Appeals Court Won't Review Mateen Cleaves Sex Assault Case

FLINT (WWJ/AP) - An appeals court says it won't review a judge's decision to reinstate sexual assault charges against former Michigan State basketball star Mateen Cleaves.

Three Michigan Court of Appeals judges denied Cleaves' request in an order dated Monday. The case is expected to return to court in Genesee County for trial.

[View a copy of the court's opinion]

Genesee County Judge Archie Hayman in April reinstated the case against 39-year-old Cleaves, who faces charges including unlawful imprisonment and second-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Defense attorney Frank Manley says in a statement that he'll continue to fight the "unjust accusations."

Cleaves is accused of assaulting a woman after a charity golf event and a visit to a Flint-area bar in September 2015. A woman said she twice tried to get away from Cleaves but was pulled back into a motel room and sexually assaulted. A witness confirmed that she saw the woman try to escape a room at the Knights Inn near Flint.

On the witness stand in December, Mundy Township police sergeant Todd Johnson said the alleged victim told him she and Cleaves had sexual relations, but when he asked her specifically, she said she had not been assaulted. When Johnson was asked under oath if he told his deputy chief that the woman told that to him — he was less direct — simply saying, "I believe so."

Cleaves, a Flint native, led Michigan State to the NCAA basketball championship in 2000 and played for four NBA teams.

New court dates have not been announced.

Cleaves has pleaded not guilty to third degree criminal sexual conduct, unlawful imprisonment and and other charges — insisting that he and the alleged victim had consensual sex. He remains free on a $500,000 bond and could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.