Man has rape conviction quashed as wedding footage shows alleged victim playfully touching the accused

firex726 · 2013-03-27T14:45:59+00:00

It is absurd to me that you can throw someone in prison for 5 years based solely on verbal testimony from the victim, especially when the abuse is alleged to have occurred over 20 years ago.

The fact that a 90's wedding video is the only thing standing between this man and prison is insane.

twokidsinamansuit · 2013-03-27T15:47:32+00:00

I'm bracing for downvotes, but this whole thing seems fucked. If he didn't do it, then it's fucked up to convict someone based solely on one person's verbal testimony. If he did do it, then using video evidence of a wedding (where you are supposed to pretend to be happy around family that you may otherwise hate) seems like a shitty standard to judge behavior. I'm not sure where I stand on this. It seems like definite gray territory.

JakeDDrake · 2013-03-27T14:59:20+00:00

It's good that neither of the parties involved had their names plastered all over the article.

Coinin · 2013-03-27T15:25:41+00:00

That title is really misleading. As it stands it sounds like they found him innocent based purely on a wedding video. In reality they ordered a retrial because at least some of her testimony was clearly proven false.

I'm not sure what other evidence was available at the trial, but if the defence has to resort to this kind of thing then I'm guessing there isn't any cast iron physical evidence. One persons word should not be enough to put another person in prison.

nmvzciehjfal · 2013-03-27T17:09:30+00:00

An attorney friend told me something very similar. It was his one "Matlock" moment.

A 17 year old female alleged that her (not blood related) uncle kidnapped her from a wedding reception, took her to his house, raped her, and brought her back.

The problem for her is that people take lots of pictures at receptions and the attorney could prove through those photographs that she never left the party.

There was one picture where she was standing in front of a clock during the time she was allegedly being raped. When asked about it on the stand, she responded, "Well, that clock doesn't even work and it only shows that same time." So the attorney started showing her various pictures with the same clock which clearly showed it was working. She didn't have an answer to that.

After that the judge interrupted the trial, had the attorney and prosecutor approach the bench, and told the prosecutor that she might want to dismiss the case. She did.

It turned out that they were having an affair, but he wanted to end it. So the allegation of rape was to punish him.

Of course, she was never charged.

Updated: I tend not to read responses. I'm a little OCD and hate spending days arguing with trolls about nonsense.

Anyway, some might ask, "Why wouldn't the prosecutor have dismissed the case prior to trial?"

That's a very good question. And the attorney spoke with the prosecutor numerous times about the photographs. But in a rape case the prosecutor is beholden to the victim. If you're dealing with a rape "victim" it's extremely difficult to argue with her and her family about what really happened. Rape "victims" are treated differently than any other victim because no one wants to be seen as discouraging them from coming forward.

However, the judge has no relationship to the victim, so it's easy for him to say, "This case is shit, dismiss it." And once that's said, the prosecutor can blame the judge when talking to the victim.

2013-03-27T15:08:41+00:00

Men are guilty until proven innocent and women are the ones complaining about oppression???

highpressuresodium · 2013-03-27T16:01:53+00:00

thats all it takes? me coming up with some story of sexual assault to land someone in jail for 5 years? are you kidding?

jack_gats · 2013-03-27T16:07:43+00:00

A retrial was ordered. What about the trial of the woman for false accusation?

2013-03-27T15:37:27+00:00

That bitch better be getting her own trial.

BullsLawDan · 2013-03-27T18:25:26+00:00

But false rape accusations don't real, you guise.

5th_Law_of_Robotics · 2013-03-27T20:08:38+00:00

This followed his stepdaughter going to police in September 2008 and claiming that, when she was a child, the man would come into her bedroom two to three times a week and touch her genitals.

I get that this is a horrible crime (or would have been if it weren't invented). But how can you justify jailing a man solely based on an accusation?

30+ years later there is no forensic information. No witnesses other than the accuser.

It is absolutely appalling that he was actually sentenced based on nothing more than an accusation.

But the man claimed that the alleged assaults had never occurred and that his stepdaughter was motivated by a bitter dispute within the family over her grandmother's will.

People who will literally try to ruin a person's life over money or petty bitterness are not the kind of people that should be walking free. She is a danger to others and should be locked up for the public good.

They quashed the man's conviction and ordered a retrial.

So he could still be going to jail. Lovely.

KoreanNuisance · 2013-03-27T17:16:44+00:00

Just because there's a relationship doesn't automatically mean that a woman couldn't be raped. Just being together doesn't mean that all sex that occurs in the relationship is consensual and willing. That's a dangerous assumption to make.

coldacid · 2013-03-27T17:36:32+00:00

The man, who cannot be named

Hey, progress!

amishbreakfast · 2013-03-27T20:29:35+00:00

So, he was thrown in jail without any substantial evidence. Then he's freed because of a home video that also isn't substantial evidence.

Way to go, Australia.

whoisthismilfhere · 2013-03-27T20:43:33+00:00

Dont ever flirt or have sex with any woman or its rape. But dont have sex with other men cause homosexuality is illegal. Jerking off makes you go blind.

Good luck men.

cknight18 · 2013-03-27T21:28:46+00:00

What people need to understand is, women do sometimes lie about rape. I don't like to get into percentages because those kinds of things are incredibly hard to pin down, but I just say that it happens enough for it to be considered a really big problem.

Some people try to argue that women don't rape or that it's so rare, or say something like"why would a woman lie about something like that? What do they have to gain?" Well, guess what caused the vast majority of lynchings in the early 20th century? Women lying about being raped by black men. It happens and it shouldn't be "guilty until proven innocent" anymore.

DavidByron · 2013-03-27T17:05:26+00:00

Not sure why this is on here, let alone top rated story. We don't know what evidence was against the man or whether he is guilty or not. They found some more evidence and ruled for a re-trial is all. There's just very little information indeed in the story.

Unenjoyed · 2013-03-27T17:10:22+00:00

So what happened to Gramma's loot?

MrJMaxted0291 · 2013-03-27T21:48:07+00:00

I'd much rather live in a society where a guilty person goes unpunished than one where an innocent person suffers a miscarriage of justice.

Punishment for rape and other serious crimes is important so as to deter similar crimes in the future, but protecting the liberty of innocent people definitely takes precedence over this. This protection is the assumption that a defendant is innocent until proven guilty. It is an absolute keystone of a fair court process and it shouldn't be discarded simply to satisfy society's sense of political correctness.

phantom_nosehair · 2013-03-27T20:11:57+00:00

I hope she is liable for conviction and time for false accusations at the retrial. It should be extremely hard to convict someone of rape or assault by verbal testimony of the alleged victim alone. Evidence and third party testimony should always be present.

ThePigman · 2013-03-28T01:21:08+00:00

How do you even get convicted for a supposed sexual assault that happened 30 years earlier? Unless there were witnesses or a confession it must have come down to the "victim's" word against his. Doesn't sound very just to me.

2013-03-28T01:21:36+00:00

Uh huh, she tries to act normal with the funny uncle cuz it's somebody's wedding.

Gonna guess here -- Uncle's a molester.

pwnedkiller · 2013-03-27T18:08:13+00:00

This is just me and its gonna sound dark but if you are touched or whatever 20-30 years ago or whatever. Then after all those years finally report it...I believe that is just wrong and you're own fault for not going to someone when it happen. Go to some therapy sessions and move on with life.

This hole trial is insane I personally believe it has no right to be taken to court.

bgerrard · 2013-03-27T18:38:12+00:00

Am I the only one who remembers the story about the girl on reddit abot a year ago who had her step father put in jail years later for assaults on her that ended up with her partial hearing loss...? Is this the same story and can anyone find it? I know this was a highly upvoted story not too long ago..

Bla34112 · 2013-03-27T21:34:49+00:00

So.. on what basis did they throw this man in jail to begin with?

fitzmodj · 2013-03-27T21:45:38+00:00

good.

micromoses · 2013-03-28T02:17:01+00:00

"So, your honor, as you can see from the wedding footage and the way the plaintif was touching the defendant, she clearly wanted it.

Defense rests."

pretzelzetzel · 2013-03-27T19:31:53+00:00

Playful touching is the same thing as consent to sexual activity.

_SharkWeek_ · 2013-03-28T01:14:38+00:00

So he raped her and because she was somewhat familiar with him at one point at a family function, nbd? I put my arm around a lot of people... So that's pretty much asking for it, huh? Fucked. Up.

_SharkWeek_ · 2013-03-28T01:19:45+00:00

Ok the comments here are the last straw. Unsubbed. I thought this was a men's rights forum, not r/rapeapology. Hope R/egalitarian is better.

Title	Man has rape conviction quashed as wedding footage shows alleged victim playfully touching the accused
Author	EvilPundit
Upvotes	600
Comments	139
Date	March 27, 2013 1:48 PM UTC (13 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/mensrights/comments/1b3xu9/man-has-rape-conviction-quashed-as-wedding-footage/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/man-has-rape-conviction-quashed-as-wedding-footage.1609170 https://theredarchive.com/post/1609170

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