Tag: Abdul Razak Alhassan

A Texas jury Friday found UFC fighter [autotag]Abdul Razak Alhassan[/autotag] not guilty of sexual assault, putting an end to a legal battle that started in 2018.

Alhassan was accused of rape by two women stemming from encounters after he allegedly took them back to one of their homes in Saginaw, Texas, on March 23, 2018. Alhassan had been working at the Varsity Tavern in Fort Worth that night as a bouncer. He was indicted on the allegations in September 2018.

Testimony in the trial began Tuesday. According to Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the younger of the two women testified against Alhassan that day. The accuser, who was not named, was 20 at the time of the alleged incident.

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The jury began deliberations Friday morning, and according to the Star-Telegram came back with its verdict late in the morning.

Brandon Barnett, part of Alhassan’s defense team, said, according to the paper, that jurors “thought that Alhassan was honest and genuine during the interrogation” and that they thought investigators could have handled the case better.

One of Alhassan’s coaches, Steven Wright, told the Star-Telegram he thinks the fighter can get back to work in the UFC and hopes to be matched up with a top welterweight contender. The 34-year-old has three straight knockout wins over Sabah Homasi twice and Niko Price. The Price win came in early September 2018. Alhassan was indicted on the charges a little more than two weeks later.

One of [autotag]Abdul Razak Alhassan[/autotag]’s accusers in the UFC fighter’s sexual assault trial graphically described his alleged actions on Tuesday.

A Texas-based, Ghana-born welterweight, Alhassan worked as a security staff member at the Varsity Tavern in Fort Worth. Alhassan was indicted in September 2018 on allegations he raped two women he took met at the bar in March of that year.

Testimony began in the trial this week. Per the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the younger of the women, testified against Alhassan on Tuesday. The accuser, who was not named, was 20 at the time of the alleged incident.

“When he put my face in the bed, the room was completely dark,” the younger woman said. “That’s when I found out there was a guy in my room. He pulled my dress up and sexually assaulted me. All I could see is my bed.”

From there, the women alleged, Alhassan moved onto the second woman, who was sleeping in the next bed over.

“It was dark, so I could not see him completely, but I could see someone was there… I didn’t know what to do. I was scared. I froze. It felt like I should have erupted. Instead, I didn’t. I froze.”

The second alleged victim said she had asked Alhassan to sneak her 20-year-old friend in through a side door. After Alhassan complied, he allegedly asked her what she was going to do in return. From there, the two exchanged numbers. Before long, the two were kissing in the hallway. Soon after, the two women and Alhassan were in a back storage room.

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According to bar employee Pedro Rocha, he saw the three of them come out of the “employee-only” area. Rocha claims he did not believe the women were intoxicated, but that they had been drinking.

Further witnesses describe the two women as having become intoxicated later on in the evening. According to the witnesses, including off-duty police officer Joshua Yates, the two women ended up downstairs – the older one passed out on the younger one’s lap. Yates said Alhassan asked him to help put them into a car, but he declined to so.

The younger woman’s mother also testified, saying her daughter had to wake her up that evening to get in the house. Later that night, she alleges she was woken by her daughter, who was agitated and claimed something was wrong with her friend.

The mother allegedly entered the bedroom, where she found her daughter’s friend with both of her legs in one underwear leg hole. The underwear was inside-out and a used condom was found on her purse, according to the mother.

The mother then took her daughter’s friend to a local hospital for a sexual assault exam. The underwear and condom were handed over to police.

Testimony in the trial, which is being conducted in Tarrant Co., Texas, is ongoing.

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