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Druckenmiller charged with rape

49ers backup quarterback says sex was consensual

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Posted: Wednesday April 28, 1999 05:00 PM

Druckenmiller says he's certain he'll be vindicated and be available to play football this fall. AP

CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. (AP) -- San Francisco 49ers backup quarterback Jim Druckenmiller proclaimed his innocence Wednesday after being booked on a charge that he raped a Virginia Tech student during a visit to his alma mater.

"I am innocent and that's all I've got to say right now," the 6-foot-4, 240-pound Druckenmiller said as he left the Montgomery County jail after his arraignment.

Druckenmiller, the Hokies' quarterback at the height of their football success, was released on a $10,000 secured bond.

Judge Ray Grubbs scheduled a jury trial for July 19.

Druckenmiller is accused of raping the student on March 4 between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. at a house during a visit to Blacksburg. The woman testified before a grand jury on April 13 and the indictment was unsealed on Friday.

Defense attorney Bev Davis of Radford said Druckenmiller wants to get the trial out of the way before the 49ers training camp begins on July 26.

Davis said the woman and Druckenmiller were in a group that went to two Blacksburg bars on the night of March 3, then to the home of a Druckenmiller friend in Blacksburg, where the party continued into the early morning hours.

"It's bad judgment, but he's innocent," Davis said.

Davis and fellow defense attorney Deborah Caldwell-Bono of Roanoke said their client's accuser aggressively pursued him and had consensual sex with him on the night of the partying.

The charge has "created havoc with his life and career," she said. "He has been greatly surprised how easily these charges are made."

Druckenmiller played in four games as a rookie, one as a starter, and completed 21 of 52 passes for 239 yards and one touchdown. But he also threw three interceptions, two inside the opponent's 20-yard line.

 

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