Witnesses for not coming for and on a community that critics say tolerates bad behavior by local sports heros. But now only on 360, new allegations. Susan candiotti got the exclusive and joins us now. Susan, you spoke to the attorney for one of the accused, i understand. What did he tell you . Thats right. This is the attorney who represents 16yearold trent mays, who is one of the two defendants in this case. And he tells me that on august 14th, this would be about three days after the alleged attack, that the woman that the young lady that prosecutors say is the victim in this case, allegedly sent a text message to the defend, trent mays. And heres what he said it said. I knew you didnt rape me. We talked to him about it. He explained it. Heres what the lawyer had to say. I would like to bring up an interesting fact that we do plan on presenting at trial, is that my client received a text message the following day from the alleged victim. The alleged victim herself, stating that she said, i know you didnt rape me. What . She texted my client the next day, stating, quote, i know you didnt rape me. Do you have that text . We do. Thats something that is going to be introduced at trial. And what did he reply . Thats something thats going to be introduced at trial. Yes. Why do you think she sent that . Because i dont think she thinks she was raped. Now, the lawyer says he has that text message. He would not show it to me, but he says it will be used and he intends to ask the alleged victim about it. Wow, that is an explosive new piece of information. The attorney, i understand, also made a claim about the photo, the disturbing photo that has gotten so much attention in online media. What did he say about that . Thats right. This is a photograph that by now we have all seen. In this photograph, lawyer identified his client as being the person standing on the right. And the other defendant, he said, is standing on the left. Thats identified as Malik Richmond. He said this photograph, he used the term staged, however he says about that photograph, that in fact in it, the girl is not unconscious and that he has a witness, a potential witness, who will testify at trial to that effect, to say that this young lady was not unconscious. I said, what do you mean by using the term staged . He says that what i mean is that if she was if she wasnt excuse me, if she wasnt unconscious, in other words, she was conscious when that photograph was taken, that would mean that even though at some point during the evening she might have been unconscious, but if she was able to make decisions or offer consent at some time during the night, even though she might have been intoxicated, and he adds that his client and the young lady were dating at the time, and if they had sexual relations and hes not acknowledging that, then nothing would have been illegal. So sanjay, this is something thats also very interesting. Remember, his client denies that a rape occurred. Sanjay. Susan, two very potentially important pieces of information. Great reporting. Thank you so much. In a moment, were going to talk to the attorney for the alleged victim. First we want to talk to Walter Madison who represents the other defendant, Malik Richmond. You were probably listening to my colleague, Susan Candiotti talking about the fact that trent mays claims that the alleged victim sent a text message to him the day after the alleged rape saying, quote, i know you didnt rape me. Are you aware first of all, were you aware of this text message . All parties have that information. Unfortunately, well, fortunately, because we respect the integrity of the process, we were silent about that, and we were going to allow that to play itself out in a court of law. Unfortunately, the situation has unraveled in a way that it has, and its created an atmosphere that we feel is unfair. My business is Malik Richmond, and his trial proceedings are being threatened, quite frankly, theyve been hijacked. And the court of Public Opinion has formed, and their pride has been aroused now because typically were all raised to protect elderly, women, and children. In this instance, you have an allegation coupled with a video that has zero evidentiary value, a photo out of context, and an allegation of a woman or young child, female child, and a rape violation. People are outraged and inflamed and i understand that. These are really serious matters and we need to go through them in a court of law where the proceedings are protected and there is some fairness to the process and integrity. My issue is not against social media. I think its wonderful in all that it does for us today, but there is an ugly underbelly that goes along with it. And were witnessing it now. These efforts by individuals who have no accountability who arent responsible for what they say, whether its true or not, are taking our system and this city under siege. And when that happens, it threatens the very core of our system, which is the greatest in the country, the greatest in the world. Those efforts are i want to be clear on something, if i might. Youre saying that all parties actually had knowledge of this text message for some time now. Were just hearing about it now. If thats true, why are we hearing about it now then . If youre trying to protect the process, so to speak, why disclose that at all . Well, you should not have heard about it, first off. And one of the first things i did on behalf of Malik Richmond is ask the Court Pursuant to ohio law to suppress all information details, the names of the alleged victim, the accuser in this case, and the accused. And had that been done, the sacred nature of these proceedings would have been in tact. I was rejected in that regard, so here we are and were dealing with it. Discovery, which is where this information was provided, is not uncommon. It happens in every criminal case in the United States of america. And these things are often withheld, if you will, until the appropriate time, at trial. And that time is not in the court of Public Opinion because people arent educated on the law. Theyre not educated on these matters, and its just inappropriate. If its out there now, just to be clear, so do you disagree with the other attorney representing mr. Mays, having put this piece of information out there . I dont disagree. I think at some point there has to be balance. And to protect the fairness of the proceedings, you know, this case has to be tried eventually. What has occurred, there has been an atmosphere of intimidation and coercion that has made our witnesses reluctant to come forward. Well, if we dont have youre saying this is a bit of a defensive posture. Let me ask you about this other thing that susan brought up as well, this photo. If i may finish. Go ahead. If i may finish. It is the ethical thing to do on behalf of a client. When the balance of the case has gotten out of control due to parties that have nothing to do with the case. You know, and let me just say, i think this was a problem for everyones concern. Every time that video is shown and now viral, this young lady is subjected to even more embarrassment. And thats exactly what we dont want. Okay . No one wants everybody is here to seek justice. Now, how and which side you stand upon, thats your issue, and thats your prerogative, but at the end of the day, we all want justice. And what were trying to do is make sure that the integrity is in tact so we can live with whatever result our court of law determines. And that is not in a court of Public Opinion from any person with an internet with internet access. I appreciate that. Were trying to get the facts out here as well because i agree with you. I think thats very important. Just the text messages, obviously a potentially very important thing. Can you, for us, confirm that it actually exists . Have you seen this text message yourself . That text message is part of discovery. We all have it. The state of ohio has it. They provided it to us. Steubenville Police Department detectives, they found that information. It was provided to them, and by law, they provided it to us. We have that. We were honoring the process, and that was amongst the attorneys and the court. Okay . Now how it got, the reason youre hearing about it i apologize. Theres a little bit of a delay. Let me just ask you. I think i understood your answer on that. If i could ask you about the photo showing the alleged victim. The insinuation it was staged. You were on cnn and raised questions about that photo. What can you tell us about that claim that the photo was staged . Well, the accuser in the picture, its out of context. A photo is just a frame. Its just one frame taken at whatever shutter speed that camera was operating. It doesnt depict the entire context of what was going on at that particular moment. And again, as part of discovery, theres Additional Information that would offer context, okay, that would offer context and circumstance before, during, and after that photo was taken, that i think would have the world view it in a different light. Okay . But the way its been promoted, which i certainly understand, would lead one to draw a very negative inference. And that i cant control and thats not my business to control, but again, the fairness is what im concerned most about. All right, mr. Madison, i appreciate that. Obviously, youre going to have to read into what youre saying a little bit here in terms of the context, but as more details emerge, hopefully well have you back on. I want to talk to the other side as well. The alleged victims attorney, Bob Fitzsimmons joins us by phone now. I want you to respond a little bit to what you have just heard, but let me just ask, how is this young woman how is she doing and how is her Family Holding up with all this . Well, sanjay, its been a difficult time for the family. This young girl went through a very horrific event, and her family has also gone through it, and the Media Attention thats been devoted to this since that time has just been pretty much kind of a reliving of it. And i think we lose sight, this is a 16yearold girl. Shes a high school kid, basically, and fortunately, shes been able to go back to school. Shes actually participated in an athletic event, on a team sport this fall. But there are many moments that this family has, the mom and dad, grandparents are very involved, kind of watching over her, hovering over her, almost every movement, and there have been many days that they find her, that shes upset, crying, from something that another student says or a friend of hers says or she reads about it or hears something on the news. This is kind of unparalleled, the news attention this story has gathered. And we lose sight of it, we do have a young girl. This is everybodys daughter thats out there that could happen to any family. And mom and dad that has to go through Something Like this and grandparents that are caring. Its tear jerking. It is to watch them go through it. All right, i have three daughters myself, and its painful to read some of this. I know you dont want to get into and havent wanted to get into some of the specifics of this, but i did want to give you the opportunity to respond to some claims by one of the attorneys, trenton mays, you heard the report by Susan Candiotti that the alleged victim texted mays soon after, and said, quote, i know you didnt rape me. Do you have a comment on that . I take attorney madison, i respect what he said about not commenting on evidence and trying not to try your cases in the media. What he said, i have respect for what he said. Hes representing a young man, also, whose live and liberty is at stake, as is mr. Newman with his client. I have Great Respect for those individuals, and they have an obligation and a duty to put out evidence. Its a case, sanjay, and its not just one text or whatever. Im not going to comment upon the evidence, but i do know, im not a participant, i represent the family, the state of ohio actually is the prosecuting authority bringing it. But you saw the picture. And i know the arguments. I have been there in court. You can talk about frames and things like that. Picture speaks a picture speaks 1,000 words. This girl was unconscious. She wouldnt have the ability or the knowledge to text to even say that to one of the defendants because she wouldnt know. The allegations in this case are not that this was a person who knew what was happening to her. Its that she was so unconscious that she didnt know what happened. And a lot of that information that we have now learned from some of the media sources and the other sources that have come about with evidence, have shown that much of this was revealed days after, maybe even weeks after, as to really what happened. This young girl was unconscious, so she wouldnt have the ability to know whether she was raped or not on the day after or two days after, three, whatever the timing of that was. We also dont know, and we dont know whether the defendants were texting, trying to coerce or talk people into making statements or trying to build up a defense for themselves after they started realizing this thing kind of unfolded and youre aware of that. Kind of unfolded and then it just grew beyond all proportions we ever thought with the pictures and the graphic descriptions of the boy that was on the video the other day talking about this, on that particular night. This young lady didnt know what happened. Thats what i believe that the case is about. Yeah, i imagine it is hard from a single static photograph to determine precisely what is going on, consciousness, level of consciousness, all of that, but mr. Fitzsimmons, i appreciate you joining us and talking about it. Youre more than welcome, sanjay. As you have seen by now, steubenville, ohio, is sharply divided. Gary tuchman is there talking to people or at least trying to talk to them. He joins us now. Gary . Reporter sanjay, this is not only a story of an alleged sadistic rape but its nexus with social media and High School Football. And thats because steubenville, ohio, is a High School Football hotbed, and the two young men arrested for allegedly raping this girl were High School Football stars. This city, the big reds, Steubenville High School big red Football Team is a big deal here. They won three state championships, two undefeated seasons recently, and their coach is absolutely a legend here. The coachs name is reno sacoch, hes such a legend that the 10,000seat stadium which is a huge size for a high school stadium, is called reno stadium. We wanted to talk to the coach because the two young men arrested for the alleged rape were suspended after they were arrested, but at least two other Football Players were in the room when the young girl were allegedly raped, and they were not suspended. They played football for at least eight weeks. We wanted to find out from the coach why he didnt suspend the players, what he knew, when he knew. He was home, but he only opened the door a crack. Im gary tuchman with cnn. I wanted to ask you about your players on your team, when you heard about this case, did you take any action . No comment. Youll have to see my superintendent. Im sorry, please. Tell me if you took any action with the Football Players . So he told us to talk to the superintendent of schools. We called the superintendant, we talked to his wife, she said he would call us back. He did not call us back. So its clear there are Many Authority figures here in steubenville, ohio, who are figuring out right now how to play their cards. Sanjay. Gary, thanks. A population of about 20,000, i think, in steubenville, ohio. After the attempt to talk to the coach, we got a statement from someone claiming to represent him. It claims after last nights inaccurate report on Cnns Anderson Cooper show regarding recent events, through a representative, i offered to do a live interview with them from my home. They refused to allow me that chance. Today, after it was made clear to them i would only do a live interview, a cnn interviewer knocked on my door and asked to tape an interview. I declined. We look forward to the proper opportunities to correct the many inaccuracies. We disagree with that. Through the same representative, the coach put demands on the offer of the live interview and that why we declined. The coach is free to come on the program anytime, but without conditions. Theres a lot more happening tonight. Up next, with everyone now focused on preventing another gun massacre like the one in newtown, connecticut, well tell you about a revision in the health care format that critics say could shut down research on Public Health consequences of gun ownership. [ male announcer ] how could a luminous protein in jellyfish, impact Life Expectancy in the u. S. , real estate in hong kong, and the optics industry in germany . At t. Rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex, global economy. Its just one reason over 75 of our mutual funds beat their 10year lipper average. T. Rowe price. Invest with confidence. Request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment information, risks, fees and expenses to read and consider carefully before investing. [ coughs ] [ baby crying ] [ male announcer ] robitussin® liquid formula soothes your throat on contact and the active ingredient relieves your cough. Robitussin®. Dont suffer the coughequences™. Trying to find a better job can likbe frustrating. Gs,. So at university of phoenix were working with a growing list of almost two thousand Corporate PartnersCompanies Like microsoft, American Red Cross and adobe to create options for you. Not only that, were using what we learn from these partners to shape our curriculum, so that when you find the job you want youll be a perfect fit. Lets get to work. Sandy hook Elementa