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Report: Terrence Shannon legal team requests to submit mistaken-identity evidence

ns_headshot_2024-clearby:Nick Schultz06/06/24

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Illinois G Terrence Shannon Jr.
Ron Johnson | USA TODAY Sports

Former Illinois guard Terrence Shannon’s legal team has requested to submit mistaken-identity evidence at a Friday hearing, according to ESPN’s Myron Medcalf. He is facing a felony rape charge after an alleged incident in Kansas.

Shannon’s lawyers are asking a judge to admit a video of another man standing near the alleged victim that same night. The man was previously accused of sexual assault at the bar two weeks prior, and the video appears to show him at the “exact” location at the night and time the woman alleged Shannon sexually assaulted her.

The filing, according to Medcalf, said a “third-party defendant” was investigated for the alleged actions against the other woman, but the charges were dropped.

“Terrence Shannon, by and through his attorneys Tricia A. Bath and Thomas J. Bath, Jr., and, pursuant to the 14th Amendment due process clause and the 6th Amendment compulsory process and confrontation provisions, hereby moves this court for a pre-trial ruling on the admissibility of evidence related to an identified third-party defendant who is alleged to have committed a similar sexual assault in the same location less than two weeks prior to the alleged assault in Mr. Shannon’s case and who was present [as evidenced by video] within a couple feet of the precise location of the alleged touching in the case at [the] bar,” the filing said, via ESPN.

Shannon’s trial is expected to start next week. A new filing in the case also said “no male DNA was found in the vaginal or external genital swabs taken from the alleged victim on the date of the alleged incident and that no other male DNA found on the alleged victim’s thighs, buttocks, or underwear could be matched to Mr. Shannon,” according to ESPN.

Shannon turned himself into police in December, but his lawyer maintained his innocence in the situation. Illinois confirmed he was not there on university business and his suspension fell under the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics’ (DIA) policy about sexual misconduct and the need for due process to play out.

However, Judge Colleen Lawless granted a TRO and said the school didn’t follow its policy with his initial suspension.

“Defendants are enjoined from suspending Plaintiff from the basketball team without at least affording him the protections of the OSCR policy,” Lawless’ ruling said, in part.

Shannon was a key piece for Illinois this past season, leading the Fighting Illini with 23 points per game en route to an Elite Eight appearance. He declared for the NBA Draft after the season and came in as the No. 33 overall pick in ESPN’s Jonathan Givony’s most recent mock draft. On3’s James Fletcher III also ranked Shannon as his No. 27 overall prospect in his latest big board.