One of two women who prosecutors allege was raped by former Jets tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. identified Winslow’s lawyer as her attacker Wednesday in a strange court scene.
The 54-year-old woman testified during a preliminary hearing to determine whether the 34-year-old Winslow — the NFL’s onetime highest-paid tight end — will stand trial after pleading not guilty last month to multiple counts of kidnapping, rape, indecent exposure and burglary.
But when asked by a prosecutor to point out the man who attacked her, she singled out Winslow’s attorney, Brian Watkins, who was sitting alongside the former Pro Bowl tight end, USA Today reports.
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“The man in the middle,” the woman testified while referencing Watkins, who later emphatically denied assaulting her.
“Don’t put Brian Watkins, accused of rape,” Watkins told the newspaper. “Don’t do that, man. There will be defamation lawsuits all over the place.”
Watkins used the woman’s testimony to cast doubt on the charges against Winslow, who allegedly kidnapped and raped the homeless woman on March 13 and a 58-year-old woman on May 13, according to charging documents. If convicted, Winslow faces up to life in prison.
The woman was also unable to pick out Winslow’s photo from a lineup during the investigation, a San Diego County Sheriff’s Department deputy later testified. Two additional witnesses, including the second woman Winslow allegedly raped, are scheduled to testify Thursday, USA Today reports.
Two other witnesses in the case also could not identify Winslow in court on Wednesday, including a 58-year-old woman who said a man named “David” entered her home in Cardiff-by-the-Sea and exposed himself in June. When asked Wednesday if Winslow was on her property that day, the woman could not identify him, KSWB reports.
