School football players' rape trial opens in Ohio

STEUBENVILLE, Ohio - A 16-year-old girl was "substantially impaired" after an alcohol-fueled party, was unable to consent to sex and suffered humiliation and degradation when she was raped by two high school football players, a prosecutor said Wednesday in her opening statement at the boys' trial.

But a lawyer for defendant Trent Mays said his 17-year-old client "did not rape the young lady in question."

Special Prosecutor Marianne Hemmeter and Mays' attorney, Brian Duncan, spoke at the opening of the juvenile court trial that has drawn international attention to a small town in a football-loving region of eastern Ohio.

Hemmeter told Judge Thomas Lipps, who is hearing the case without a jury, that she would show that the girl was "somebody who was too impaired to say no, somebody who was too impaired to say stop."

The attorney for Mays' codefendant, Ma'Lik Richmond, 16, gave no opening statement.

The case has divided the community amid allegations that more students should have been charged. It has also led to questions about the influence of the local football team, a source of pride in a community that suffered massive job losses with the collapse of the steel industry.

Richmond and Mays are charged with digitally penetrating the West Virginia girl, first in the backseat of a moving car after a party Aug. 11 and then in the basement of a house. Mays also is charged with illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material.

Witnesses said the girl was so drunk she threw up at least twice and had trouble walking and speaking. She was also photographed being carried by the two young men.

In an excerpt of a videotaped interview with ABC's 20/20, Richmond said the photo was a joke. He contends the girl was awake and was a willing participant, the show said.

Following opening statements, prosecutors presented two witnesses, both 17-year-old girls who saw the alleged victim the night of the party. Questions by prosecutors and defense lawyers focused on how much the girl had been drinking that night.

One of the girls, a Steubenville High School student, said the alleged victim was having trouble walking but never appeared to pass out. The other girl said she had never seen her friend so intoxicated.

If convicted, Mays and Richmond could be held in a juvenile jail until they turn 21. They have denied any wrongdoing.