March 13--A female student who accused a student leader at the University of Illinois at Chicago of sexually assaulting her during a re-enactment of scenes from the film "50 Shades of Grey" in his dorm room is expected to testify next week.
Freshman Mohammad Hossain, 19, a biology student studying to be a pediatrician, has been held in protective custody at the Cook County Jail on $500,000 bail since his arrest last month.
Hossain maintains the Feb. 21 incident was consensual, his attorney Joshua Kutnick said Friday after a status hearing in the case at the Leighton Criminal Court Building. He had never been arrested previously, Kutnick said.
A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Thursday so a judge can decide whether enough evidence exists for the case to go to trial. Prosecutors typically call alleged rape victims to testify at the hearings.
"This kid is a star, OK?" Kutnick said. "He's a top-notch student. He graduated with a 4.6 (GPA) from high school. He's a triathlete. He's what they call a UIC alumni ambassador. ... This is not a rapist."
"We think this (hearing) is going to show that it was two 19-year-old college students who agreed to have an encounter like this," he said.
Prosecutors have said the woman had previously been "intimate" with Hossain and went to his dorm room in the 900 block of Harrison Street about 5:30 p.m.
Hossain bound her hands and legs, stuffed a necktie in her mouth and put a knit cap over her eyes, prosecutors have said. After Hossain started hitting her, the woman told Hossain it hurt, told him to stop and began shaking her head and crying, according to prosecutors.
Hossain sexually assaulted her as she continued to plead with him to stop, prosecutors alleged. The woman was eventually able to leave and called police, who arrested Hossain later that night in another dorm building.
Seven of Hossain's family members attended Friday's hearing.
Kutnick said he has subpoenaed videotape from a common area inside the dorm that he hopes will have captured the woman's demeanor as she arrived at and left the building, bolstering his consent defense.
"He doesn't like being locked up, and it's a scary thing for him," Kutnick said. "He seems to be doing OK, but he's very anxious to get this done."
sschmadeke@tribune.com
