MISSOULA — Former University of Montana quarterback Jordan Johnson told police in a May interview that he could never rape anyone and wasn’t raised to be that way.
District Court jurors hearing the case against Johnson watched video of his police interview Thursday and again on Friday. In it, Johnson said the woman was enjoying their sexual encounter and that he would have stopped if she had asked him to.
“Why would I ever do something like this? I wouldn’t,” Johnson said.
He said he was quiet afterward because he felt guilty about having sex with one woman while being involved with another.
He is charged with sexual intercourse without consent for the Feb. 4, 2012, encounter.
“Looking back on it, I wish I’d have handled it differently,” he said. “I feel bad her feelings have been hurt like this, given that it didn’t happen the way she says it did.”
In part of the interview shown Friday morning, Johnson broke down crying when a detective told Johnson that a rape charge could ruin his plans to teach math and coach football. He said he didn’t care about that and just wanted to be a normal kid.
An expert witness testifying for the defense Friday told jurors that he reviewed records in the case and found no medical evidence of non-consensual sex.
Dr. Theodore Hariton of Tucson, Ariz., was allowed to testify, along with a character witness for Johnson, because they had traveled from out-of-state.
Hariton, a forensic gynecologist, told jurors that he found the rape exam performed on the accuser was “below the standard of care.” But his testimony about how he reached that opinion was only heard by the jury. That portion of his testimony was closed to court observers and the media because it involved photos and video taken during the exam.
The videotape of Johnson’s police interview resumed Friday afternoon followed by the cross examination of Missoula Police Detective Connie Brueckner.