'Rape' Case?

[Boxlicker101]

One of the great failings in the legal system, Lisa, concerns rape cases. It seems as though the prosicution of rape has swung back and forth like a pedulum for years. Some girl screams, "Rape" and the first guy available gets convicted. I can recall when it was almost always the first black guy. Then things swung the other way and the woman had a prove with DNA evidence and physical damage the rape even occured while the law enforcement people made only a half hearted effort to find the perp.

It almost seemed like we had come to a reasonable middle ground when this cluster-fuck took place. Now I see things swinging towards making proof of crime and arrest and conviction much more difficult.

It's sad for everyone, not just the victims.

You're right, it is a sad case. The accuser was apparently a nut case, and the DA was looking for publicity, and he grabbed the first guys available, in a way that should never have withstood legal scrutiny. He ended up shooting himself in the foot because it became a high profile case, and came to the attention of so many people that the gaping holes in his case became obvious. It was lucky that the accused were able to bail out and fight the case from outside jail, or they would have sat there for a year while the DA was strutting and beating his chest. They are out a lot of money but they should be able to get it back, plus a lot more from Nifong and Durham County.

As for the pendulum, let's face it: The DA should have to prove that a crime was committed and that the accused did it. That's the way it should be. I don't know how many men, of all races, are in prison for rapes that were consensual sex, or that never happened at all or that were done by somebody else. Probably hundreds, maybe even thousands.

 

[R. Richard]

Nifong is now dead. The squabbling over his money and the money of his employers now begins. Comment?

Disbarred Duke prosecutor's future dim

RALEIGH, N.C. - His law license lost and reputation in tatters, Mike Nifong seemingly can fall no further. But the disgraced prosecutor who committed "intentional prosecutorial misconduct" in his pursuit of the Duke lacrosse rape case faces an uncertain — and likely troubled — future.

The falsely accused players and their families, having racked up millions of dollars in legal bills, appear likely to file civil lawsuits against the disbarred prosecutor. Their attorneys want a judge to consider holding Nifong in criminal contempt for lying to the court.

"Some people will take that as being mean-spirited and kicking somebody when they're down," defense attorney Joseph Cheshire said Sunday. "But we believe that this issue is enormously important and it carries significant precedent and (the judge) ought to be the one to make that decision because it happened in his court."

Nifong was disbarred Saturday, a ruling that came one day after he stunned his staff and own attorneys by announcing through tears he planned to resign as Durham County's district attorney. In imposing punishment, a disciplinary committee called Nifong's prosecution of Dave Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann a politically motivated "fiasco."

The five-day ethics trial ended Nifong's three-decade legal career, which he spent entirely as a prosecutor in Durham County. He was generally viewed as an honest lawyer before taking over the case of a woman who told police she was raped at a March 2006 lacrosse team party where she was hired to perform as a stripper.

Aware that DNA evidence had identified genetic material from several men — but no members of the lacrosse team — in the accuser's underwear and body, and that police were unable to place one of the players at the scene, Nifong still sought and won indictments against Seligmann and Finnerty in April 2006.

He indicted Evans the next month. North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper, whose office took over the case in January, later declared that the trio were "innocent" victims of Nifong's "tragic rush to accuse."

Nifong himself agreed with the decision to take away his law license. "He wants this over with," said his attorney, David Freedman, who added that Nifong expects to send in his letter of resignation this week.

That probably won't be the end. Shortly after Nifong was disbarred, Seligmann attorney Jim Cooney put it simply: "I don't think any of us are done with Mr. Nifong yet."

Superior Court Judge W. Osmond Smith III, who oversaw part of the case, has already reminded Nifong he could still impose a punishment. The disciplinary committee ruled Saturday that Nifong lied when he told Smith and another judge on several occasions last summer that he knew of no information helpful to the defense that he hadn't turned over.

Cheshire said there is "certainly a significant probability" the players and their families will file civil lawsuits. While such lawsuits could seek damages from the city of Durham, the police department or the accuser, it is a certainty they would name Nifong as a defendant.

It's not clear how much money the families could get out of Nifong, but the career civil servant's financial disclosure statement suggests it isn't much. His only listed income is his salary of about $110,000. Aside from his Durham home and some unspecified real estate in western North Carolina, Nifong appears to have no significant assets outside of any mutual funds and retirement accounts.

"It was a very poignant and sad day because you never want to see a human being destroy himself," Cheshire said. "But it was a day that needed to happen for a lot of reasons — not the least of which was to send a message to people that prosecute cases that this activity absolutely will not be tolerated.

"I think for the Evanses, they'll now be able to move on. Will they ever forget the horror of this year? No. Will it always be with us in some ways? Yes. But I think we'll be able to move forward."

 

[Pure]

glad you've found a cause, rr., it's only every five years or so a rich kid *almost* goes to trial for something he didn't do! maybe paris h could use your efforts also.

as to rape, jenny, i don't really think that, in general, the pendulum has swung towards believing the uncorroborated word of a accusing, even crazy, woman. i think it's just a peculiar twist of fate, with elections coming and a DA trying to prove that after a couple hundred years where a rape of a black woman is good sport, times have changed (and that he's deserving of black votes). singularly unfortunate choice of case to try to begin to rectify the South's record, which will, of course, make it many times harder for the next black woman rape victim.

incidentaly, frat house and athletic team hijinks are pretty common, including sometimes, sexual indiscretions, and very occasionally multiple rapes. such rare cases, even when well founded in the evidence, with corroborating DNA results and a previously virginal accuser, remain difficult to prosecute and in many cases abort along the way to trial, if indeed charges are laid.

rapes of strippers and hookers are also quite common, as 'occupational hazard' and needless to say are, in a majority of cases, 'freebies' --no charges.

it does NOT fix the above general problems if crappy cases with little or no evidence go ahead, in this case, for political reasons.

 

[Boxlicker101]

I have no sympathy for Nifong. Whatever happens to him is no more than he deserves, and less than he tried to do to three men he knew were probably innocent. Although some, including some on this forum, tried to portray him as some kind of "knight in shining armor, gallantly coming to the aid of the downtrodden", he was actually just a politically ambitious scumbag who didn't care who got hurt as long as he could advance his political career. It worked, at first, and he was re-elected, but he will now be "in the dustbin of history". He might even end up doing time in jail for contempt or perjury or other such things. Good riddance.

 

[Weird Harold]

Nifong was disbarred Saturday, a ruling that came one day after he stunned his staff and own attorneys by announcing through tears he planned to resign as Durham County's district attorney.

Why was his staff "stunned?" He's been promising to resign for about six months now. When he hasn't been saying he'd resign, every pundit in the country has been saying that he has no choice but to resign.

 

[Pure]

Here's a little bit more typical case, Shawn Cornelius, Penn State

Here's a little more typical case. I can't find the resolution (trial or deal). Note that the prosecution offered misdemeanor indecent assault and 90 days to be served at home.

The accused says the victim was conscious, and consented. She says she was mostly unconscious. Note the problem of the prosecution's case, if it depends on proving her to be unconscious; for if that proof succeeds, she would not have any memory of what happened! If the prosecutions case depends on her being very drunk (and incapable of consent), the defense will (and has) argued that she was too drunk to remember accurately.




[ Thursday, March 30, 2006 ]
Rape case will go to trial
By Sarah Goldfarb

[Penn State] Collegian Staff Writer

A 20-year-old Penn State fraternity member charged with raping an unconscious student in October will go to trial sometime this summer.
The 18-year-old victim reported to the State College Police Department that she was sexually assaulted by Shawn Cornelius, of Lansdale, at Kappa Alpha fraternity, 234 E. Beaver Ave., after she passed out.
Cornelius is charged with one count each of aggravated indecent assault and indecent assault, rape, sexual assault and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse. Cornelius' attorney, Joe Amendola, could not be reached before press time yesterday.

According to the criminal complaint, on Oct. 28, the victim said she went to a party and was too intoxicated to walk back to her campus dorm herself.

A friend who helped walk her back decided the pair should stop at the friend's fraternity, Kappa Alpha. There, the victim said she and a friend went into a room with Cornelius, and he gave her a beer. The victim then passed out on a bed in the room, according to court documents.
The criminal complaint stated she woke up three separate times with no clothes on while Cornelius was finger-penetrating her, giving her oral sex and having sexual intercourse with her.

She told police that each time she woke up during the incident, she was too intoxicated to move and that the only thing she could say was, "Just let [my friend] walk me home; I have to go to class."
After she woke up the following morning without clothes on, she left the fraternity.

According to the criminal complaint, when she was leaving the fraternity, she overheard Cornelius commenting to others in the house about his actions the night before.

Once she got back to her dorm room, the victim went to Mount Nittany Medical Center for treatment.
At Cornelius' preliminary hearing yesterday, the victim broke down in tears as she testified that she was Catholic and was planning to wait for marriage to have sex, police said.

The victim's friend told police she attempted several times to get the victim to leave with her, but the victim said her other friend would take her home. Her friend said she argued with Cornelius, who insisted that the victim stay.

The victim's friend told police she was upset about leaving her friend, but their other friend assured her that he would take care of the victim, according to court documents.

Cornelius is also charged with selling or furnishing liquor or malt or brewed beverages to minors. He was bound over for trial on all charges.
His pretrial is scheduled for May 18 at the Centre County Courthouse; jury selection is scheduled for June 5 [2006].

===
[ Thursday, March 1, 2007 ]
Trial delayed in rape case
Shawn Cornelius' trial will be postponed until April[2007]

By Ryan Pfister
Collegian Staff Writer

The nonjury trial of a Penn State student accused of raping another student at a fraternity in October 2005 has been continued to allow more time for negotiation with the prosecution, the defense lawyer said.
Shawn Cornelius is accused of sexually assaulting an 18-year-old woman at Kappa Alpha fraternity, 234 E. Beaver Ave., on Oct. 28, 2005, State College police said.

Cornelius, who was 20 years old at the time, is charged with rape, sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault and indecent assault.

Cornelius was scheduled for a nonjury trial on Tuesday.
However, his attorney, Joseph Amendola, said the trial has been continued until the April term.

"We decided to continue the matter to April 2 to continue discussing possible resolutions," he said.

Amendola said he has held a "number" of meetings with the prosecution and he was "cautiously optimistic" about finding a resolution to the case.
Steve Sloane, the Centre County assistant district attorney handling the case, did not return calls by press time yesterday.
In the past, Sloane has said there were "some interesting considerations in the case."

He has also confirmed that he has been discussing a plea agreement with the defense. According to court documents, the woman said after drinking, she passed out on the bed in a room that Cornelius was in.
She said at different times when she woke up during the night, Cornelius "had his fingers in her vagina," was performing oral sex on her and was having sexual intercourse with her, according to the complaint.
The woman told police she was too intoxicated to move, according to court documents.

Amendola has said Cornelius maintains that the woman was conscious and the sex was consensual. He has said the woman may have been too drunk to accurately remember what occurred.

Cornelius was bound over on all charges at his preliminary hearing last March. In October 2006, Centre County Judge Thomas Kistler denied Cornelius' request that the charges be dropped because of insufficient evidence that the woman was unconscious.

Kistler denied the motion, citing sufficient evidence for the case to go to trial.
====

[ Tuesday, March 27, 2007 ]
Case may avoid trial
Shawn Cornelius, who has been accused of rape, may take a plea bargain offered by the county.

By Ryan Pfister
Collegian Staff Writer

A Penn State student accused of raping another student at a fraternity has been given a plea offer, his attorney confirmed yesterday.
Shawn Cornelius, who was 20 years old at the time of the alleged incident, is accused of sexually assaulting a then 18-year-old woman at Kappa Alpha fraternity, 234 E. Beaver Ave., on Oct. 28, 2005, State College police said.

He is charged with rape, sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault and indecent assault.
Centre County Assistant District Attorney Steve Sloane said he made the plea offer earlier this month. At this point, the terms of the offer are confidential, but Sloane said the difficulty in determining whether the woman was conscious made the plea offer decision complicated.

"It's not an easy case," he said. "Just conceptually, they're never easy."
Joseph Amendola, Cornelius' lawyer, confirmed that the offer had been made but said his client had not yet decided whether to accept it.
"We're still in the process of working through the offer," he said.
"I would suspect if something is worked out, it would probably happen next Monday," he added, referring to the jury selection date for Cornelius' case.

However, Sloane said he thought he might hear from Amendola regarding the plea agreement earlier than that.

The case was originally scheduled for a nonjury trial on March 6, but Amendola said he chose to delay the trial to allow more time for negotiation with the prosecution.
If convicted of all charges, Cornelius could go to state prison for 10 years, Sloane said.

"Instead of graduating at the BJC, you'll be at Rockview," he said.
According to court documents, the woman said after drinking at another party earlier in the night and at the fraternity, she passed out on the bed in a room that Cornelius was in.

She said that at different times when she woke up during the night, Cornelius was performing oral sex on her and was having sexual intercourse with her, according to the complaint.
The woman told police she was too intoxicated to move, according to court documents.

Amendola said Cornelius maintains that the woman was conscious and the sex was consensual. He has said the woman may have been too drunk to accurately remember what occurred.
========


[ Tuesday, April 3, 2007 ]
Prosecutor withdraws plea offer
By Ryan Pfister

Collegian Staff Writer

An assistant district attorney prosecuting the case of a Penn State student accused of raping another student at a fraternity withdrew his plea offer after talking with the alleged victim's family.
Shawn Cornelius, who was 20 years old at the time of the alleged incident, is accused of sexually assaulting a then 18-year-old woman at Kappa Alpha fraternity, 234 E. Beaver Ave., on Oct. 28, 2005, State College police said.

Cornelius is charged with rape, sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault and indecent assault.
Centre County District Attorney Steve Sloane said he made a plea offer to Cornelius early last month. Under the proposed agreement, Cornelius would have pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for indecent assault, and the rest of the charges would have been dropped, Sloane said.

Sloane said under the plea offer he would have asked for a sentence of 90 days in jail, although the defense could have applied for at-home detention or probation. If convicted of all the original charges, Cornelius could go to state prison for up to 10 years, Sloane said.
Last Monday, Joseph Amendola, Cornelius' lawyer, confirmed that the offer had been made and said he expected his client to make a decision yesterday, when jury selection was scheduled for the case.

However, Sloane said after consulting with the alleged victim's mother and father over the weekend and early yesterday morning, he decided to withdraw the plea offer.
Sloane said the alleged victim and her parents had decided that they were uncomfortable with any plea agreement and wanted the case to go to trial.

"If he did what he's charged with doing, [the reduced sentence] would be very hard for anyone to swallow," Sloane said.

Sloane said the alleged victim would rather take the chance of Cornelius being found not guilty at trial instead of voluntarily allowing the sentence to be "watered down."

"She doesn't want to be a part of him getting away with it," Sloane said.
According to court documents, the woman passed out on a bed at the fraternity after drinking there and at another party. She told police that when she woke up at different times during the night, Cornelius was performing oral sex on her and having sexual intercourse with her, according to the documents.

Amendola said Cornelius maintains that the sex was consensual.
He said the case is now scheduled for jury selection on June 4 and is preparing the case for trial and is contacting experts.
However, Sloane said Amendola had stated at an earlier hearing that he had a connection to the victim's family and would only continue to serve as Cornelius' lawyer if the case was resolved before trial.

Amendola confirmed that "that's accurate if there's a trial" but said there was still a possibility that the case could be resolved. He said he was not sure when he would make a decision about whether to continue with the case.

=====

 

[Boxlicker101]

Here's a little more typical case. I can't find the resolution (trial or deal). Note that the prosecution offered misdemeanor indecent assault and 90 days to be served at home.

The accused says the victim was conscious, and consented. She says she was mostly unconscious. Note the problem of the prosecution's case, if it depends on proving her to be unconscious; for if that proof succeeds, she would not have any memory of what happened! If the prosecutions case depends on her being very drunk (and incapable of consent), the defense will (and has) argued that she was too drunk to remember accurately.


=====

This certainly sounfs like a case of rape. Sex did occur, and I think everybody is clear on that. If he is saying she was too drunk to remember it, he is saying, in effect, that he raped her. A woman in such a drunken state would be too drunk to give consent.

If, as she says, she was a virgin, there should be blood evidence at the scene. This would be strong evidence of rape, because I wouldn't expect her first act of sex to be under those circumstances. If other partygoers testify that she was very drunk, that would also be evidence.

Of course, "consent" might vary from one state to another.