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Cox In Court On Rape Charge After Broncos Release

CASTLE ROCK, Colo. (AP) - Former Denver Broncos cornerback Perrish Cox was scheduled to appear in court Friday for the first time since the team released him on Sept. 3.

The hearing was set for Friday afternoon. Prosecutors and Cox's attorney, Harvey A. Steinberg, are scheduled to argue what evidence can be presented during Cox's trial, which is scheduled for next month.

Cox faces charges of sexual assault against someone who was physically helpless and sexual assault against someone who was incapable of determining the nature of the conduct.

He pleaded not guilty and is free on $50,000 bail.

An arrest warrant affidavit said the alleged victim became pregnant. The affidavit claimed DNA tests indicated Cox is the father.

According to the affidavit, the woman told investigators she suspected she might have been drugged when she and friends visited Cox's apartment in September 2010 because she could not remember most of the night.

Doctors put the date of conception around the time she was at Cox's apartment.

She went to police on Oct. 28, the day she said she learned she was pregnant. She told investigators that she didn't file a complaint sooner because she wasn't sure she had been raped and didn't want to make unfounded charges.

When police interviewed Cox on Nov. 8, he denied having sex with the accuser, the affidavit said. He refused to allow a DNA sample to be taken until after investigators obtained a court order, the document said.

Broncos general manager Brian Xanders indicated it was Cox's on-field performance and not his legal issues that led the team to release him.

Friday's hearing was originally scheduled for last month. A judge postponed it to give Steinberg more time to review statements Cox made during the investigation.

Prosecutors say they learned of a DVD containing Cox's statements two days before the original hearing date.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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