Mateen Cleaves' Trial Set To Begin In Flint

FLINT, Michigan (CBS DETROIT)— Former Michigan State University basketball star and former Detroit Pistons Mateen Cleaves' jury selection is now underway due to sexual assault allegations.

The allegations stem from a 2015 encounter between 41-year old Cleaves and a Mount Morris woman in her 20's. The two allegedly met at a golf outing.

The Mount Morris woman says she was then raped in a Flint-area motel.

Cleaves is on trial for the following charges: assault with intent to commit criminal sexual penetration, second-degree criminal sexual conduct and two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct.

These specific charges could potentially lead to a 15-year sentence.

Cleaves has denied the allegations and claims that he is innocent.

A witness, who was a hotel guest at the time of this incident, testified in a November 2016 preliminary examination hearing.

The witness said that they saw a man, later identified as Cleaves, dragging a woman back into a hotel room while the woman was crying and pleading for help.

The charges against Cleaves were dismissed back in 2016 by Genesee District Court Judge M. Cathy Dodd.

In 2017, the case was reinstated. The case is now being tried again by Wayne County Prosecutor's Office with Judge Celeste Ball taking over the trial.

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