Sex Assault Charges Reinstated Against Ex-Detroit Tigers Pitcher Evan Reed
DETROIT (WWJ) - Former Detroit Tigers pitcher Evan Reed is once again facing sexual assault charges.
Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Michael Callahan Friday morning reinstated rape charges against the 28-year old, saying that a jury, not a judge, should decide if the alleged victim's testimony is credible.
In August, charges of third-degree criminal sexual conduct against Reed were thrown out by 36th District Court Judge Kenneth King , who didn't believe the alleged victim's "vacillating testimony."
A 45-year-old woman said that after meeting Reed at a Royal Oak bar the night before Opening Day, she believes she was drugged.
"The last thing I remember is just my body feeling funny," she testified. "I completely blacked out from that point on and I don't remember a single thing." [Read more of her testimony HERE].
The woman testified that the next thing she can remember, she was with Reed in a bed at a Detroit casino hotel, both of them were nude, and there was "evidence around the room" that sexual activity had taken place.
King said there's no doubt the alleged victim was incapacitated when she entered the hotel with Reed; "The problem is what happened in that hotel room … no one knows," he said.
Not satisfied with King's ruling, the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office appealed.
Reed claims he and the woman had consensual sex. His lawyer, who called the woman's testimony "bogus allegations," plans to appeal the decision in 21 days.
"This whole case has been mind-boggling," attorney Ben Gonek told WWJ's Chrystal Knight. "...The prosecutor's office, by filing these charges, has in effect ruined his life. Teams that are interested in are not going to be as interested in him as much with this hanging over his head."
"He is going to be found not guilty. This has just has had a devastating effect on his life, and for no good reason," Gonek said.
Reed is now a free agent after pitching with the Tigers and the Triple-A Toledo Mudhens last season.
