Frederic D. Bright, Esq.
District Attorney
Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit
121 N. Wilkinson St.
Suite 305
Milledgeville, GA 31061-3399
Dear Mr. Bright:
I founded America's leading website that gives voice to persons falsely accused of rape and related crimes, The False Rape Society. The stigma associated with a wrongful accusation of rape often causes catastrophic and irreparable damage to the victims of such claims. Their unique needs are largely ignored in a culture that has inappropriately politicized rape. An important part the mission of False Rape Society is to advocate for the presumptively innocent accused of such crimes, no matter how unpopular that advocacy might be.
We commend you for your overall handling of the much publicized Ben Roethlisberger accusation, and for refusing, in your words, to "prosecute morals." In the prepared statement that you read to the press on Monday, April 12, 2010, your succinct explanation of a district attorney's mission ought to be emblazoned on the hearts of every prosecutor in America: "The duty of a district attorney is to always seek justice and not merely to convict."
Respectfully, however, we are very concerned about one aspect of your April 12 statement: your repeated reference to the accuser as a "victim." In the less-than-ten minutes that it took you to read your statement, you referred to the accuser as "victim" nine times. This, despite your express conclusion that "the sexual allegation against Mr. Roethlisberger cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt," and that "the overall circumstances do not lead to a viable prosecution."
Specifically, you stated:
". . . the victim was bar-hopping with her sorority sisters."
"The victim went with her sorority sisters to the nightclub . . . ."
"Everyone agrees that the victim was highly intoxicated due to consuming alcohol."
"One of the bodyguards guided the victim down a dark hallway."
"The victim was driven by a friend to Oconee Regional Medical Center, our local hospital here in Millidgeville."
"The Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the Millidgeville Police Department, and I personally met and spoke with the victim herself, her family, and her attorneys, ten days ago, and they all unanimously reconfirmed their position that they did not want to pursue this matter any further."
"Almost four weeks ago, in a letter to me, dated March 17, 2010, the victim's lawyer advised me that the victim did not want to prosecute this matter further and explained her reasons . . . ."
"Law enforcement officers interviewed every witness that the victim or her friends told them was present that night."
Words matter, and they matter much when they are deliberately, and repeatedly, spoken by someone who carries a public trust regarding matters so grave. By labeling the accuser as a "victim" after you, yourself, have expressly determined that no crime could be proven, and that substantial questions persist regarding what occurred between the accuser and the accused in the small bathroom where the putative incident occurred, you nevertheless implied that the rape accusation was factual.
Describing the accuser as a "victim" in this case is not consonant with either your own factual determination or the mission of your office to "seek justice."
Most importantly, your description does a grave disservice to Mr. Roehlisberger, because if the accuser was a "victim," by necessity Mr. Roethlisberger must be a "rapist." Defending Mr. Roethlisberger is not an especially popular thing to do right now, but justice should never be permitted to bow to the whims of public opinion polls or the forces of gender politicization. The implication that Mr. Roethlisberger is a "rapist" is a stigma that he will carry with him for the remainder of his life. Unlike his accuser, his identity was not protected from the unblinking public gaze that titillates at the slightest whiff of a celebrity's purported sexual misconduct.
It is well to note that every objective study ever conducted on false rape claims shows that they are a significant problem. The only fair manner of describing the young woman in this case is to refer to her as exactly what she is: an accuser whose claim could not be proven.
I implore you to exercise greater care in the use of your language, and to show greater sensitivity to the presumptively innocent and their families, by refraining from suggesting that they are criminals even after you have determined they committed no crime that can be prosecuted.
Respectfully,
Pierce Harlan
False Rape Society
http://falserapesociety.blogspot.com/
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64 comments:
Pierce, you are an incredible writer, so succinct and eloquent.
Great letter!!!
CBGirl
Thank you, CBGirl.
You go grrrll H^H^H^H^ err, Pierce...
well i don't know,it seems like she wasn't the direct accuser that this automaticly came out from her sisters and all that misunderstanding that happened with the police.
Maybe if she kept saying no she wasn't raped,her friends and police helped that it sounded more like a false rape accusation.
Continues:
and i don't think she ever actually said it was rape herself.
But she did put herself in a possible false rape accusation position as it seems,by faulth of society.
Please let us know if he responds
(not that I'm thinking he will).
”Respectfully, however, we are very concerned about one aspect of your April 12 statement: your repeated reference to the accuser as a "victim." “
While I’d agree that the misuse of the term victim when referring to a person who is actually known to be the perpetrator of another crime does serve as a gross disservice to the real victims of FRA’s, I se Mr. Bright’s misuse of the word not as deliberate attempt to cast doubt on Roethlisberger’s innocence, but rather the unfortunate, but all too human tendency to fall to “force of habit”.
By the time most (alleged) criminal case reach the DA’s office for consideration, they are typically reviewing those cases from the standpoint of there being alleged victims, and alleged perpetrators. They tend to get lazy and loose with their internal terminologies for, simplifying them down to victim and perp.
And, cases of alleged rape are a rather small proportion of the overall caseload they will be handling. In other circumstance where false allegation where made to initiate an investigation (typically an insurance fraud), the DA doesn’t even get involved until after it is known that the claimant is the one who attempted to perpetrate the crime.
Therefore, it’s likely quite rare that the perspective on a case reverses 180-degrees during their handling of a case. And, thus, when a spokes person, such as Mr. Bright, steps in front of a room full of people, microphones and cameras, the added distractions will serve to make them forget about the need to reverse their terminology, and they instead resort to more rote habits, including as we see here, the misuse of the term victim
Again, I believe this serious of repeated misuse of a term was the sort of misstep humans are prone to make. [Despite what some here believe, members of LE are themselves human, and can make mistakes with no malicious intent]
However, it is go for you to point out his errors to him, rather than let them pass without remark, given the gravity of this particular case.
slwerner, I think you hold prosecutors to too low of a standard. Mistakes happen. A slip-of-the-tongue is one thing: nine times, in a prepared written statement that took less than ten minutes to deliver, is something else altogether. This wasn't off-the-top-of-his-head. This was the most calculated thing he'd ever written.
When I was writing criminal opinions early in my career at a busy state appellate court, I alway was careful to use terms like this correctly. In my present legal practice, I routinely need to use the word "alleged" or "purported" or "putative" or "supposed" and I have no difficulty remembering to do it; nor do I have any difficulty whatsoever changing the description of a person I am referencing in a brief, letter, or in oral argument, based on the circumstances or procedural posture of the case. It likely would be reversible error for a judge to repeatedly refer to the accuser as "the victim" in a criminal jury trial.
Words are important. Lawyers are taught to use words carefully, and should not be excused when they don't.
I don't want to attribute malice to him, but it definitely was not appropriate. To my ears, it was jarring.
The Spearhead had weighed in on this incident - of course, as will surprise few, it's being tied to "Game" and his "abilities" with women.
More interestingly, there is a picture included, which given what we had previously been told - that his accuser was photographed with her arms wrapped around him, just prior, may mean that the woman pictured to the left may well be that accuser.
My comment to the item was, in effect, "of course she had to put out to get his attention, just look at the other two woman/potential rivals". Admittedly, I'm being a bit "snarky", but i think the point holds.
sl, that picture is from three years ago, I believe -- it was the first such public photo of Ben having a good time with the young women. Of course, he was younger then, and nobody was terribly shocked.
"that picture is from three years ago, I believe -- it was the first such public photo of Ben having a good time with the young women."
I suppose he does appear younger in that photo. Still, it does show that he is not wanting for female attention. He certainly didn't need to pursue a women into a restroom to rape her in order to have sexual access to women. That is what made the whole allegation seem quite specious right from the start.
Archivist - "Words are important. Lawyers are taught to use words carefully, and should not be excused when they don't."
Point taken.
My wife has also frequently said much the same thing as you just did. That should have factored into my judgment more.
Also, I have not yet taken the time to watch the video, so I was unaware that he was reading from a prepared statement [gee, maybe I shouldn't go spoutin' off before checkin']. That would certainly have changed my perspective.
It's tougher to take, but sometime we learn best from our mistakes. Thanks for "teaching" me on this point.
excellent letter, pierce.
"The Spearhead had weighed in on this incident - of course, as will surprise few, it's being tied to "Game" and his "abilities" with women."
What doesn't surprise me is that they would publish such painfully sophomoric nonsense.
"The Spearhead had weighed in on this incident - of course, as will surprise few, it's being tied to "Game" and his "abilities" with women."
What doesn't surprise me is that they would publish such painfully sophomoric nonsense.
so what is this game,does he have to make all her friends part of his game and then have sex with 1 woman
Anonymous - "so what is this game"
Rather than try to explain the theory (or, more accurately, theories) of so-called "Game", it would be better to point out that it is entirely irrelevant to this situation.
Roethlisberger is what "game" proponents would dub a natural "alpha" - he didn't need "Game" to gain sexual access to women. As a well-known athletic celebrity, he already had his pick of willing "Star-F*ckers".
What the Spearhead article does do (although quite unintentionally) is provide an opportunity to demonstrate to the would-be pick-up artists that getting women via "Game" provides no assurance of protections against a woman later deciding that she was tricked, and therefore raped - and filing charges based on her regrets.
One Denise Romano went to far as to suggest that using "Game" to trick a women into wanting to have sex was, in fact, and act of rape.
Our own Chef Snark covered this quite well, in my estimation: Why Do Women Link Game With Rape?
I ask again does game need to affect all her friends to be allowed to have sex with 1 woman?
because it sound like hell between several women.
Nicely done, Pierce.
I think a lot of the habit of calling rape accusers the "victim" is because everyone does it and no one objects.
Get enough objections, and all of the sudden the prejudicial word "victim" gets traded for "accuser" or "alleged victim". In fact, I have seen the latter from time to time.
Keep it up.
Anonymous - "I ask again does game need to affect all her friends to be allowed to have sex with 1 woman?"
You'll have to ask Roissy.
My guess is that her friends backed her decision to have sex with the star, but changed their "tune" when she returned with a head injury from the effort.
Anonymous - "because it sound like hell between several women."
Another possibility is that, since it seems it was one of her friends who actually made the rape allegation, perhaps that "friend" was looking to get back at Reothlisberger for NOT picking her instead.
Excellent letter! Anybody calling her a "victim" after that negative rape exam has to be crazy or bowing to political correctness.
"My guess is that her friends backed her decision to have sex with the star, but changed their "tune" when she returned with a head injury from the effort."
Well that would mean at first they thought she wasn't too drunk,but then she was because of injuries.
And she clearly said she wasn't raped.Seems like both were drunk,but still knew what was happening there.
But we are just guessing here.
She probably gets drunk and fucks all the time. A lot of college girls are into that sort of thing these days -- it's a "feminist thing."
Anonymous - "But we are just guessing here."
Yes we are. But we're trying to come up with something that at least makes sense.
I'm sure you heard some of the alternative theories that are in keeping with the gender-feminist male=rapist, female=victim metanarrative? Did any of the suggestions that he stalked an innocent young girl into a restroom to force her to have sex with him make sense to you?
But, if we don't proffer our own educated guesses, that feminist-driven one will come to be accepted.
When the exact details of an incident are not known, I'll typically engage in speculation - if for no other reason than to plant the idea of an alternative theory which doesn't assume a man to be guilty and a woman above reproach in the minds of someone reading about it.
"I'm sure you heard some of the alternative theories that are in keeping with the gender-feminist male=rapist, female=victim metanarrative? Did any of the suggestions that he stalked an innocent young girl into a restroom to force her to have sex with him make sense to you?"
Yup i heard them,but i don't buy them,since it absolutely makes no sense.Like he was preying after her is a comment i saw,you know that level of thinking in listening all of the facts sounds more like somebody being so affected by feminism that it could be called a mental dissease in my views.
Big Ben has some re evaluation to do regarding his off field conduct. Boorish behavior with under age Women after a previous and now proven False Rape accusation is a career killer. There is what is Right, and there is how it is. Two years ago he resigned for $102 million. And today it was announced he lost his first sponsorship contract for Beef Jerky. More Sponsors will bail wanting to avoid loss of marketshare due to his behavior.
Terry Bradshaw advised Big Ben to stay out of Bars, away from young Women. And to watch his conduct. To throw away such a career over stupid and reckless behavior is stupidity.
The motorcycle accident minus a helmut is more proof his judgment is in question. Big Ben needs to grow up, straighten up and stay out of College Age kids bars. At 28 he is asking to end his career.
That makes him as dumb as a sack of hammers. Face facts and reality. High Net Worth athletes are a target, those trolling for young Girls are a Neon Sign with a Bullzeye painted on them.
I think this is a good case to illustrate the point that it is easy to defend popular people, and politically correct positions. How challenging it is to defend someone who is very unpopular and a position decidedly un-politically correct. Yet, I am certain we are correct in our advocacy.
Boorish behavior with under age Women after a previous and now proven False Rape accusation is a career killer.
****
What "underaged woman?" If you're going to post this sort of libel then at least try to make sense with it. When did Ben consort with any woman who wasn't of legal age?
Anon at 5:18, I think that comment referenced the alcohol -- he was allegedly serving her shots according to the D.A. and she was only 20 years old.
Referring to a 'victim' rather than an 'accuser' is no slip up.
It's calculated and intentional.
It is such a mockery for those who claim rape goes unreported because "they are afraid they won't be believed".
Being anointed "The Victim" is 9/10 the law.
well she was no angel for having a fake id and illegal underage drinking which she wasn't charged with.You woman lie excusist.
What happened to responsibilities,no you keep supporting irresponsible behaiviour by woman.
She was an adult woman so i don't see the problem since she shouldn't be there in the first place drinking,so we can guess that it was expected that her age was 21 at least.
Unless you support lying then you have a problem,society has a problem you are the problem.
I believe he should magicly know her age which she didn't tell him.Great or that she shouldn't go there because people have fake ids,get real it doesn't work like that.
Great letter, btw.
It's not a bad idea for anyone else who supports Accused's rights to write.
Anon: "I believe he should magicly know her age which she didn't tell him.Great or that she shouldn't go there because people have fake ids,get real it doesn't work like that."
There are incalculable numbers of men on lifetime sex offender registries for having sex with a 'woman' they met in a bar.
The BARTENDER is responsible for checking IDs. The BARTENDER is responsible for serving alcohol - and refusing to serving an obviously drunk individual.
At least that's how it's SUPPOSED to work.
In reality?
The BARTENDER is responsible for checking IDs. The BARTENDER is responsible for serving alcohol - and refusing to serving an obviously drunk individual.
At least that's how it's SUPPOSED to work.
And women who break that law are free of all responsibilities weeeeeeeeeeee having fun with feminism.
look if she was under 18 this would be more serious to me.But since we know that you support irresponsible adult women and keep them as children longer as they should by totaly ignoring breaking a law there.
Bright's incoming correspondence is screened. Chances are slim that he'll ever read the letter. Legitimate attorneys have much higher priorities than a trite technicality presented by a tiny minority.
It is hard to believe that this wasn't deliberate on his part. Anyone who didn't come down in the last shower must realize that referring to someone repeatedly as a victim potentially implies guilt on the part of the accused (the only exception is perhaps where a crime definitely took place, but the identity of the perpetrator is in dispute).
Who knows? Maybe he needs to keep certain constituencies on side in order to be re-elected, and this is a sop for them. I have always thought that the practice in the US of electing judges and public prosecutors is damn foolish, as it forces those people to become political animals in order to retain their positions rather than soberly interpret the law.
The circumstances in this case were such that it should never have been taken seriously to begin with.
It is quite unlikely that any man would pursue an unwilling woman into the women's bathroom in a busy venue where there are plenty of witnesses and no shortage of people to kick your ass to the curb. Any man who goes into the women's bathroom is conspicuous, and no doubt more so if you are a prominent person. If you were to commit a rape, common sense dictates that you probably don't want, gee I dunno, 101 witnesses to testify to exactly what you did or attempted to do.
The only reason a man would normally accompany a woman into the bathroom in that situation is if she has invited him in there. Other than that, the only situation where I think it likely that a woman would be raped is if perhaps it was a quiet spot with not many people around, a man sees a woman go in and makes an opportunistic attack.
This case had BS written all over it right from the start. Instead of being referred to as the "victim", I believe the appropriate term is actually "joker".
Nick,
Good posts. We've all seen the "run with the case due to re-election" issue before, haven't we? Anyone remember an attorney named Nifong?
The only problem with electing these people is it becomes about politics, not justice, but appointments become about cronyism, and not necessarily putting the best people on the bench. No easy solutions to that one.
The problem I have with most of this, is that the "victim" is starting from the position of a lie(I know it was one of her friends that cried rape, and the young woman involved says no, it wasn't, so why the police even started pursuing this one is suspect), by her underage drinking. She should be charged with that, at the very least. Since she has been saying the whole time, that no, she wasn't raped, no other charges should be brought.
Ultimately, Ben is going to have to learn the hard way, it appears, that his choice of lifestyle, is making him a target. He is going to have to make some changes, or he's going to get popped again. And at some point, people are going to start saying that he wouldn't have all these charges, if something wasn't happening (if it happens too many times).
Nick, common sense dictates that you are right. But in these particular circumstances, we have an underage woman and her sorority sisters who were invited by Roethlisberger to join his table. He pursued THEM. He urged them to drink up ... SHOTS.
How do you surmise that the woman in this case invited him into the bathroom? How does a man more than twice her size and much older and more powerful justify being in a bathroom with a totally drunk co-ed.
Steven, I agree that it is somewhat disconcerting that the police choose to pursue cases that are dubious from the outset and where they may well realize there is a high chance the accused is innocent.
I suspect the police choose to pursue these cases for a few reasons:
- there is political pressure to be seen to be tough on sex offenders
- police forces have their fair share of hyper-chivalrous men who pretty much have a life purpose of destroying as many men as possible and protecting the innocent women. Hey, I guess it's more booty for them if they can get rid of competition
- the police have some interest in claiming the number of offenders is higher to justify bigger budgets
- in cases like this there is some kudos to be gained in taking down a prominent figure
No doubt it is also true that the police often do a good job of weeding out false allegations. But I don't particularly feel the need to be grateful that the police sometimes do the job they really should be doing in all cases.
How do you surmise that the woman in this case invited him into the bathroom? How does a man more than twice her size and much older and more powerful justify being in a bathroom with a totally drunk co-ed.
****
Uhhh, maybe because she wanted sex? Duh.
Quit with the feigned helplessness already; a twenty year-old woman is no child. She probably behaves like this all the time, in no small part because feminism has taught her that she is entitled to behave like a man in all situations, including binge drinking.
And this bears repeating, because morons keep deliberately overlooking this: FORCE WAS NOT USED. It doesn't matter how big and bad you are if you don't use your muscles.
Such a huge, powerful man would have inflicted SOME kind of vaginal injury; the absense of any injuries proves there was no rape. It is not uncommon for vaginas to be torn during CONSENSUAL sex. But you know that.
Oh -- and referring to a false rape accuser as "the victim" over and over again is anything but a "trite technicality." It is an assault.
This is the perfect example of how the victims of false rape accusations get fucked again and again, while rape victims get fucked just once.
As others have suggested, what most likely happened is that the girl accidentally sustained an injury. She got upset and left, her friends saw her and most likely one of her friends was a hypervigilant rape-feminist who insisted she file a report.
Or maybe she heard that the entire Patriots offensive line was waiting for her in the next bathroom. Hard for any one man to top that.
I just read that disgusting article up at 'The Spearhead,' which calls Ben's innocence into question and then raves about "he got no game."
How ridiculous!
Two more comments about that:
1- "We'll probably never know what really happened" is what you say when you are a feminist radical and a false rape apologist, and
2- Getting falsely accused of rape has NOTHING, I repeat NOTHING to do with "having game" or getting the woman off during sex. NOTHING.
I'm still shocked that they would post that garbage!
look he didn't push that drink down her neck,she willingly drinked it while knowing she was doing an illegal act all of her friends didn't warn her or ben about it.Irresponsible adult women.Oh and they probably pursued him first and then he payed them drinks
And why don't you understand can't prove beyond a reasonable doubt,why did she then explain the situation to the judge and her family?
If it was truly rape then why does her family and she herself not want to pursue charges?
Look you are playing with fire here.All the information is done.And it will stay private between ben and that woman,because look if ben said something he could also destroy her reputation.
i mean district attorney not judge.
"How do you surmise that the woman in this case invited him into the bathroom? How does a man more than twice her size and much older and more powerful justify being in a bathroom with a totally drunk co-ed."
Here's a couple of facts that make your question redundant:
1) The DA has ruled no crime
2) The purported "victim" admits there was no crime
And you've had ample opportunity to malign an innocent man with baseless speculation in the many threads about this incident thus far.
This thread is about Pierce's letter to the D.A. concerning the D.A.'s errant use of language.
How about sticking with the subject at hand?
Most men of Ben's age and stature are not generally so boorish or low class toward those so much younger.
He did nothing illegal, of course, but somehow he doesn't come off 'clean', either. It's not the accusation in this case, either.
There's something ugly and predatory about an older person responding to someone obviously much younger and behaving foolishly - be it male or female.
I'm glad he is not being prosecuted for a rape he did not commit. I know if he'd beaten up a drunken 20 year old college kid in the bar instead instead of banging a drunken 20 year old college girl in a bathroom, few would find his behavior questionable.
At least he wasn't into dog fighting.
Here's a story - Ben and his crew are out for a good time bar hopping while they are at his lake house. They are out for a good time, nothing else. As they start hitting the bars a group of college girls start hanging with them and follow them to the next bar. As they start to get a buzz on the flirting gets more agressive. At the last bar Ben is feeling generous and invites the group in to the VIP area and shoots "come drink my shots bitches!" This one chick is getting really drunk and starts bragging she gives the best head in Georgia and is ready to prove it.
Ben now has 3 choices
1. Tell her Sorority sisters to take her home, she is too drunk and might get in trouble. Grade Good Guy
2. Tell his security guy to get the bouncers and get these girls into a cab and out of the bar before these crazy drunk bitches get him in trouble. Grade Smart Business Man
3. Have his security guy take this drunk woman to the bathroom to let her prove her skills and have the security guard guard to watch the door and not let anyone in. He does this not knowing if this will be a one time BJ, if this chick will be proud and post it all over campus and Face Book, Or freek when she realizes what she got her self into and all of her sisters know. Bad shit will follow.
Grade - Ben here's your stupid sign go stand in the corner and wait your ass wuppin.
Also tell the truth she still claims he had sex with her, she just does'nt want to go through the embarasment of going public. Question can a really drunk person have "consentual" sex? It's like playing Russian Roulette, sooner or later there is going to be a bullit in that f**king chamber
Anon 3:13 and Anon 3:53
Are you being paid to comment here?
A glaring and true perspective on Ben's grossly inadequate judgement. Apparently the NFL agrees.
On the other hand, the woman needs an old fashion spanking for flirting with danger.
She deserves a spanking while he deserves official sanctions? Oh yeah, that's fair.
Try this: if she lied about him she deserves jail. If he is a male slut then he deserves herpes.
Yes, as a professional and a person of power, he deserves sanctions, and when I became aware of the "age" difference, it made me want to vomit.
Yes, as a professional and a person of power, he deserves sanctions, and when I became aware of the "age" difference, it made me want to vomit.
Hmm 7years of age difference,you certainly are the one who has problems here.After she hit 18 it's her choiche.
Out of curiosity, is it disgusting when a 27 year-old woman jumps a 20 year-old man, or is this yet another of Dawn's sexist double standards?
Anonymous said...
Out of curiosity, is it disgusting when a 27 year-old woman jumps a 20 year-old man, or is this yet another of Dawn's sexist double standards?
Apr 15, 2010 11:26:00 PM
It is IF the 20 year old guy was left feeling debased or abused by the encounter. (For instance, she left him naked and handcuffed to his parent's bedpost).
It's difficult to make across the board male/female comparisons in sexual matters.
A 27 year old person has a huge amount of experience and maturity over a 20 year old person. Gender doesn't make any difference.
It has been shown time and time again that mental 'maturity' is actually around 22 years old.
She may have been a 'slut' - but she was also just a kid, at least compared to him.
20 years old is a kid? Bullshit.
And a lot of people think that she is more mature than him!
You know what? On second thought, I've reached a conclusion:
She raped him. Ben Roethlisberger was liquored up and taken advantage of by a female sexual predatory.
PROVE IT DIDN'T HAPPEN
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