Latest news with #CoronaCentennialHigh
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Yahoo
Civil lawsuit accuses BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff of raping Utah woman in 2023
Brigham Young quarterback Jake Retzlaff has been accused of raping a woman at his Utah residence in November 2023. In a civil lawsuit filed this week in state court in Salt Lake County, a woman identified in documents as Jane Doe alleges that Retzlaff "raped, strangled, and bit" her after she and a friend came over to his place to play the video game "Fortnite." The claimant is asking for more than $300,000 in damages over claims including assault, battery and "emotional distress, humiliation, embarrassment, mental distress and anxiety." Retzlaff's attorney, Mark Baute, said on Wednesday in a statement to media outlets that Retzlaff is 'factually innocent." "We look forward to proving that innocence," Baute said. "Jake's focus this year will be on football. We don't try cases in the media, we will respect the process and establish Jake's innocence through the judicial system.' Retzlaff played two years at Corona Centennial High before spending a year each at Riverside City College and Golden West College in Huntington Beach. He has played 17 games in two seasons at BYU and led the Cougars to an 11-2 record last year. He has one year of college eligibility remaining. BYU said in a statement to The Times that it learned about the lawsuit Wednesday. "The university takes any allegation very seriously, following all processes and guidelines mandated by Title IX," BYU wrote. "Due to federal and university privacy laws and practices for students, the university will not be able to provide additional comment." According to the lawsuit, Doe and Retzlaff met via social media in October and began messaging. They met in person in late November when Retzlaff invited the Salt Lake County resident to his place in Utah County. She and a friend came over "that evening and went to his room to play Fortnite," the lawsuit states. The filing states that Doe interacted with "Retzlaff's friends and teammates" while playing the video game. Later, after her friend left, Doe and Retzlaff were kissing while watching a movie when "Retzlaff began escalating the situation, attempting to touch her breasts and genital area," according to the complaint. The lawsuit states that Doe "tried to de-escalate the situation and attempted to slow things down, trying to pull away, and saying 'wait.' She did not want to do anything sexual with him." Retzlaff's physical contact started "causing her pain," the complaint states, and Doe objected — saying "no" and "wait, stop" — and "wanted to leave, but was scared and felt like she could not get away." According to the lawsuit, Retzlaff would go on to allegedly pull Doe's hair, forcefully kiss her, bite her lip (which allegedly caused a cut) and "put his hands around her neck and started to press down so that she could not breathe," among other alleged actions before raping her. Doe left after Retzlaff fell asleep, the lawsuit states. She went to a hospital "a few days later," according to the lawsuit, and had a rape kit performed and photos taken of her injuries. She also spoke with the Provo Police Department but initially did not give Retzlaff's name because "she was scared and in shock and not ready to confront him," the lawsuit states. "At some point after speaking to the police, an officer reached out to her asking for the name because someone else filed a complaint against a football player and the police wanted to see if it was the same person," the lawsuit states. "At that point, [Doe] shared Retzlaff's name, and the Provo police then encouraged her not to do anything because, as they claimed, 'sexual assault victims never get justice.'" In a statement released Wednesday night, the Provo Police Department said it "is aware of a civil suit involving an allegation of rape made by an anonymous plaintiff against a BYU football player" but "has not been served any legal filing relating to this civil case." The department said it was able "to identify a possible correlating case report" based on the details of the civil case. The initials of the woman who called in that report match those of Retzlaff's accuser. The Times does not name victims of sexual assault unless they choose to be identified. "Our records show that on November 27th, 2023, our department received a phone report from a woman ... who gave a similar account. She was treated with courtesy and care," the department stated. "The complainant in that case was given several opportunities to identify her abuser. She declined to do so, as is her right, and the case was subsequently closed. Collected evidence was examined, and it revealed no actionable investigative leads. Our victim advocates followed up several times to offer services but received no response." The department continued: "The civil suit states that Provo Police personnel discouraged the victim from proceeding, by telling her there is no justice for victims of sexual abuse. From everything we have reviewed, this is not true. We have a team of dedicated investigators and victim advocates whose sole mission is to provide justice to victims of sexual abuse. They do not send people away, warning them there is no justice for victims. "Our Special Victims Unit investigations regularly result in criminal accountability for offenders. We hope the plaintiff chooses to make a statement to further the criminal investigation if desired." Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
22-05-2025
- Los Angeles Times
Civil lawsuit accuses BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff of raping Utah woman in 2023
Brigham Young quarterback Jake Retzlaff has been accused of raping a woman at his Utah residence in November 2023. In a civil lawsuit filed this week in state court in Salt Lake County, a woman identified in documents as Jane Doe alleges that Retzlaff 'raped, strangled, and bit' her after she and a friend came over to his place to play the video game 'Fortnite.' The claimant is asking for more than $300,000 in damages over claims including assault, battery and 'emotional distress, humiliation, embarrassment, mental distress and anxiety.' Retzlaff's attorney, Mark Baute, said on Wednesday in a statement to media outlets that Retzlaff is 'factually innocent.' 'We look forward to proving that innocence,' Baute said. 'Jake's focus this year will be on football. We don't try cases in the media, we will respect the process and establish Jake's innocence through the judicial system.' Retzlaff played two years at Corona Centennial High before spending a year each at Riverside City College and Golden West College in Huntington Beach. He has played 17 games in two seasons at BYU and led the Cougars to an 11-2 record last year. He has one year of college eligibility remaining. BYU said in a statement to The Times that it learned about the lawsuit Wednesday. 'The university takes any allegation very seriously, following all processes and guidelines mandated by Title IX,' BYU wrote. 'Due to federal and university privacy laws and practices for students, the university will not be able to provide additional comment.' According to the lawsuit, Doe and Retzlaff met via social media in October and began messaging. They met in person in late November when Retzlaff invited the Salt Lake County resident to his place in Utah County. She and a friend came over 'that evening and went to his room to play Fortnite,' the lawsuit states. The filing states that Doe interacted with 'Retzlaff's friends and teammates' while playing the video game. Later, after her friend left, Doe and Retzlaff were kissing while watching a movie when 'Retzlaff began escalating the situation, attempting to touch her breasts and genital area,' according to the complaint. The lawsuit states that Doe 'tried to de-escalate the situation and attempted to slow things down, trying to pull away, and saying 'wait.' She did not want to do anything sexual with him.' Retzlaff's physical contact started 'causing her pain,' the complaint states, and Doe objected — saying 'no' and 'wait, stop' — and 'wanted to leave, but was scared and felt like she could not get away.' According to the lawsuit, Retzlaff would go on to allegedly pull Doe's hair, forcefully kiss her, bite her lip (which allegedly caused a cut) and 'put his hands around her neck and started to press down so that she could not breathe,' among other alleged actions before raping her. Doe left after Retzlaff fell asleep, the lawsuit states. She went to a hospital 'a few days later,' according to the lawsuit, and had a rape kit performed and photos taken of her injuries. She also spoke with the Provo Police Department but initially did not give Retzlaff's name because 'she was scared and in shock and not ready to confront him,' the lawsuit states. 'At some point after speaking to the police, an officer reached out to her asking for the name because someone else filed a complaint against a football player and the police wanted to see if it was the same person,' the lawsuit states. 'At that point, [Doe] shared Retzlaff's name, and the Provo police then encouraged her not to do anything because, as they claimed, 'sexual assault victims never get justice.'' In a statement released Wednesday night, the Provo Police Department said it 'is aware of a civil suit involving an allegation of rape made by an anonymous plaintiff against a BYU football player' but 'has not been served any legal filing relating to this civil case.' The department said it was able 'to identify a possible correlating case report' based on the details of the civil case. The initials of the woman who called in that report match those of Retzlaff's accuser. The Times does not name victims of sexual assault unless they choose to be identified. 'Our records show that on November 27th, 2023, our department received a phone report from a woman ... who gave a similar account. She was treated with courtesy and care,' the department stated. 'The complainant in that case was given several opportunities to identify her abuser. She declined to do so, as is her right, and the case was subsequently closed. Collected evidence was examined, and it revealed no actionable investigative leads. Our victim advocates followed up several times to offer services but received no response.' The department continued: 'The civil suit states that Provo Police personnel discouraged the victim from proceeding, by telling her there is no justice for victims of sexual abuse. From everything we have reviewed, this is not true. We have a team of dedicated investigators and victim advocates whose sole mission is to provide justice to victims of sexual abuse. They do not send people away, warning them there is no justice for victims. 'Our Special Victims Unit investigations regularly result in criminal accountability for offenders. We hope the plaintiff chooses to make a statement to further the criminal investigation if desired.'
Los Angeles Times
26-03-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Jayden Maiava shows improvement as he fights to retain USC starting quarterback job
When he was first announced as USC's starting quarterback last November, Jayden Maiava stepped into a pretty thorny situation. The team already had rallied behind Miller Moss, who spent the previous three seasons earning teammates' trust. Plus, he'd have only a few games to prove himself, and USC desperately needed immediate results. 'That's a hard thing for anyone to do,' said wideout Ja'Kobi Lane, a close friend of Moss. Those four starts, as uneven as they sometimes were, proved enough for Maiava to retain the title as the Trojans' presumptive quarterback this spring, even as USC added five-star freshman Husan Longstreet and experienced transfer Sam Huard to the fold. But what's happened in the three months since ultimately may say more about where Maiava is headed as a quarterback — and whether he'll keep the job for good this season. Maiava's second act started in January with speculation that he was entertaining the idea of entering the transfer portal. But he brushed off that notion Tuesday. 'Shoot, the transfer portal is crazy nowadays,' Maiava said. 'I usually just don't pay any mind or attention to it. I just kind of go about my business and stay out the way.' For Maiava, that meant spending as much time in the film room as possible. 'Countless hours,' the quarterback said. It was on film that he could see how often he got 'happy feet' in the pocket during his first season at USC. He worked to pinpoint the reasons for head-scratching mistakes that seemed to follow him every week. Namely the back-breaking interceptions, three of which he threw in the bowl game. He was, as Lincoln Riley said Monday, 'his own toughest critic.' Though the coach was quick to point out that self-criticism was useful only to a point with Maiava. 'He's a guy who sometimes he can almost overdo it,' Riley said. 'He naturally has that ability to really be critical of himself, to really put everything he can into the areas he doesn't. You're never going to see him like, 'Oh, I'm so good at this, I'm going to take it for granted and not put work into it.' Like he's the complete opposite of that. Which is great. He's a driven worker and he wants to play a lot better for us than he did last year. And he played pretty darn good. So that's a pretty good sign.' Maiava still will have to compete through preseason camp, Riley clarified, if only because 'there always has to be a competition.' 'Now does Jayden come in a step ahead in experience and all that of the other guys in the room? Of course he does,' Riley said Monday during the 'Trojans Live' radio show. 'But the best guy is going to play, and that's, to me, No. 1 and that should always be the case.' Longstreet may be the most likely to push Maiava, given his pedigree coming out of Corona Centennial High. He also spent as much time as he could at USC's bowl practices, soaking it all in. That extra work and time has paid off. 'He's way further ahead than most guys would be at this age,' Riley said. 'His ability to communicate and manage the group right now as a young guy is pretty impressive.' Where that may come naturally to Longstreet, it's been an adjustment for Maiava since stepping into the starting role. But teammates and coaches have noticed a major difference since last season. 'You certainly see him just more confident, more assertive as a leader and a player now,' Riley said. 'That's what we need him to be.' Whether that's enough to keep the job as USC's quarterback, only time will tell. As Jahkeem Stewart made his way up the tunnel Tuesday for his first spring practice at USC, it was hard not to marvel at the hulking, 17-year old defensive end. At 6 feet 6 and 290 pounds, Stewart should 'no doubt' have an opportunity to contribute this season, Riley said. The question is how quickly he'll be able to pick up USC's defense. 'He's in the facility darn near all day now,' Riley said. 'He's got the talent to [make an impact], and now it's just going to be putting in the work and building him up to be a consistent enough player to trust to put him out there on Saturday.' Defensive end Anthony Lucas is expected to miss most of spring as he continues to recover from a lower leg injury that cost him the second half of last season.
