Whitley Defense Likely Tied to Girl's Age

With all of the prosecution's evidence in hand, the attorney for Demarco Whitley said she'll take the next few weeks to determine whether the former football player could have known the age of the girl authorities accuse him of assaulting.

On Thursday, Whitley's attorney, Donna Rotunno, asked Circuit Judge Thomas Fecarotta for a June 28 court date in order to investigate aspects of the claims made against 18-year-old Whitley.

Prosecutors have connected Whitley and former teammate Pierre Washington-Steele to the January 2010 assault of the then-15-year-old girl in a Rolling Meadows parking lot. The assault happened just before a crash that killed Steele and injured Whitley, who was tied to the assault through DNA evidence, officials have said.

Whitley has pleaded not guilty to the criminal sexual assault charges and remains free on bond.

After the brief hearing, Rotunno reiterated that Whitley's lack of knowledge of the girl's age is a key issue in the case that she expects to go to trial. Rotunno said it is unlikely Whitely knew the girl's age because she was an acquaintance of Steele.

She added there have been no talks of a plea agreement with prosecutors.

Rotunno also requested Whitley's bond be modified to allow him to work at a clothing store past a court-imposed 5 p.m. curfew, citing that a previous fast-food job didn’t work out because of the curfew.

The case is scheduled to return to court on June 28.