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SALT LAKE CITY — Six of the seven women who say they were sexually assaulted by former Utah State linebacker Torrey Green will be allowed to testify in each other's cases, a judge ruled Thursday.
Green, 23, is charged in seven separate cases of sexually assaulting women he met while playing football for the Logan university between 2013 and 2015. He was ultimately ordered to stand trial in each case following a joint, three-day preliminary hearing where the women testified in March.
While Green is on track to face a jury on each case individually, prosecutors argued to introduce evidence from all seven of the women in each trial under a "doctrine of chances" motion. The testimonies together show it is unlikely that the allegations could have been fabricated, that the women actually consented, or that there was a lack of intent by Green during the alleged assaults, according to prosecutors.
In his ruling, 1st District Judge Brian Cannell outlined the allegations in each case and the similarities between them.
Four of the women testified they met Green on the dating app Tinder, the judge wrote. Six of them claim to have been sexually assaulted the first time they were alone with Green. Five said Green put on a movie beforehand, and as the sexual assault occurred, he insisted the women would enjoy it. All insisted they had resisted Green both physically and verbally.
Six of the cases "possess so many specific similarities that they fall in the same category," the judge wrote.
Cannell went on to say that the testimonies dispel the possibility the accounts were either invented or that there was collusion between the alleged victims.
In the case that was not included, the woman testified she had met Green twice previously when she ran into him at a party and he sexually assaulted her in his bedroom. However, that woman also maintained she resisted Green both physically and out loud, and that he told her she would enjoy sex with him, the judge said.
While that woman's case doesn't "fall into the same general category" as the other six, Cannell specified that his ruling doesn't minimize the allegations she is making.
Related:
Ex-USU linebacker ordered to stand trial in sex assaults of 7 women
Former Utah State University football standout Torrey Green was ordered Wednesday to stand trial on sexual assault allegations involving seven different women.In total, Green is charged with six counts of rape, a first-degree felony; aggravated kidnapping, a first-degree felony; two counts of object rape, a first-degree felony; and two counts of forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony.
Green, who is from Rubidoux, California, graduated from USU in early 2016 and was signed as a rookie linebacker for the Atlanta Falcons. He was dropped by the team in August after the sexual assault allegations began to surface.
Green is currently being held without bail in the Cache County Jail.
