Prosecutor: Sex assault victim was black-out drunk

WASHINGTON (AP) — A woman sexually assaulted by a former Naval Academy football player was so drunk at a party that she blacked out, walking and talking but not remembering what was going on, a prosecutor said today.

The trial of Joshua Tate, of Nashville, Tenn., centers on whether the alleged victim was too drunk to consent to sex. Tate's closely watched court-martial comes as the military is under increasing scrutiny to curb sexual assaults within its ranks.

During opening statements, prosecutor Lt. Cmdr. Ryan Stormer said the woman was drinking "shot after shot after shot" and taking "swig and swig and swig" from a bottle of liquor at an off-campus house party where the alleged assault occurred in 2012.

The woman, who has already testified during a preliminary hearing last fall, has said she doesn't remember being sexually assaulted after a night of heavy drinking but heard from others she had sex with multiple people at the party.

Stormer said when the woman later asked Tate whether they had had sex, he said yes and offered to "refresh" her memory.

"Everything to him was a big, laughing matter," Stormer said.

Tate's attorneys, meanwhile, argued the woman was able to make her own decisions, including those about sex. Cmdr. Art Record described her as "upright, walking around," having significant conversations, and even rebuffing the advances of one man.

"She was processing information. She was physically in control of her body," Record said.