Published in DeVine Law at The HinzSight Report.
North Carolina Prosecutors in the Duke Lacrosse alleged rape case declare indicted defendants "Innocent!" Not merely the usual (and I mean VERY usual) "not guilty" in order to cover their prosecutorial discretion butts and leave a taint on the fish that got away, but "Innocent"!
And the MSM, not just bloggers are revealing the identity of the lying accuser!
During 14 years of private law practice mainly in the criminal defense field, I heard the words not guilty from juries in a large majority of the cases I tried.
Not once was a prosecutor punished and not once when the words not guilty were heard in an alleged rape case did the media "out" the false accuser afterwards.
The immunity of the government prosecutors from lawsuits being as strong as it is, and the bias/burden of proof elements against cases of malicious prosecution being as high as it is, most all defendants hearing those words have no recourse but to go on with their lives absent any public regret from those that were proven wrong in a public trial.
Finally, there is a deterrent all future false rape accusers can understand. Today in America, men are safer on dates.
One would hope that non-married couples would save it till marriage, but if they don't, and the female decides to use the evidence of consensual sex (which is often the same as that for non-consensual) to get even for supposed sleights or attempt blackmail, she will have to factor in the picture of the shamed Crystal Mangum on TV screens.
The double standard for evidentiary rules needs to be examined as well. Rape "shield" laws prevent defendants charged with rape from presenting generally relevant evidence ordinarily allowed in all other criminal cases. This must end.
Moreover, as I have previously written in DeVine Law at The HinzSight Report, the so-called stigma attaching to rape victims has already been shown to be a crock in modern day America. Consider the Kobe Bryant accuser's "self-outing":
The allegations were made by an anonymous accuser less than 17 months after rape charges made by another, then anonymous accuser, against NBA basketball star Kobe Bryant, were dismissed. That famous 2004 Colorado case prompted the Legal Column to ask the question, “Are Alleged Rape Victims Unique?” in analyzing the unique evidentiary rules and press reporting practices in cases of rape allegations.
The current charges against Lacrosse players at Duke University in Durham have already made them infamous due to the reporting of their names and depiction of their faces in the press.
One issue in the Bryant case as in the N.C. case, concerns the standard press practice of not revealing the names or depicting the faces of alleged rape victims, while routinely reporting the names, with photos, of those accused of rape.
The only alleged victims or defendants afforded similar anonymity by the press, except for alleged victims of rape, are minor children.
In both the Duke and Bryant cases, and all rape cases in memory, the arguments for press protection of the anonymity of the victim have been related to an alleged “stigma” that “society” attaches to the rape victim that could cause true victims not to come forward unless their identity is protected.
However, after criminal charges were dropped against the Los Angeles Laker, the alleged victim filed a civil lawsuit against the accused seeking money damages for a crime that she was unwilling to testify about in criminal court. The alleged victim voluntarily named herself as the plaintiff in the civil lawsuit which named the basketball star as the defendant. The civil case file was later dismissed amid rumors that a settlement had been reached.
Defendants charged with rape, as with any other crime, should be allowed to use all relevant evidence to defend themselves, even if it involves the past sexual history of the accuser.
PERIOD.
Mike Gamecock DeVine @ The Charlotte Observer
"One man with courage makes a majority." - Andrew Jackson
Legal Editor for The HinzSight Report and The Minority Report
Original Contributing writer for Race 4 2008