On Apr 4, 7:38 am, "truckinusa" <kieran2...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> My wife was raped here a few months ago in Texas by a friend. What
> does it take to prove rape(sexual assault) if this goes to trial? The
> accused is claiming the sex was consensual. Can someone give me
> examples of what gets a conviction. I know she had the sane nurse
> exam immediately after the incident but didn't know how much this
> helps.
Mr. Truckinusa, you got some very good replies to your query about this alleged acquaintance rape of your wife when you first posted here at MLM on this topic back on January 25, 2007. Google those.
BTW, what's a "sane nurse exam?" One would hope the nurse is sane when she does the exam. Or was that a misspelling I can't figure out?
If you are referring to the standard hospital rape investigation procedure, it won't help much if all they found out was that the alleged perp's sperm was DNA-matched to swabbings from your wife, since the issue here IIRC isn't whether the sex in fact occurred, but whether it was consensual. Rape is defined as _non_-consensual (forced) sex. It will be up to the jury whether they believe the defendant, who IIRC is saying that your wife willingly had sex with him, or if they believe the (apparently) quite different story being told by your wife. Sometimes the hospital exam also finds evidence of physical force, such as bruises or cuts, torn clothing, etc. and that could help support the charge of rape and cast doubt on a consensual sex claim, but it's also common for a defendant in that situation to argue that all this means is, "she liked it rough". The absence of physical bruising doesn't prove that it _wasn't_ rape, but does mean that the prosecution will have to allege that the defendant used something other than raw physical force to compel your wife to have sex (which could include blackmail, or mere threats of physical harm to her or someone else, or surreptitiously rendering her unconscious or insensible with alcohol or drugs, among other ways to negate consent). Almost anything the prosecution can use to prove rape, the defense can counter with an argument that things are not as they seem and that the evidence actually shows something else entirely than what the prosecution says it does. It's impossible for any of us who don't have more than a bare-bones sketch of the possibly relevant facts to judge credibility of either party, or to predict the outcome. Obviously, the prosecutor feels he has a potentially winnable case or it wouldn't have come this far. More than that we cannot say.
Whatever is going to happen, at this stage (I assume the case is in trial, or almost ready to go to trial) it is in the hands of the prosecutors, the defense, and the judge and jury, and anything you could do right now other than support your wife, tell the truth as you know it and trust in the system to work as it should, is likely to be counterproductive. Good luck,
--
This posting is for discussion purposes, not professional advice.
Anything you post on this Newsgroup is public information.
I am not your lawyer, and you are not my client in any specific legal
matter.
For confidential professional advice, consult your own lawyer in a
private communication.
Mike Jacobs
LAW OFFICE OF W. MICHAEL JACOBS
10440 Little Patuxent Pkwy #300
Columbia, MD 21044
(tel) 410-740-5685 (fax) 410-740-4300
No comments:
Post a Comment