Former rising football star Brian Banks exonerated in rape case

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Brian Banks, a rising football star whose career was bought to a sudden halt after a kidnap-rape conviction landed him in prison, has been exonerated after his accuser contacted him on Facebook and recanted her story.

In a hearing today, Brian Banks began sobbing when prosecutors said they did not object to his conviction being reversed. His mother and girlfriend, who were in court, were ebullient.

“I’m just thankful to be free now and have the opportunity like anybody else to thrive in life,” Brian Banks told ABC News Radio today. “I’m completely overwhelmed with so many emotions and feelings all at once.”

Banks, now 26, was 17 at the time where many believed the 6-foot-4, 225 pound athlete was bound for the NFL.  The University of California had offered him a full-scholarship, and a few other Division 1 schools were pursuing the linebacker.

“Tragically, Banks would never realize his dream of going to college and playing college football,” his attorneys wrote in court documents. “A high-school acquaintance—Wanetta Gibson—shattered that dream one fateful day after she accused Banks of rape and kidnapping following a consensual sexual encounter.”

When Banks was accused of rape at Long Beach Polytechnic High School, his attorneys advised him to plead no contest to avoid going to trial and risk spending 41 years in prison.

His attorneys said he “chose the lesser of two evils” when he pleaded no contest. Banks was sentenced to six years, which he served and is now on parole and registered as a sex offender.

But on February 28, 2011 the case took a dramatic turn when Banks accuser contacted him through Facebook.  Gibson, his accuser, requested his friendship on Facebook. He did not accept it, but asked her if she would meet with him and a private investigator. She agreed.

“Gibson met with Banks and a private investigator and recanted her preliminary hearing testimony that Banks raped her,” his attorneys wrote. She said that the two had been “making out pretty heavy,” but that they did not have intercourse or “anything like that.”

“Gibson said that they were just playing around, being curious about sexuality, and that the adults got involved and blew it all out of proportion,” according to legal documents. “She said the adults ‘put stuff in [her] head.'”

Gibson said she didn’t tell the truth at the time in fear of losing the 1.5 million suit her and her family won against the school district.

Now, Banks is more than happy to get back to his life with a clean slate and has not given up his NFL dreams.

“I’ve been training since October of last year in hopes of giving football another shot,” Banks said. “I’m hoping to possibly receive a try out from a team.”

Brian Banks is also working on a documentary about his life.