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Pretrial hearing continues in sexual assault case for Mateen Cleaves

Posted at 5:40 AM, Dec 02, 2016
and last updated 2016-12-02 05:40:04-05

The pretrial hearing in the sexual assault case for former Michigan State basketball star Mateen Cleaves continues on Friday.

Watch the hearing live here at 9 a.m.

In court on Thursday, the alleged victim took the stand, claiming Cleaves raped her in a motel last fall after a golf outing.

She testified Thursday that she twice ran out of a motel room to escape his advances.

The woman said Cleaves pulled her back into the room at a Flint-area Knights Inn in September 2015. They had met that day at a charity golf event and later had drinks at a bar.

A judge must decide whether there's enough evidence to send Cleaves to trial on many charges, including unlawful imprisonment and second-degree criminal sexual conduct. It's a lower standard than beyond a reasonable doubt. He has pleaded not guilty.

The woman said she believed Cleaves was going to drive her back to Warwick Hills Golf and Country Club after visiting a bar. Instead, they ended up at the motel.

"He started kissing me. I kissed him back and I remember being on the bed," she testified.

She said she dashed out of the room but Cleaves caught her, brought her back and sexually assaulted her. She said, "I didn't want to be there."

The woman said Cleaves pulled her back into the room a second time. Her testimony was similar to the testimony of a motel guest who said she saw the woman twice outside the room.

During cross-examination by defense attorney Frank Manley, the woman said she never said "no" to Cleaves "but I told him I wanted to go home."

The Associated Press generally doesn't name people who say they are victims of sexual assault.

Cleaves led Michigan State to the 2000 national championship and had a brief NBA career.