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Witness: Woman in Cleaves sex assault case screamed for help

Witness: Woman in Cleaves sex assault case screamed for help | iNFOnews.ca
Mateen Cleaves listens as his defense attorney Frank J. Manley presents opening arguments during the first day of preliminary examination of the former Michigan State basketball player on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2016, at Genesee District Court in downtown Flint, Mich. Cleaves is charged with assaulting a woman at a motel last summer. (Jake May /The Flint Journal-MLive.com via AP)

FLINT, Mich. – A witness says a woman was crying and screaming while former Michigan State basketball star Mateen Cleaves twice forced her back into a Flint-area motel room.

A judge heard testimony Tuesday to determine whether Cleaves goes to trial on sexual assault charges.

Coleen Dowdall recalled what she saw at the Knights Inn in Mundy Township in September 2015. She says she heard yelling and opened her door.

Dowdall says Cleaves was naked while trying to pull a woman back into a room. She says moments later the scene was repeated, with Cleaves still naked and the woman wearing a bra and underwear.

Dowdall says the woman was screaming. A 911 call and a security video were played in court.

Cleaves has pleaded not guilty. The hearing resumes Wednesday.

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