Two New York City Police Officers Acquitted of Rape
There’s not a whole lot to say when cases like grab the nation’s attention. A drunken woman. Two men. A jury that said is was certainly possible that a rape had occurred, but there just wasn’t enough evidence to prove it.
Whether in the courtrooms of Manhattan, or in the shadows of Grays Harbor, Washington, or in the college towns of Miami University or Boston College — all places I have lived and worked — the same story is told. Of the women who are raped, a fraction goes to trial, and a fraction of those actually come out on the side of the survivor. Often so many result in acquittal – why?
I asked this of a prosecutor several years ago who told me that juries often represent the heart of America, they represent the conscious and mind of the middle of America. The middle of America, he said, don’t understand rape, trauma, consent, and the physiology of memory. So as long as the average American believes that no rape occurred unless there’s DNA and the story has every hole covered, and the woman is a sober virgin, who’s likely white; and the perpetrator is non white, and it happened at night, with violence that left bruises and blood. And the survivor had a rape kit done immediately which was properly processed. And she has adequate legal representation.
Acquitting rapists is not just an American trend, it’s a global trend.
There’s no real way to talk or link up to every. single. case that went in favor of the defense – cases where survivors needed emergency medical attention because they were bleeding so profusely from their attack, cases where survivors had eye witnesses – for reasons that remain mysterious.
I just think back to the words of that prosecutor who compared juries to the common citizen.
If you are middle America – what does it take to convince you a rape has occurred?
Think about it. And then talk to someone who feels comfortable in sharing their story of assault. See how your perceptions measure to their reality.
Think about it.