The trial of Marv Albert is expected to include graphic testimony about rough sex, but whether the sportscaster goes to prison likely hinges on whether jurors believe his accuser was a willing participant.
Legal experts say lawyers for the NBC play-by-play man will probably argue she is lying about some or all of her allegations or perhaps that she had some reason to seek revenge on Albert."A defense lawyer's job, regardless of the nature of the crime, is to a certain extent to put the victim on trial," said John Fletcher, a Norfolk defense attorney.
Albert's trial on charges of forcible sodomy and assault and battery begins Monday. A 42-year-old Vienna woman with whom Albert had a 10-year sexual relationship alleges he bit her as many as 15 times and forced her to perform oral sex on him. He could be sentenced for up to life in prison if convicted.
Prosecutors have said the case will include testimony that Albert wanted another man to join him and the woman in a room at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel on Feb. 12. A source close to the investigation told The Associated Press in May that the woman told police Albert expected three-way sex.
The trial could dip into the sex lives of both Albert and his accuser.
The options of Albert's defense team are limited by tests that show Albert's DNA was found on the woman's skin and clothing after the alleged attack.
"They got him. At this point he doesn't have any choice - he can either confess and say, `she's right, essentially I raped her,' or he can try to challenge her claim that it was against her will," said Anne Coughlin, law professor at the University of Virginia Law School.
DNA tests done by the Virginia State Police crime lab found a 1 in 2.6 billion chance that the genetic material came from someone other than Albert.
Albert's lead lawyer, Roy Black, said the two were lovers for 10 years and plans to argue that the encounter was consensual.
"Her credibility will obviously be important, because it is really a case of her word against his," said Fletcher, the immediate past chairman of the Virginia Bar Association's criminal law section.
The woman is expected to tell a jury what she told police - that Albert turned on her after he invited her to his hotel room. She says he threw her onto the bed, bit her and forced her into oral sex.
The woman went to a hospital where, hours after the alleged attack, police photographed jagged wounds the woman said came from Albert's teeth.
Albert pleaded innocent and has denied wrongdoing. His lawyers have not indicated whether he will take the stand in his own defense.
The trial in Arlington County Circuit Court is expected to last a week or more.
If pretrial hearings are a guide, testimony will be explicit.
In Virginia, Albert could be convicted of a crime even if the sodomy was consensual. The state outlaws sodomy in any form.