Lawyers for the former Calhoun High School seniors accused of sexually assaulting a young woman at a prom party last year gave a glimpse of their defense Monday.
The lawyers said it was all consensual — despite prosecutors and police contending the woman was too intoxicated to legally consent during a party at a cabin at a resort in Gilmer County.
‘I’m not going to brag about what anything these kids did. There were 25 of them over there,” one of the attorneys, Stephen Williams, told Channel 2 Action News. “But there was no crime committed other than a bunch of kids drinking alcohol.”
A Gilmer County judge accepted a new indictment after the original indictment was tossed out because of legal flaws. The 38-count indictment includes new charges, including public indecency and sodomy, on top of aggravated sexual battery and sexual battery against Fields Chapman, Avery Johnson and Williams’ client, Andrew Haynes.
The young men pleaded not guilty to the felonies Monday in Gilmer County Superior Court.
The female student said she was raped by multiple young men early May 11 at a Coosawattee River Resort cabin in Gilmer County, according to a Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office report. The cabin was rented for a party after the prom, which was held the previous night.
Deputies later arrested Chapman, Johnson and Haynes, all of whom turned themselves in 18 days after the alleged assault, according to Gilmer Sheriff Stacey Nicholson.
“We’ve entered our plea of not guilty and we’re moving forward,” said Jessie Vaughn, attorney for Johnson
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