SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) – A former Utah State University football player, convicted on multiple rape charges is asking the Utah Supreme Court to take another look at his case.
In 2019 a jury convicted Torrey Green for the rape of six women. Green’s appellate attorney says the case should not have been consolidated into one trial.
One of his attorney’s main arguments is that each incident should have been tried on its own, splitting up the cases. The defense questioned the women’s motives, stating some did not report to the police until after a news article was published.
“The women themselves talked about reading the articles and reporting to the Tribune as well. So through the individual woman’s testimony, the scope of the articles could have been explored,” said Green’s appellate attorney Freyja Johnson.
The state argued four of the six victims specifically named Green before that article was published, with several providing similar stories on what happened.
Utah Assistant Solicitor General David Simpson said the heart of this case comes down to one question… is it fair for a jury to hear about separate rape allegations in one trial. If the court rules the trial was fair, he said it will send a message.
“I hope it will encourage rape victims and other cases to feel comfortable coming forward and to know that if they’re not alone, that it’s okay to tell the jury that they’re not alone… if multiple people are telling the same story, that it’s it’s fair to, for us to think that they’re telling the truth,” said Simpson.
Green’s father was also at the proceedings. He told reporters he believes justice will come out of this and he hopes his son can get this behind him.
The court is taking the case under advisement.