Vedral assault case hinges on consent
■The prosecution and
defense agree the linebacker
and a woman had sex but
disagree on why.
BY JOSH FUNK
At the center of suspended
NU linebacker Mark Vedral's sex
ual assault trial is the issue of con
sent.
In Tuesday’s opening state
ments, the prosecution and
defense agreed that Vedral and
the woman had sex.
It is the events leading up to
and following that act that will
determine the linebacker’s guilt
or innocence.
“On May 6,2000 (the victim)
was asleep. She awoke from sleep
with a man on top of her, and he
was having sex with her,” Deputy
County Attorney Laura Pasold
said.
But defense attorney John
Sohl argued that the sex that
night was consensual. Sohl said
Vedral had talked with the
woman before they started mak
ing out and then moved on to sex.
Last spring, Vedral, 21, was
fighting for the starting weak-side
linebacker job before he was sus
pended May 9 after being
charged with first-degree sexual
assault
The trial in Lancaster County
District Court Judge Bernard
McGinn’s courtroom is expected
to last through the week.
A jury of eight women and
four men was selected to hear the
case after the judge and lawyers
quizzed them all on their past
experiences and penchants for
Husker football.
Almost everyone admitted
following the Nebraska football
team.
Once the jury was impaneled
and opening statements con
cluded, the victim took the wit
ness stand and recounted the
events leading up to the alleged
attack.
On cross examination, Sohl
questioned the victim’s recollec
tion of the details of that night
before the court recessed for the
day. Cross examination is sched
uled to resume this morning at 9
a.m.
The young woman had to
leave the courtroom during
opening arguments, and she
became visibly shaken several
times during her testimony.
On the night of May 5, die vic
tim said she had gone to a friend’s
graduation party near 33rd and
Van Dorn streets.
At that party, the victim ran
into Chris Kelsay, who was a
friend and former boyfriend.
Around 1 a.m. police broke
up the party, and the victim, a
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
student, was stranded without a
ride until Kelsay offered to take
her to his house where another
party was going on.
Kelsay and the victim arrived
at his home at 1005 Michelle
Court where the victim was first
introduced to Vedral.
Kelsay shared the duplex with
Vedral, Tracey Wistrom and Kyle
Vanden Bosch, who are all foot
ball players and could be called
as witnesses.
Later that night, police also
broke up that party after which
Kelsay and the victim went down
to his basement bedroom where
the two had sex.
The victim then went to sleep
in Kelsay’s bed while he went
upstairs.
A few hours later, the woman
said she woke up with a man on
top of her having sex.
“I was groggy when I first
woke up, and I couldn’t tell what
was going on,” she said.
At first she said she thought
the man might be Kelsay, but
shortly realized that it wasn’t after
touching the man’s head, which
was shaved. Kelsay had 1-inch
long hair then, she said. '
The woman pushed the man
off of her and asked who it was,
getting no answer. When she
turned on a light, the woman saw
Vedral walking out of the room
without wearing any pants.
The defense argued in open
ing statements that the woman
should easily been able to tell the
difference between Kelsay and
Vedral. The men have a different
build and Kelsay weighs about 50
pounds more.
The woman said she then
dressed and went upstairs look
ing for Kelsay, who had left to take
a friend home.
The victim said she was hys
terical at that point and tried to
call friends for a ride home. She
was startled by someone who
came into the kitchen and
dropped the phone before fleeing
to a neighboring duplex.
There the victim contacted
friends, who took her to the hos
pital where police were called.
The state will present the rest
of its case today. The defense will
start to present its evidence either
today or Thursday.
If Vedral is convicted, he
could face a sentence of up to 50
years in prison.
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