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Former Brighton football star Osa Masina appears in Utah court on sex assault charges

Osa Masina • Defense attorney does not expect his client to be charged in California.

Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune Brighton's five-star linebacker Osa Masina, regarded as the top-rated college prospect coming out of Utah, picks up the USC hat as he reveals his school of choice to attend and play during a school assembly held in his honor and other student athletes receiving school scholarships.

While police in Los Angeles continue to investigate Osa Chad Masina, a former Brighton High School football star and University of Southern California linebacker now charged with rape in Utah, his lawyer does not expect any charges to be filed against Masina there.

"I've been told generally and led to believe generally that there won't be charges filed on anything that occurred in California," defense attorney Greg Skordas said after his client's appearance Friday in Salt Lake City's 3rd District Court. " … I think law enforcement would confirm that the Utah charges are what we're focused on."

Masina, 19, faces three first-degree felony counts stemming from a July report of a sexual assault at a house party in Cottonwood Heights. Dressed in black slacks, a white shirt and black tie and accompanied by his lawyer, mother and grandmother, Masina made his initial court appearance Friday during a hearing that lasted a few minutes.

Judge Paul Parker ordered there be no contact between Masina and the 19-year-old girl, who says the football player brutally assaulted her in the early-morning hours of July 26, while she was under the influence of alcohol and marijuana. According to court documents, the assault resulted in damage to the woman's teeth and left her huddled in fear in the yard of a neighbor's home, wearing only a bra and a blanket.

On Friday, Masina's attorney declined to comment on specifics of the case but said, "the difference in accounts of what happened are maybe not as distinct as you might think, but I think the way both individuals perceived things is quite different."

Later on July 26, the woman reported to police that she fell asleep after a party in Cottonwood Heights and awoke with Masina on top of her.

"Due to her intoxicated state, all she felt capable of doing was moving her legs to try to lessen the pain," the charges state. "She heard Masina laugh, and he continued."

The woman passed out again and next awoke to Masina engaging in forcible oral sex with her, the charges state. "She could not breathe or talk."

The woman told officials she passed out again.

The frightened woman later awoke and left the house after being unable to reach a male friend and his father via telephone, court documents state. She "may have passed out yet again," the charges add, because the next thing she remembers, she told police, is waking up in the front yard of a neighboring home, hunched against a tree, "with only her bra and a blanket over her."

"She discovered that she was bleeding," documents state. "She later discovered that she had damage to porcelain crowns on the back of her teeth."

In an interview with investigators, court documents state, Masina acknowledged that he had sex on the night in question.

Last month, the Los Angeles Police Department executed a search warrant as part of an investigation into two allegations of sexual assault, one in California and one in Utah.

The warrant was based on allegations from the 19-year-old woman who said Masina gave her two Xanax pills in addition to marijuana and alcohol before he and a teammate, Don Hill, sexually assaulted her in July about two weeks before the assault in Utah.

The warrant says Masina sent a video via Snapchat of him having sex with the woman to her ex-boyfriend, a player on the University of Arizona football team. The woman told police her ex-boyfriend told her about the video only after she reported the alleged July 26 assault.

"She does not even recall having sex with Osa while she was in California," the report states.

LAPD on Friday confirmed that its investigation of Masina and Hill is ongoing.

On Friday, Skordas said he had only just received the police reports this week. The attorney, however, said he believed the videos would help in his client's defense.

"There's been a lot of talk about Snapchats or cellphone videos or things like that, that would make it appear that those are problems for us," Skordas said. "I don't think those exist. When the truth comes out about that, we'll see what really happened."

Masina's next hearing is set for Oct. 14. Masina is out on bail after posting a $25,000 bond on the day of his arrest earlier in September. Skordas said he would likely ask a judge to reduce that amount at a future hearing.

afalk@sltrib.com

Twitter: @aaronfalk

Southern California's Osa Masina, left, works out during the NCAA college football team's practice Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2016, in Los Angeles. Masina is being investigated on suspicion of sexual assault in Utah. Police documents released Tuesday show authorities are looking into allegations against linebacker Masina stemming from a July 30 incident. (John McCoy/Los Angeles Daily News via AP)

FILE - In this Aug. 30, 2016 file photo, Southern California's Osa Masina works out during NCAA college football practice in Los Angeles. He is one of two USC football players under investigation for sexual assault. The team has sent linebacker Don Hill home from Dallas, where the No. 20 Trojans are set to open the season Saturday, Sept. 3, against No. 1 Alabama. The team on Friday would say only that Hill had violated team rules. Masina did not make the trip with the team. (John McCoy/Los Angeles Daily News via AP, File)

Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune Former Brighton High football star Osa Masina makes his first appearance in court, at the Matheson Courthouse in Salt Lake City, Friday, September 30, 2016. Masina has been charged with three first-degree felony counts stemming from a July sexual assault in Cottonwood Heights.

Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune Former Brighton High football star Osa Masina makes his first appearance in court, at the Matheson Courthouse in Salt Lake City, Friday, September 30, 2016. Masina has been charged with three first-degree felony counts stemming from a July sexual assault in Cottonwood Heights.

Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune Former Brighton High football star Osa Masina makes his first appearance in court, in front of Judge Paul B. Parker, at the Matheson Courthouse in Salt Lake City, Friday, September 30, 2016. Masina has been charged with three first-degree felony counts stemming from a July sexual assault in Cottonwood Heights.

Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune Former Brighton High football star Osa Masina makes his first appearance in court, at the Matheson Courthouse in Salt Lake City, Friday, September 30, 2016. Masina has been charged with three first-degree felony counts stemming from a July sexual assault in Cottonwood Heights.

Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune Former Brighton High football star Osa Masina makes his first appearance in court, in front of Judge Paul B. Parker, at the Matheson Courthouse in Salt Lake City, Friday, September 30, 2016. Masina has been charged with three first-degree felony counts stemming from a July sexual assault in Cottonwood Heights.

Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune Former Brighton High football star Osa Masina makes his first appearance in court, at the Matheson Courthouse in Salt Lake City, Friday, September 30, 2016. Masina has been charged with three first-degree felony counts stemming from a July sexual assault in Cottonwood Heights.

Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune Attorney Gregory G. Skordas talks to reporters after former Brighton High football star Osa Masina made his first appearance in court, at the Matheson Courthouse in Salt Lake City, Friday, September 30, 2016. Masina has been charged with three first-degree felony counts stemming from a July sexual assault in Cottonwood Heights.