Posted by Susan J on January 15, 2004, at 7:38:12
In reply to Re: Might Have Some Good Come Out of It » Susan J, posted by judy1 on January 14, 2004, at 19:36:07
>> Are you a defense attorney?
<<No, but I did work in the criminal justice system in Baltimore for years and saw tons of rape cases. One of the worst was when a well-known prostitute got raped by two men. The men always claimed prostitutes cry rape because the men don't pay them. And even if a prostitute lies a million times, it doesn't mean her right to control her body has been surrendered. The guys got off with really short sentences. And I just get outraged because a prostitute is capable of being raped, too.I think people should stop looking at the act of rape as something dealing with a sexual act. I know that's a component of it, obviously, but the *crime* to me is that it is an act against the victim's will. The victim had her right to control what happens to her body taken away from her.
When a person says no, no matter at what time, no matter how far along even a *consensual* sexual encounter has gone, if a person, man or woman, says no, the partner *must* respect that decision. That's the law on the books in Colorado that Kobe's up against. That's the law in Maryland. I assume there's something similar in most states. I don't know about other countries of people who post here.
>> Is this the norm to use the mental status of an accuser in a defense?
<<This is exactly why I couldn't do criminal law. I firmly believe everyone has a right to a fair and complete defense. It's the basis of our criminal justice system. But often the end doesn't justify the means. The law is a tool to serve humanity, humans are not meant to be a slave to the law. Many attorneys place more value on making sure someone gets a fair defense than they place on the welfare of the victim.If you don't know whether your client is guilty or not, and often attorneys don't *want* to know, then I find it morally repugnant to stand there and destroy a person who's already been through so much in order to help the client beat the charges.
But yes, it's standard for a defense attorney to use any (legal) means necessary to get his client off, even browbeating a witness, *especially* browbeating a witness. Many states like Colorado have some victim protection laws on the books trying to prevent a victim from having her sexual history dragged into the case and that type of thing. The victim often has to be really strong all over again just to survive, and many choose for this reason, not to testify. Then everyone thinks she must not have really been raped or she would have testified. It just sucks all the way around.
Sorry for writing so much. This type of thing really bugs me. And to drag mental health into it is really low. I don't see the bearing it, in itself, could have on whether she is falsely accusing him of rape. And it *will* take more than just saying she's bipolar to discredit her. It's just sad they are using a mental health condition as a means to discredit someone at all.
I don't know how Kobe's lawyer can sleep at night.
poster:Susan J
thread:300583
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20040109/msgs/301045.html