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Man accused of raping Madison Brooks in court; judge to determine whether video evidence can be used
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BATON ROUGE — One of the men accused of raping Madison Brooks is in court Wednesday afternoon for a hearing to determine whether or not specific video evidence will be allowed to be presented during the trial.
Desmond Carter, 21, is accused of raping 19-year-old LSU student Madison Brooks before she died hours later. He faces first-degree and third-degree rape charges.
Two other men are also accused of raping Brooks in a car in January 2023.
A motion from the prosecution says that Carter's legal team is trying to exclude "selected snippets" of video evidence tied to Brooks' rape.
"The state is entitled to present its evidence at trial without the defendant selecting pieces that they do not want the jury to see," the motion reads. "This motion is an improper attempt to force the state to try its case on paper and to have the court rule on context-dependent evidence without the benefit of context."
One of the videos, the motion describes, shows another one of the defendants—Kaivon Washington—in the aftermath of the alleged rape. The state says that Carter's legal team does not reference Washington's presence in this video.
The state argues that the video "provides the jury with physical, observable evidence of the defendant's appearence and physical condition, which is necessary to assess the defendant's level of intoxication."
"His coordination and ability to control himself, as captured on video, are direct evidence for the jury to evaluate whether he 'knew or should have known' of the victim's incapacity—a central element of third-degree rape," the motion adds.
Carter's trial is set to begin on Aug. 17.
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