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Updated: 6:27 p.m. Friday, March 15, 2013 | Posted: 9:36 a.m. Friday, March 15, 2013
By NEWS9 and The Associated Press
STEUBENVILLE, Ohio —
Prosecutors called key eyewitnesses Friday in the trial of two Steubenville High School student-athletes charged with raping a 16-year-old girl.
The judge presiding over the Steubenville teen rape trial granted immunity to three teens, who testified at a previous probable-cause hearing and were called again to the witness stand Friday.
Because the three teen witnesses were granted immunity, they will not face charges in connection with this matter.
The first teen who testified on Friday said he saw a friend perform a sexual act on a 16-year-old girl after a party. The witness said that he recorded part of the encounter but later deleted the video because he realized he'd done "something stupid and wrong."
The 17-year-old from Steubenville was one of three teens who testified in the probable-cause hearing for the case. He attends Steubenville High School and knows the defendants from sports in the past.
Much of the state's case rests on the testimony of three teenage boys who said they witnessed the alleged attacks, including two who took video and photographic images which were later deleted. Testimony from three teens who watched the alleged attacks is a crucial part of the state's evidence because the alleged victim says she doesn't remember what happened.
WTOV9.com will provide live coverage of the Steubenville teen rape trial from the courtroom. NOTE: Some witnesses may opt out of being recorded. In those cases, their testimony will not be live-streamed.
We will have live updates each hour during the trial and these updates are posted on our NEWS9 SPECIAL SECTION: Steubenville teen rape case.
By 5 p.m., the third witness who testified at the probable-cause hearing, testified that he arrived at a third house and was shown a video which was taped in a car that showed one of the defendants pull up the girl's shirt and expose her breasts.
The third witness said he only saw the video for a few seconds and was bothered by it. He said he later saw the girl completely naked on her stomach with the two defendants in the room near her, one touching her with a part of his body and the other defendant looking between her legs.
The witness said he told the defendants to stop, but one defendant told him everything would be fine. He said he could not swear under oath to seeing any penetration.
WTOV9.com will provide live coverage of the Steubenville teen rape trial from the courtroom. NOTE: Some witnesses may opt out of being recorded. In those cases, their testimony will not be live-streamed.
We will have live updates each hour during the trial and these updates are posted on our NEWS9 SPECIAL SECTION: Steubenville teen rape case.
The trial is in its third day following a day of evidence that included graphic text messages from one of the defendants offering different accounts of what happened.
In text messages presented from the alleged victim, she wrote she had no memory of the night and begged for information about what happened.
Both defendants have pleaded not guilty. If convicted, the teens could be held in a juvenile jail until they turn 21.
The two teen defendants are charged with raping the girl on Aug. 11, 2012. One of the teens is also charged with transmitting sexually-oriented pictures of a minor.
The charges stem from a police report that was filed in Steubenville at 1:40 a.m. Aug. 14. The report states that people came to the police station "in regards to a sexual assault involving their juvenile daughter." Information was taken for a report and the subjects were referred to the Juvenile Division, the police report stated.
Judge Thomas Lipps, a retired judge from Hamilton County, is presiding over the non-jury trial. Jefferson County Judge Samuel Kerr recused himself in late August. The Ohio Attorney General's Office took over prosecuting the case in late August after Jefferson County Prosecutor Jane Hanlin also stepped aside.
Stay with NEWS9 and WTOV9.com for continuing coverage as details become available.
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