The trial of three men accused of gang raping a Louisiana cheerleader was thrown into chaos after an attorney for one of the accused was charged with contempt of court for including the victim's name in a legal filing.
asserted
attorney → accuse → filing
The moment unfolded Monday ahead of the trial of Desmond Carter, 21, who is charged alongside Kaivon Washington, 21, and Casen Carver, 22, of raping LSU cheerleader Madison Brooks in a car in January 2023.
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who → unfold → January
Brooks was allegedly dumped by the side of a highway in Baton Rouge, Louisiana after the attack, and moments later she was killed when an SUV slammed into her on the roadway.
uncertain
SUV → dump → roadway
The case sparked outrage and led to a wave of support for Brooks, whose loved ones started wearing pink during court hearings as a constant reminder of her memory.
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ones → spark → memory
At a pre-trial hearing ahead of Carter's trial on December 7, attorney Caitlin Fowlkes filed a request with the court to ban attendees from wearing pink during the proceedings, arguing it could bias a jury against the accused men.
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it → file → men
Fowlkes included copies of social media messages from Brooks' mother asking people to wear pink in solidarity, which failed to redact the name of the alleged victim before they were entered into the official record.
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they → include → record
Judge Gail Horne Ray, who previously issued a ruling allowing pink in the courtroom, ruled on Monday that Fowlkes committed contempt of court because she included Brooks' full name in her court filing.
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she → issue → filing
Ray said the move violated state law that bars the names of victims of sex crimes from appearing in legal filings.
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that → say → filings
Brooks name has been widely circulated since her death and Fowlkes was ultimatley not punished over the blunder.
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Fowlkes → circulate → blunder
LSU cheerleader Madison Brooks died in January 2023 when she was struck by a car, moments after she was allegedly gang raped in a car and left by the side of the highway
Kaivon Washington, 21, Casen Carver, 22, and Desmond Carter, 21, are all facing rape charges in connection with Brook's death
At a pre-trial hearing ahead of Carter's trial on December 7, attorney Caitlin Fowlkes (above) filed a request with the court to ban attendees from wearing pink during the proceedings, arguing it could bias a jury against the accused men
Carter was aged 17 at the time of the alleged rape in January 2023, when he said he and the other accused men met Brooks at a bar.
uncertain
he → die → bar
Police said the group left together and Carver drove the group to a parking lot, where Carter and Washington said they had consensual sex with Brooks in the car.
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they → say → car
The men told investigators that Brooks requested to go home, but she gave multiple wrong addresses before eventually being asked to be dropped off by the side of the highway, reports WBRZ.
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WBRZ → tell → highway
She was fatally struck by an Uber driver on the road moments after being dropped off.
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She → strike → road
The driver of the vehicle has not been charged.
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driver → charge → vehicle
Prosecutors argue that the group dumped Brooks by the road when she was heavily intoxicated, and a coroner's report found her blood alcohol level was at .319 - four times the legal limit.
The coroner's report also determined that Brooks had injuries consistent with rape when she died, prosecutors said.
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prosecutors → argue → rape
When Carter's legal team first filed to ban Brooks' supporters from wearing her favorite colour to trial, his attorneys argued that it would violate his right to a fair trial.
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it → file → trial
Prosecutor Sonya Cardia-Porter hit back in a scathing response, calling the move an 'absurd exaggeration' and 'unpersuasive' and noted that Madison's family are 'silent, passive spectators'.
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family → hit → move
Footage captured the moment Brooks was struck by an Uber driver after she was allegedly raped and left by the side of the road
Brooks met her alleged rapists on a night out in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in January 2023
It comes after the prosecution made repeated attempts to boot Judge Ray off the case after Carter's co-defendant Carver was caught sending texts telling his father 'she (Ray) knows how to help us', after discovering her son is a convicted rapist.
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son → capture → us
Judge Ray's 46-year-old son Nelson Taylor was convicted in 1997 of multiple counts of rape and burglary involving teenage girls.
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son → convict → girls
Carver was also involved in another egregious legal maneuver when he attempted to sue Madison's mother Ashley Baustert for defamation over an interview she gave to veteran broadcaster Nancy Grace in 2024.
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she → involve → 2024
The 22-year-old sued along with Washington's uncle Everett Lee, 32, who was also in the car on the night of Madison's death, although the rape charges against him were dismissed without prejudice by a Louisiana Grand Jury.
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charges → sue → Jury
According to Carver and Lee, Baustert defamed them by implying the pair are rapists in a July 2023 Fox Nation special program called 'Left For Dead: The Case of Madison Brooks'.
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pair → accord → Brooks
Baustert had said when asked if she'd been to any hearings in the case: 'It's just too hard.
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It → say → case
I know what they're going to say.
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they → know → what
'Of course, they're going to say what they're going to say.
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they → go → what
They're going to victim blame and act like this was a consensual act.
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this → go → ?
We all know it wasn't.
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it → know → ?
It's very hurtful to listen to it.'
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It → listen → it
Brooks's mother Ashley Baustert previously told the Daily Mail she felt an obligation to show up to each of the defendant's court hearings
In footage from the night Brooks died, a 29-second clip shows Madi appearing to tell Desmond Carter, then 17, to 'get out' of the car so she can 'Uber on her own'
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she → tell → own
Madison's family say they are planning to attend each of Carter, Carver and Washington's court dates, and Baustert told the Daily Mail in August she felt it was her 'duty' to be in court for the legal proceedings.
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it → say → proceedings
She said: 'My immediate family plan to attend every day of the trial.
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family → say → trial
It's going to be hard, especially because I have two other children at home.
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I → go → home
'Separating those feelings and then coming home and being a mom is going to be a challenge.
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Separating → separate → feelings
'Honestly, I don't know how I prepare.
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I → know → ?
I'm just going to take it moment by moment, day by day.
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I → go → day
'If I need to leave the courtroom, I'll quietly excuse myself.
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I → need → myself
But I'm going to try my best to be there.
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I → go → best
I feel it's my duty to be there for her.'
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it → feel → her
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