Ultimately, Carisi could not charge Jenna with rape because she had used her fingers, but she was charged with aggravated sexual assault and third-degree sexual abuse.

Given the unusual circumstances of the case, he offered her a plea deal, but Jenna opted for a trial.

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When Zoe took the stand, Jenna’s defense attorney revealed that the two women had had several sexual encounters in college and had attempted to establish an ongoing, consensual sexual relationship.

Carisi pointed out that regardless of the history, Zoe did not consent to the assault. However, Jenna’s attorney presented text messages from Zoe in which she raved about how sexually gratifying she found messaging “Klaus.”

Jenna defended herself, claiming that Zoe knew all along that she was posing as Klaus. She revealed that the code word for the encounter was “Athena,” a reference to the former roommates’ dorm, Athena Hall. When asked if Zoe used the code word during the encounter, Jenna claimed she didn’t hear it.

Jenna’s defense argued that after years of friendship – which included hundreds of hugs in addition to their previous sexual encounters – Zoe would have clearly recognized Jenna as the person who was in the hotel room with her.

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When Carisi cross-examined Jenna, he asked her why she, as “Klaus,” initiated a sexual encounter and attempted to impregnate Zoe. However, the defendant reiterated that the two were acting it out.

“Like I said, Zoe knew it was me,” Jenna confirmed.

“Right, even though she couldn’t see your face, she was blindfolded and it was dark?” Carisi clarified.

“Yes,” said Jenna.

“I want to test that,” Carisi announced, ordering the bailiff to turn off all the lights, demonstrating that Jenna couldn’t see much.

“Excuse me, would you please come with me?” Carisi then asked an unknown person in the courtroom and led them to the witness stand. Carisi asked from the darkness: “Who is this person standing in front of you?”

After a moment of silence, Jenna nervously guessed it was Zoe. Then the judge ended Carisi’s demonstration and turned the lights back on. Instead of Zoe, standing before her was Jenna’s husband – who had just found out that she had cheated on him with her best friend.

“You’ve been married to this man for ten years and you couldn’t recognize him in the dark,” Carisi said. “How could you possibly expect Zoe to recognize you?”

Jenna was found not guilty of aggravated sexual assault but guilty of third-degree sexual abuse, a misdemeanor, and faces up to a year in prison, although Zoe suggested offering her former friend probation.