A 26-year-old woman testified Tuesday that Cleveland Indians pitcher Jose Mesa struck her in the mouth with a bathroom door and fondled her against her will in a motel room.
The woman testified that she and her friend entered a motel room rented by Mesa’s friends to use the bathroom. She said Mesa forced the door open, hitting her in the mouth with the doorknob, causing her to bleed. She testified that Mesa fondled both women while in the room.
The judge would not allow the woman to testify about what happened to her friend, whom prosecutors say was raped by Mesa during a separate car ride from a nightclub.
Mesa’s wife, Mirla, and Indians owner Richard Jacobs were in the courtroom. Mesa, 30, sat quietly as the woman sobbed during her testimony.
Defense lawyer Gerald Messerman said in opening arguments that Mesa received a call from his wife shortly after arriving at the motel and went home.
“Mr. Mesa engaged in no sexual activity or contact,” Messerman said.
Mesa, a native of the Dominican Republic who is not a U.S. citizen, is charged with rape and gross sexual imposition, felonious assault and theft.
The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service did not return a telephone message left Tuesday seeking comment on a published report that it was trying to deport Mesa’s wife, a legal alien, because of a 1990 drug-related conviction.
