Former keyboardist for Brian Wilson's band convicted of rape at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa

A jury recommended a sentence of three years in prison on the rape by instrumentation charge and two years on the sexual battery charge, court records indicate. Bennett is being held in the Rogers County Jail without bond.

A probable cause affidavit for Bennett’s arrest states that the incident was captured on video surveillance in a Hard Rock hotel elevator and hallway. The video was shown in open court.

In the video, a woman can be seen in an elevator about 1 a.m. Dec. 5, 2014, before a man gets in. The man prevents the woman from getting off the elevator before taking her up to the 12th floor, according to the affidavit.

The man takes the woman down the hallway, trying to carry her at one point. They lie down on the hallway floor, at which point the man pulls down the woman’s pants and appears to sexually assault her, the affidavit states.

“It is clear from watching the video that the victim is extreamly (sic) intoxicated and is unaware of her surroundings,” a Catoosa police officer wrote in the affidavit. “The subject however appears to be in complete control of his faculties.”

When police interviewed the woman the following morning, she said she didn’t remember anything that had happened or ever having had contact with Bennett, according to the affidavit.

Bennett, 51, told police he had touched the woman in the vaginal area with his hand and mouth and that he had taken her to his room, but he denied that any form of sexual activity had occurred there, the affidavit states.

The video shows the two emerging from the hotel room after about 35 minutes, according to the affidavit. Prosecuting attorney Edith Singer called the video “very, very disturbing.”

At the end of the video, the man can be seen leaving the woman, who was 21 at the time, in a hallway on the seventh floor, “like a sack of trash,” Singer said.

The woman’s underwear was found in Bennett’s room. His DNA also was found on her during an exam.

Bennett’s attorney, Shannon McMurray, said she intends to file for a retrial and appeal both verdicts.

McMurray said she “absolutely maintains” her client’s innocence.

“It’s a tragedy all the way around,” she said. “Two drunk people running into each other — now one person’s a convicted sex offender.”

Singer maintained being drunk is not a defense in the crime of rape by instrumentation.

The woman had been at the casino for a friend’s birthday party. When she left at one point in the evening and never returned, security was notified, and she was found disheveled on the seventh floor.

Security staff reviewed surveillance footage, found the clips that later were presented in court and notified Catoosa police.

Amanda Clinton, vice president of communications at Cherokee Nation Businesses, said staff at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa always cooperate fully and willingly with law enforcement, no matter the size or scale of an investigation.

“If someone is hoping to commit a crime, our casino would be the last place they would want to do it,” she said. “We have thousands of cameras spread across the property.”

Singer praised the efforts of security personnel at the casino and Catoosa police. Had they not acted, it’s possible the woman might never have known what happened to her, Singer said.

“When (the police) described for this young lady what they observed happening, all of the color drained from her face,” Singer said. “(The officer) compared it to a death notification.”

Formal sentencing for Bennett is scheduled for June 14, court records indicate.