A former star college football player in Utah broke down in tears on the witness stand where he denied allegations he raped six women.
Torrey Green, who starred as a linebacker for Utah State University’s football team from 2011 until 2015, testified on Tuesday that the women who have come forward to accuse him consented to sex or the alleged encounters never happened.
Green, 25, is accused of sexually assaulting six women when he was a student from 2013 to 2015. His trial on 11 felony counts began last week.
Green, of Rubidoux, California, has denied any wrongdoing.
Torrey Green, who starred as a linebacker for Utah State University’s football team from 2011 until 2015, testified on Tuesday that the six women who have come forward to accuse him of rape either consented to sex or lied about the alleged encounters. He is pictured on Tuesday
Green broke down in tears on the witness stand during his testimony in a courtroom in Brigham City, Utah on Tuesday
Green denied allegations that he raped women after they accepted his invitation to watch movies in his bedroom
He was signed as a rookie lineman for the Atlanta Falcons, but the team dropped him in 2016 after the allegations surfaced.
Green’s lawyer, Skye Lazaro, has argued that the women came forward after Green signed the rookie contract because they wanted attention.
At the time of the alleged crimes, Green was a student at Utah State, whose main campus is based in Logan, Utah, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.
Green said on the witness stand on Tuesday that he erred by not being more honest with the women in letting them know that he wasn’t interested in a long-term relationship.
‘I wish I didn’t break their hearts,’ Green said.
‘I could have done a better job of letting them know I didn’t want to be in a lasting relationship, and I’m sorry for that.’
Green also said he regrets having numerous lovers in college.
‘Looking back, I’ve matured a lot,’ he said.
‘It’s not a good thing. It’s not a good look. It’s no good.’
Green took the witness stand in his own defense one week after four of his accusers testified in court.
One of the women, M.H., alleges that Green assaulted her in November 2013.
M.H. testified that she and Green met on Tinder.
Eventually, they agreed to meet at Green’s apartment for dinner and a movie.
According to her testimony, she and Green went to his bedroom to watch a movie after eating dinner.
While in his bedroom, Green asked M.H. if he could give her a massage. She agreed, but on condition that she remain clothed.
M.H. alleged that Green began lifting up her shirt and tried to take off her clothes.
She testified that she asked him to stop.
‘It was a struggle,’ she testified.
Green’s accusers testified against him last week. They made similar allegations, accusing Green of forcing himself on them after they resisted his sexual advances. Green is seen in a Brigham City, Utah courtroom last week during testimony
‘And he was getting my clothes off, and I was really scared.’
M.H. testified that Green told her she would like it. She alleges that he eventually overpowered her and raped her on his bed.
In his testimony on Tuesday, Green claimed M.H. willingly removed her shirt and that the two had consensual sex.
Green testified that she never told him ‘no’ or resisted his advances.
‘Did she appear to be frightened in any way?’ his lawyer, Skye Lazaro, asked him during his testimony.
‘No,’ he said.
Carson Davis, who agreed to have her name publicized, took the witness stand and gave similar testimony to M.H.
Davis said she met Green in the fall of 2014 at a campus student center and she gave him her phone number.
The two agreed to meet for a date. Green picked Davis up at her dorm room, she testified.
The plan was for him to cook her dinner at his apartment. Afterward, they would watch a movie.
Davis testified that she and Green ended up skipping dinner and going straight to the bedroom to watch the movie.
In the bedroom, Davis testified that they began kissing.
‘I was OK with that,’ Davis said on the witness stand.
But she alleges that Green started to grab her buttocks and leg.
Davis testified that she told Green she wasn’t comfortable with his touching.
She alleges Green dismissed her concerns with a laugh.
Davis said she tried to leave, but Green pinned her against the wall.
Davis testified that she ended up on his bed. She alleges Green pulled off her pants and proceeded to rape her.
Police initially arrested Green in 2015, but prosecutors didn’t file charges against him until 2016
In his testimony on Tuesday, Green agreed with Davis’s recollection about how they met.
But he contradicted Davis by telling jurors that he didn’t have sex with her that night because he was taking medicine to treat chlamydia, a sexually transmitted disease.
Green testified that he was told not to have sex with anyone because of the risk of infecting someone else.
He also told the jury that he asked Davis for permission to touch her buttocks, but he claims he had no desire to have relations.
Another woman who insisted on anonymity said she went over to Green’s apartment in January 2015 to watch a movie.
She testified last week that she told Green she did not wish to have sex.
Nonetheless, she alleges he forced himself on her.
After the alleged rape, the woman said Green told him: ‘You’re not the kind of girl who would report a rape, right? Because that would ruin my career.’
The woman testified that she considered the comment as a veiled threat.
‘The fact that he was the one who used the word “rape”, I knew that he knew that what he did was wrong,’ she testified.
Green remembers the encounter differently. In his testimony, he said that he and the woman began to kiss while in his apartment.
Green testified that he asked her for permission to remove her bra, to which she consented.
He testified that as things escalated, he noticed she was uncomfortable.
Green told the jury that he stopped and asked her if she was OK with having sex.
‘I don’t want to pressure you into doing anything you don’t want to do,’ Green says he told her.
‘I don’t want you to be someone who accuses me of doing something you didn’t want to do.’
Green testified that she said she was fine with continuing.
He said that while the two eventually progressed toward intercourse, he still felt uncomfortable with the conversation he had with her.
Green said he recalled how his coaches told him that he should never pressure anyone into having sex.
He told jurors that he stopped before things escalated.
A fourth woman who testified, L.P., said she and Green met on Tinder and made plans to watch a movie at his apartment.
When Green tried to kiss her, she refused his advances, she testified.
L.P. told jurors that Green’s ‘demeanor changed’ after she rejected him.
Green (46) was cut by the Atlanta Falcons after the sexual assault allegations against him surfaced. He is seen above during a Falcons practice in June 2016 in Flowery Branch, Georgia
She said she became frightened.
As the two were lying down in his bed, she testified, he began to cuddle her.
L.P. testified that she then tried to leave his apartment, but he pinned her against a bathroom vanity and pushed her legs apart.
She alleged that Green began to grind his body against hers.
L.P. told jurors she managed to get out of the bathroom, but Green caught up to her and pressed her against a wall.
He then began to rub his body against hers, she testified.
L.P. said the experience was akin to ‘being raped with my clothes on.’
In his testimony on Tuesday, Green said that he and L.P. made plans to ‘Netflix and chill’ – which is slang for watching television with the expectation that things would escalate toward sex.
Green testified that the two of them were sitting on his bed.
He said he asked her for permission to kiss her, but was denied.
Green testified that he then asked her for permission to kiss her on the cheek, to which she agreed.
Green told jurors she consented to cuddling. He denied that there was any other sexual contact.
All of the alleged assaults took place on first dates.
Closing statements in the trial are expected to take place on Wednesday.
Prosecutors on Monday questioned the tactics used by a police detective when he investigated a rape allegation against Green as the handling of the allegations surfaced during trial.
Defense attorneys for Green called Logan detective Kendall Olsen to the stand Monday, asking Olson about Green’s willingness to be interviewed after a woman reported an allegation in 2015.
Detective Olsen had investigated several reports of sexual assaults involving Green, but prosecutors declined charges in April 2015 after he had filed his report.
Charges weren’t filed until the next year.
Green was a highly regarded linebacker in college. He played four seasons for Utah State University. He is seen above on the right sacking Brigham Young quarterback Christian Stewart (left) during a game in Provo, Utah in 2014
Olsen testified that Green was not hesitant but seemed nervous to sit down for a police interview in 2015.
During cross-examination, Deputy Cache County Attorney Spencer Walsh questioned the detective’s interactions with Green, criticizing Olsen for never getting confrontational and never asking hard questions.
‘Fair to say that you treated this defendant with kid gloves?’ Deputy Cache County Attorney Spencer Walsh asked Olsen.
‘Maybe unintentionally, but that’s how you treated him in the interview.’
Lazaro asked Olsen if his interaction with Green was deceptive and an investigative tactic.
‘I believe so,’ Olsen said, noting his method of downplaying the allegation now ‘may come across as not giving it full attention it deserves.’