Wednesday, February 9, 2011
KOMO TV: Sexual Assault and the 6th Amendment
State Rep. Roger Goodman’s (D-45) bill to shield plaintiffs in sexual assault cases from having to be questioned by defendants in court (which we wrote about last month), came up for a hearing this week.
KOMO TV was there and has footage of the hearing, featuring defendants’ rights advocates like lobbyist Bob Cooper waving a copy of the little red legislative rule book that gets handed out to legislators at the beginning of the session. That rule book, Cooper notes, says legislators are supposed to uphold the constitution, which includes the 6th Amendment—trial rights such as a defendant’s right to confront their accuser.
The ACLU is also against Goodman’s bill. (Goodman, a drug reform advocate is typically a strong ally of the ACLU.)
ACLU lobbyist Shankar Narayan acknowledges that it’s a legitimate issue to protect plaintiffs from potential harassment by defendants (a rape victim threatened to commit suicide last year rather than face the defendant). But Narayan says it’s not the legislative branch’s role to control the courtroom. “Judges have the tools to protect plaintiffs” Narayan says, “and that’s the place to figure out how to deal with this issue. Rep. Goodman’s bill prescribes a solution, and that’s to take away a defendant’s rights.”
Link: http://publicola.com/2011/01/14/komo-tv-sexual-assault-and-the-6th-amendment/
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14 comments:
A "victim" who threatened to commit suicide rather than testify against a rapist?
I'm sure a falsely acccused person might feel like committing suicide as well...
Anon: "Face" does not necessarily mean "testify against".
For a moment I thought this was our very own Georgia Girl:
Watertown Firestone store picketed by alleged 1960 rape victim.
J. S. has been picketing outside the Firestone store on Arsenal Street for more than a month. J.S. claims to be the victim of a sexual assault by a Firestone employee in 1960.
.By Jen Thomas, staff writer
WATERTOWN — John S. has been standing outside the Arsenal Street Firestone store for more than a month, holding a sign that has some variation of the phrase, “Firestone is guilty of child rape.”
John’s sign catches the attention of dozens of passersby and hundreds of motorists each day during his morning and afternoon stakeouts. In the last two weeks, John has taken to shouting through a bullhorn at each driver who stops at the red light directly in front of the store.
Despite pleas from Firestone’s parent company, Bridgestone Americas Inc., and a few confrontations with local police, John has no plans to stop picketing.
The 65-year-old Waltham man claims he was the victim of a brutal sexual assault by a Firestone employee nearly 50 years ago, and he wants justice from the company he said owes him compensation for a lifetime of pain and emotional damage. The TAB & Press is withholding his last name at his request.
Bridgestone denies being at all responsible for John’s suffering. The company conducted a nine-month investigation and concluded there was no evidence the alleged rapist ever worked for Firestone. Even if he did, the company asserted that they are not responsible for the conduct of their employees when they aren’t at work.
“Because our review of this situation has shown that our company was in no way responsible for the incident, we declined to pay [John]. As a result of our decision not to pay, [John] threatened to tarnish our reputation and cause our Watertown store to close,” a letter handed out to customers and neighbors of the Watertown store reads.
John, a Watertown native, said he was a 15-year-old high school student in September 1960 when he was picked up hitchhiking by a man driving a Firestone truck, who came from the parking lot behind the Firestone store John now pickets each day. The alleged rapist, Thomas Patton of Cambridge, pleaded guilty to open and gross lewdness at the time — one of many sex offenses on his record, according to police documents.
Sonja Newcombe said...
Anon: "Face" does not necessarily mean "testify against".
What does "face" mean to you?
I'm going to be writing more about this story in the next day or two -- I had meant to do it earlier, but got backed up.
From lawyers.com:
Constitutional Right to Face Accusers
The Federal Rules of Evidence define hearsay as a:
Statement, other than one made by the declarant while testifying at the trial or hearing, offered in evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted.
In plain English, it means, in a criminal trial:
If a statement ("My husband is trying to kill me")
Made out of court (like in a letter to the police)
Is being used to prove the truth of the statement itself (Mark wanted to kill Julie)
Then the person who made the statement (Julie Jensen) must:
Make the statement under oath
In front of the judge and/or jury, and
Consent to be cross-examined by the other party
http://liten.be//vxSko
a rape victim threatened to commit suicide last year rather than face the defendant
Apparently, it never occurred to Narayan that a false accuser might do this as a ploy to evade cross examination and have their lie discovered.
randian said...
a rape victim threatened to commit suicide last year rather than face the defendant
Apparently, it never occurred to Narayan that a false accuser might do this as a ploy to evade cross examination and have their lie discovered.
__________________
Nail, meet head. The fact is that if I was truly forcibly raped or even just drugged and fucked by someone, I would be PISSED!
So pissed, for that matter, that I would be more than willing to face my attacker in a court of law.
Hell, face them in a court of law nothing..... I would probably find them in an alley somewhere and do a little 'personal justice' to them.
randian said...
a rape victim threatened to commit suicide last year rather than face the defendant
Apparently, it never occurred to Narayan that a false accuser might do this as a ploy to evade cross examination and have their lie discovered.
__________________
Nail, meet head. The fact is that if I was truly forcibly raped or even just drugged and fucked by someone, I would be PISSED!
So pissed, for that matter, that I would be more than willing to face my attacker in a court of law.
Hell, face them in a court of law nothing..... I would probably find them in an alley somewhere and do a little 'personal justice' to them.
randian said...
a rape victim threatened to commit suicide last year rather than face the defendant
Apparently, it never occurred to Narayan that a false accuser might do this as a ploy to evade cross examination and have their lie discovered.
__________________
Nail, meet head. The fact is that if I was truly forcibly raped or even just drugged and fucked by someone, I would be PISSED!
So pissed, for that matter, that I would be more than willing to face my attacker in a court of law.
Hell, face them in a court of law nothing..... I would probably find them in an alley somewhere and do a little 'personal justice' to them.
God damned it! Sorry about the double posts! Stupid thing said there was an error and to 'try resubmitting'.... won't do that again.
@Randian Feb 9, 2011 7:50:00 AM
Exactly! Or some false accusers become "too distraught and upset" to testify before a grand jury in order to avoid a critical examination of their claims (especially when the case is weak).
Yeah, if the politicians decide to pass this bill then the accusation would be enough to convict a man.
A mere extension of the institutionalized misandry already in place.
Just point the finger and off he goes, doing a good 2 to 5 years or more.
Sweet deal for the SGI/social engineers.
This of course would extend to DV claims as well,given the ex-parte system already in place there would be no need for a court hearing at all.
Just directly to jail on the accusation.
Sound far fetched?
Then why was the bill produced to begin with?
As a victim of an FRA, I can say my first thought was suicide. The FRA made my vision of the future disappear. I was branded a "rapist." It didn't matter what the truth was, the stigma was immensely overwhelming. But you know what, I have worked through that. Although I feel terrible for real rape victims, I think the mindset people need to take at times is that "life is unfair" and you need to toughen up.
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