl after police accessed cellphone video that contradicts her claim that she was pinned down and gang raped in December 2016.

Public defender Nathan Ojanan filed a motion Friday seeking a new trial for Jacolby Hasan Williams. It says the video records the girl’s voice as she “appears to be laughing and giggling and engaging in consensual sexual acts.”

The girl was too young to legally consent to sex, but The Gazette of Colorado Springs reports the allegation that force was used meant Williams faced a possible life sentence.

A judge received death threats after four other defendants got probation under plea deals. The video was found on the phone of an 18-year-old who still faces trial for forcible rape.