Woman found liable, ordered to pay $300 in Conley allegation

CLEVELAND, Ohio (AP) — A civil jury has discovered a lady accountable for malicious prosecution in a rape allegation she made towards a former Ohio State soccer standout greater than 5 years in the past, Cleveland.com reported.

The accusation towards Gareon Conley got here shortly earlier than the 2017 NFL draft, by which he had been projected to be a excessive first-round decide. The 23-year-old lady alleged that he had sexually assaulted her in a Cleveland lodge room. Conley’s legal professional mentioned the intercourse was consensual.

A grand jury in Cleveland declined to indict Conley on any of the attainable expenses in keeping with the Cuyahoga County prosecutor’s workplace, and he signed a four-year contract with the Oakland Raiders, who made him the twenty fourth total decide. The lady filed a lawsuit a yr later, accusing him of assault, battery and intentional infliction of emotional misery. Conley sued her in a counterclaim, accusing her of malicious prosecution.

Cleveland.com reviews that jurors sided with Conley after a 10-day trial in Cuyahoga County Widespread Pleas Court docket, discovering that the girl had failed to indicate that he had assaulted her. Jurors ordered her to pay him $300, together with $100 in punitive damages, in addition to legal professional’s charges. A message searching for remark was despatched to her legal professional.

Conley’s legal professional, John Camillus, introduced testimony from a former NFL basic supervisor that the accusations price him the next draft choice and sure shaved greater than $2 million off his rookie contract, however Conley solely requested jurors to award him $300.

“It was by no means concerning the cash. It was all the time about clearing his title and restoring his repute,” Camillus mentioned.

Conley, at the moment a free agent whereas rehabbing from a 2020 damage, mentioned in a press release on social media Monday that “after 5 1/2 lengthy years” he was “grateful and relieved to lastly be absolutely exonerated.”

The Raiders traded Conley after the 2019 season to the Houston Texans, who launched him after he spent your entire 2020 season on the injured reserve listing with an ankle damage that required surgical procedure, Cleveland.com reported. Camillus mentioned his consumer intends to return to the NFL.