Prosecutors questioned the tactics used by a police detective when he investigated a rape allegation against a promising Utah State University football player as the handling of the allegations surfaced during trial.
Defense attorneys for Torrey Green called Logan detective Kendall Olsen to the stand Monday, asking Olson about Green's willingness to be interviewed after a woman reported an allegation in 2015.
Green, 25, is accused of sexually assaulting six women when he was a student from 2013 to 2015. His trial on 11 felony counts began last week.
Green, of Rubidoux, California, has denied any wrongdoing. He was signed as a rookie lineman for the Atlanta Falcons, but the team dropped him in 2016 after the allegations surfaced.
Green's lawyer, Skye Lazaro, has argued that the women came forward after Green signed the rookie contract because they wanted attention.
Detective Olsen had investigated several reports of sexual assaults involving Green, but prosecutors declined charges in April 2015 after he had filed his report. Charges weren't filed until the next year.
Olsen testified that Green was not hesitant but seemed nervous to sit down for a police interview in 2015.
During cross-examination, Deputy Cache County Attorney Spencer Walsh questioned the detective's interactions with Green, criticizing Olsen for never getting confrontational and never asking hard questions.
"Fair to say that you treated this defendant with kid gloves?" Deputy Cache County Attorney Spencer Walsh asked Olsen. "Maybe unintentionally, but that's how you treated him in the interview."
Lazaro asked Olsen if his interaction with Green was deceptive and an investigative tactic.
"I believe so," Olsen said, noting his method of downplaying the allegation now "may come across as not giving it full attention it deserves."
