Suspect in LSU student attack claims victim’s romantic history ‘crucial’ to defense

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT

A lawyer representing one of Louisiana State University student Madison Brooks’ alleged rapists claimed it’s crucial to speak to a man Brooks supposedly had consensual sex with 24 hours before the attack.

Joe Long, who’s representing Casen Carver in the ongoing rape case, filed the motion Monday to subpoena and interview the unnamed LSU male student and one of Brooks’ female friends. 

He said in the court filings that the information could help exonerate his client, according to a report by WAFB 9.

But the latest filing didn’t sit well with Brooks’ family’s lawyer, Kerry Miller, and East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore, who told the local news outlet that Long’s motion “is totally improper” and vowed to fight it. 

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Miller told Fox News Digital that Long’s motion doesn’t comply with Louisiana’s rape shield law and continues the defense’s trend of “circumventing the law.”

“We’re completely disgusted by this tactic,” he said. “You can’t just file a public document like this. There’s a policy to follow not to violate the rape shield law, which I think he did (violate), but that’ll be decided by the court.”

Carver, 19, is one of four suspects charged in connection with Brooks’ rape in January 2023. He was indicted on two separate occasions on charges of video voyeurism as well as first- and third-degree rape. He pleaded not guilty to all charges. 

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Carver was allegedly seen laughing in a self-recorded cellphone video and allegedly said, “They finna (sic) rape her.” 

He was referring to the three other suspects in his car, who met Brooks in Reggie’s Bar in crime-ridden Tigerland, a social hot spot near the Baton Rouge university’s main campus. 

Brooks, who was 19, was in the back seat of the suspects’ car when she was allegedly raped and let out on the side of a busy, four-lane highway, where she was fatally struck by an oncoming car. 

Because Carver was indicted, he doesn’t have a constitutional right to a preliminary examination, except for when there’s a need to preserve evidence, WAFB reported. 

Long argued that it should be allowed in this particular case because it’s vital to get under-oath statements from the unnamed male student and Brooks’ female friend. 

He reportedly hasn’t been able to reach the man, and the woman said she wouldn’t testify, according to the local news outlet. 

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Carver’s video, which hasn’t been released to the public, is at the center of the court case against him and three other suspects: Everett Lee, 28; Kaivon Washington, 18, and Desmond Carter, a 17-year-old who is being charged as an adult. 

Each suspect pleaded not guilty to all charges. 

Miller was in the courtroom when the video was played. He told Fox News Digital in a previous interview that Carver’s 10- to 15-second selfie videos provided law enforcement with eyes inside the car.

“You can see what’s going on in the back seat from the right side of the camera,” Miller said. “That’s where you see Kaivon pushing Maddie down. 

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“Then you see Carter with his pants down on top of Maddie. You kind of see her legs sticking up, and she doesn’t have anything on. You know it’s Desmond Carter because he wore a plaid shirt.”

As this alleged activity unfolded, Miller said, the music continued to play and at least one of the suspects was heard cheering.

Good Samaritans try to save Brooks

Prosecutors continued to play short clips of videos after Brooks, who was intoxicated, was forced out of the suspects’ car in the middle of Burbank Drive in the early morning hours of Jan. 15. 

She stumbled into the middle of the busy, four-lane highway, where she was hit by an oncoming car. 

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The driver stayed at the scene and called 911, while good Samaritans – Beau Adams, 21, and Kathryn Devillier, 21 – pulled over to try to save her. 

Emergency personnel responded and rushed her to a hospital, where she ultimately died. 

The suspects did not seem to know that Brooks died until the next day, prosecutors alleged, according to Miller. 

Brooks’ mom, Ashley Baustert, told Fox News Digital in a previous interview that she spoke about Adams’ and Devillier’s bravery. 

“It gives me a lot of comfort and peace in that Beau and Kathryn were both there. The last few people that Madi saw wasn’t going to be her [alleged] attackers,” Baustert said. 

The LSU seniors marked the area of the accident with a cross as a memorial for Brooks on the side of Burbank Highway, which grew with stuffed animals and other trinkets. They also attended Brooks’ funeral and memorial services.

They keep in touch with Brooks’ mom and check in on her.