Filed under: Football
Football Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor was in court this week to see if he could get his recent rape indictment dismissed. Taylor and his defense argue that his arrest was illegal because police didn't have a have a warrant to enter his New York hotel room back in May. In addition, the defense claims that any statements made by Taylor during that arrest are inadmissible.Taylor is accused of having sex with a 16-year old prostitute he paid $300 for and faces charges of third-degree rape, patronizing a prostitute, sexual abuse and endangering a child. He pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.
State Supreme Court Justice William Kelly denied the dismissal of the indictment but is allowing a pretrial hearing to see if Taylor's statements made when he was arrested are admissible as evidence.
"There will be police officers testifying and being cross-examined to determine whether the circumstances under which Mr. Taylor gave his statements were constitutional," said Taylor's attorney Arthur Aidala said.
The pretrial hearing is set for January 6, but prosecutors believe that everything that happened on the day of Taylor's arrest was legal and all the evidence obtained that day is admissible to the court when the trial begins. Prosecutors claim constitutionality even with police bursting into the hotel room where Taylor was staying.
"Everything that occurred was done properly and in full accordance with the law," prosecuting attorney Arthur Ferraro told the Associated Press. "There was probable cause to believe that Lawrence Taylor had just had sex with a girl under 17 in that room."