Opening arguments conclude in ex-Colt Josh McNary's rape trial

Update 4:05 p.m.:

Opening arguments in the rape trial of former Colts linebacker Josh McNary have concluded.

Deputy Prosecutor Courtney Curtis recounted the events of Dec. 1, when McNary and the woman who has accused him of rape met.

Curtis said the woman went to three Downtown bars with friends. She got drunk that night and met McNary at Tiki Bob's. Curtis said the two talked, danced and flirted before going to McNary's Downtown apartment. The woman said she doesn't remember how they got to the apartment but said she voluntarily went home with McNary, Curtis said.

They kissed and flirted more, but the woman later realized she didn't want to be there, Curtis said. "She realized, 'You know what, I don't want to do this. I don't feel good,' " Curtis said. The woman was apparently drunk and had to lie down.

Curtis said when the sex began, the woman told McNary several times to stop. "The defendant isn't stopping ... and she's scared," Curtis said.

Curtis said the woman didn't remember much of that night. "She just knew she'd been raped."

"She did go home with him willingly, but then he raped her," Curtis said.

Defense attorney Jessie Cook immediately questioned the woman's credibility.

Cook said the woman is "a confused young woman whose actions speak far louder than her words."

Cook said the woman "drinks too much" and mixes medication with her drinks. Cook said the woman voluntarily kissed and flirted.

The defense argued that the sex was consensual and the woman's actions "were entirely inconsistent with the claim of rape."

"You will hear two radically different accounts of what happened" on Dec. 1 at McNary's apartment, Cook said.

Update:

Twelve jurors and two alternates have been selected in the trial of ex-Colts linebacker Josh McNary.

McNary is facing rape, criminal confinement and battery charges. He has been out on bond and was initially placed on GPS monitoring. Marion Superior Court Judge Sheila Carlisle last March changed the conditions of McNary's release after his attorney requested for the equipment to be removed, arguing that his client had been cooperative with law enforcement.

The jurors were selected shortly after 1 p.m. today and will be back in court at 2:30 p.m. Attorneys are expected to deliver their opening arguments this afternoon.

Earlier story:

Former Indianapolis Colts player Josh McNary, who is accused of raping a woman he met at a bar after a night of drinking Downtown, is set to face a jury this week.

The trial, scheduled to start Monday, comes about seven months after the 27-year-old former Colts linebacker was charged with rape, criminal confinement and battery in connection with events early Dec. 1. McNary’s attorney, Ed Schrager, said in an earlier statement that his client is innocent.

Court records say the woman left work and went to three Downtown bars with co-workers the night before. At Tiki Bob’s, their last stop, the woman began talking to a man who she thinks was the one who raped her, according to a probable cause affidavit.

The Indianapolis Star typically does not name people who are or may have been victims of sexual assault.

The two went to the man’s apartment, where they flirted and kissed, court records say. Later, in the bedroom, the woman resisted the man’s advances and told him several times to stop, according to court documents. When the man began to rape her, she started to scratch him, the woman told detectives.

The woman later found a cellphone on a couch or table and grabbed it as she left the man’s apartment. Police traced the phone to McNary, court records say. Detectives also noticed abrasions and scratches on his neck, abdomen, shoulder and back.

The outcome of the case likely will depend on whom the jurors believe and whether they will be convinced that the sex was consensual.

McNary’s defense intends to challenge the woman’s credibility, as suggested during an earlier hearing on the case. Schrager has said in court that he had received an anonymous letter suggesting that the woman previously made a false rape accusation while she worked at a Downtown bar. A text conversation with a friend within 24 hours of the alleged assault shows the woman’s friend telling her about “the little boy who cries wolf too much,” Schrager said in court.

The trial is expected to last four days, according to the Marion County prosecutor’s office.

McNary began his career with the Colts in 2013. The team received permission from the NFL to put McNary on a list making him ineligible to practice or attend games after his arrest on Jan. 14. His contract expired in March.

Star reporter Tim Evans contributed to this story.

Call Star reporter Kristine Guerra at (317) 444-6209. Follow her on Twitter: @kristine_guerra.