As per MSN, "Duke case reopens wounds for black women&qFollow

Well take a look at the feverish responses from both sides throughout this thread. Rape is possibly the most divisive crime out there(no pun intended). It's the type of thing people feel passionately about, and rightfully so; the sort of accusation people often feel one way or the other about regardless of evidence, but merely because of preconceptions.

It takes very little to gain a sex assault indictment, and here's a bombshell: I'm specially qualified to comment on this because I was once upona time falsely accused and prosecuted. In my case it took an allegation and a vaginal tear one-tenth of a centimeter. I was seventeen, and so was she. We had sex in my parents' basement while they were upstairs, after the act I drove her home and kissed her goodnight, and offered to call her the next day. Well I didn't call her, but I don't think that alone drove her accusation. Her father had paged her off and on throughout the night(remember pagers? Every kid had one in the mid-nineties, 'least in my 'hood) until she turned the pager off. I've always had a suspicion that her father was angered and she felt the need to cover-up, but I'm getting off the point.

Couple days later detectives show up, haul me downtown, and interrogate me. I feel pretty confident, knowing that the act was consentual, but I was still sent to a juvenile dtention center until arraignment, when I was released into my parents' custody under house arrest, with a nifty little ankle monitor. I returned to high-school biefly, but it was a bit much too handle, and I ended up finishing my diploma with correspondence courses.

I never saw a trial. three years after the initial allegations I passed a polygraph exam and she recanted. Unfortunately the lawyer took my college fund. I had and have no recourse; the girl who falsely calls rape has that kind of power and irrefutability. I was however very close to going to trial, just a month or two away, and I seriously considered taking a plea where I would do probation and be labeled a sex offender for ten years, just because of the type of dialogue taking place in this thread. The issue is so incendiary, it's hard to imagine actually getting a fair trial, when your peers are entering the jury-box with their preconceptions.

What I'm saying is reserve judgement until we have more facts than just hearsay through the media and descriptions of the actors. Failing to do so jeapordizes the due process everyone involved is entitled to.

Oh yeah, I'm available to babysit, if anyone needs me.

Don't I know it.

That **** is so fu[Aliceblue][/Aliceblue]cking rediculous. Did you at least have a little money left over to get someone to shoot her dad in the face? Did you at least get to shoot on his face?





Edited, Wed Apr 19 11:19:29 2006 by Elderon

What strikes you as false, Flea? And no Eldy, I never really wanted anything but an explanation, but I never got that either.

I've done a search and "BarkingTurtle" never seems to come up anywhere. I think you're safe now.

You and your false allegations![:indignant:]

Oh, tell me about it. In Colorado they have the rapeshield act which basicly makes the accuser unimpeachable. For example, in my specific case, the girl claimed during her initial interview that I had taken her virginity. This would've been easy enough to refute, because two of the homies from the 'hood had been with her previously, in one case years prior to the allegations. Even though it seems as if this sort of info could be used to question her credibility, even though it shows a pattern of lying about sex and even though it caught her in a lie about the actual sex act in question, it was inadmissable because you cannot for any reason talk about her sexual history.

I understand we need to encourage victims to come forward, but sheesh, that sure seems like an awful lot of immunity. She even claimed the same thing during a preliminary hearing, which is perjury of course, but it's impossible to prove because her sexual history is untouchable. Poor choice of words; inadmissable.

This has to be the most damaging crime to be accused of. Our system is supposed to be geared toward the innocent until proven guilty mantra, but in these cases, the alledger holds the upper-hand and the falsely accused get to carry a state-sponsored stigma unlike any other, really.

Just saying, I've become much slower to formulate an opinion concerning any allegation of crime. That's right, being accused of rape will make you a better, more judicious person, I highly recommend everyone try it.

You obviously missed the thread in which gbaji delineated exactly which injuries must be present in order for a rape to have happened. Being threatened at gunpoint does not equal rape, for example.

Gbaji = Bill Napoli.

There is none. Sounds like a clear case of jungle fever to me.

Yup, I went through a minor version of what barkingturtle did with the 2.5 (aka university police). The "shield laws" need to go. It's preposterous that someone can slander another, can thraeten them with charges of a serious crime and serious punishment, with no repurcussion. In your case, if she actually did "recant", you seriously need to get an attorney to make her and her father responsible for your legal fees and your pain and suffering. There needs to be precedent established for precisely this. Also, don't skip jury duty. Potentially innocent defendants need peers like you on juries.

And then we need "Cry Wolf" Registries to brand those who have brought false accusations. We also need to make institutions legally threatened with sex discrimination suits for not providing adequate and equal resources for those falsely accused of rape as are provided for those alleging rape. I myself was setting up for just such a course but no charges were actually filed and I received a final letter from the alleged wannabee pretend "victim".

If your a college student looking for instant national headlines, political captial, and a winning cause, sue your university on the grounds of not providing equal resources for men falsely accused of rape that are provided for those alleging rape in the same manner that Title IX charges were brought against male sports teams. It's guaranteed money, it's guaranteed FoxNews stardom, it's guaranteed to massively **** off feminist groups, and most importantly, it's a guaranteed righteous cause.