False claimants of rape to police and the courts
persistently open the door for the defence in real cases to
either find a motive or create a theory of a motive for the
victim witness lying about a rape.
Prosecutors and Judges are frustrated by this.
It's one of the reasons the victim-witness is placed under such
scrutiny because the defence must zealously pursue a reasonable
amount of doubt to sway the jury toward acquittal and the
defence has case law of false rape claims.
It's convenient that many men's' groups seek
attention to the false rape-claim issue.
It's disingenuous to say that false rape claims
are a big threat to the average male.
The false rape claimant is a problem to real victims.
That's what people don't seem to understand.
That issue is a plague to prosecutors in all their rape
cases because it is the basis for MOST reasonable doubt
acquittals. The public and therefore jurists believe that many
people lie about being raped and thus have bias. You don't want
jurists having a bias...
Let's look at it. Regardless of how small the actual
number may be, each case creates the basis for an
argument of reasonable doubt in many other subsequent cases
where there are arguably parallel circumstances such as
extortion, blackmail, coercion or revenge. How do you assuage
that among jurists? Create compelling impediments to false rape
claims within the same regime as rape law such that if the jury
is looking at a rape victim they must see a rape victim. Knowing
that the penalty for bringing about a false claim of rape
carries severe penalties like 15 years in jail, the jury knows
that the witness would not likely take that risk just to get
even with an ex-boy friend or whatever the defence concocts as a
theory.
Examples of false rape claims are revenge,
extortion or coercion and they are seldom punished in any
significant manner. They need to be. Society needs to know that
the penalty is so harsh for making a false rape allegation that
thee is no damn way anyone in their right mind would do such a
dangerous thing.
RINJ has advanced an argument for creating law
to deal specifically with false allegations which will benefit
our mission in ending rape.On the matter of false rape
allegations, RINJ dot Org is trying to deal with that issue
because there needs to be a prolific understanding around the
world that all rape claims are to be taken seriously.
Let's look at the USA first and the prompt
complaint requirement, corroboration requirement, and cautionary
instructions in the criminal law of rape.
These doctrines have greatly weakened in the
formal criminal law of the fifty states and the District of
Columbia because studies reveal that most victims of rape do not
promptly complain to the police or other authorities, most rapes
do not produce corroborating evidence, and most jurors are
already cautioned by an underlying societal bias against those
who claim rape.
RINJ seeks a shift away from the underlying societal
bias against those who claim rape. We seek to do that
using society's own methods of crime/punishment in context.
Any bias of doubt about a claim must be sheared
off at the start because of RINJ's proposed extreme
penalties for giving false evidence of a rape crime that did not
occur.
Did you know that 85% of all American contested
family law (divorce and child custody battles) allege some kind
of sexual wrong-doing yet upon investigation only 2% ever have
any semblance of truth to them, yet none of these numerous false
claims are ever prosecuted. This leaves society with a
strong bias that is unhelpful to real rape claimants.
Heretofore, most false sexual assault claims
went unpunished and because it is so easy to make a false rape
claim and the penalty so benign there have been many, causing
genuine rape claims to not be prosecuted on the balance of
probability which is not the correct burden of proof for a
criminal case in court and therefore should not be the basis for
deciding carriage of the file.
RINJ seeks a shift away from this underlying
societal bias against those who claim rape. We seek to do that
using society's own methods of crime/punishment.
RINJ is advancing that all rape claims be treated as
bona fide no matter how extraordinary the statement of
the victim/witness might be, it should be investigated properly
and the witness given the benefit of any doubt under pain of
perjury and pain of prosecution under a new statute.
The system tells jurors to weigh witness statements
on their credibility and the fact that the witness is
obligated to be truthful under the pain of
punishment for perjury. We say add to that a penalty
commensurate with the crime of rape for making a false
allegation of rape.
Enormous damages are done by making a false allegation
of rape to the police, media, and the courts. One of the biggest
damages is to the credibility of rape victims in the eyes of
jurists. We all need to work together to fix that.
Our proposed method is just a start and one of
many ideas but by bringing to the issue discussion of a new
specialized statute to punish false rape claimants, we are
putting pressure on the justice system in the Commonwealth of
Free Nations and more importantly on society in general to trust
rape victim-witnesses.
In family law the false sexual assault claim is
used as a device of manipulation in far too many cases.
If a prosecutor deems a forcible rape claim to be false,
then they must prosecute the false claimant, otherwise prosecute
the rape. The U.S. military has at times asserted that as many
as 45% of its rape allegations are false claims, not unfounded
claims, but false claims. We seek a requirement to prove they
are false or in the alternative, prosecute the rape.
The UK Court of Appeal in 2009 said false allegations
damage conviction rates of genuine rapes and are
"terrifying" for innocent victims.
The judges spoke out as they dismissed an
appeal by a former nurse who was jailed for two years after
falsely accusing a man she met online.
Jennifer Day, 35, made the claim against Andrew Saxby,
who she met through a dating website, following a row in a case
that cost £4,000 of taxpayers' money and 270 police man hours.
She was jailed at Basildon Crown Court after
being convicted of perverting the course of justice by making a
false complaint of rape.
Dismissing her appeal against sentence, Mr
Justice Henriques, sitting in London with Mrs Justice Rafferty,
said: "False complaints of rape necessarily impact upon the
minds of jurors trying rape cases."
"Every time a defendant stands trial for rape,
defence counsel necessarily point out to the jury that false
allegations are made.
"Allegations such as this drive yet another
nail into the conviction rate."
He said the two-year sentence was
"well-measured" and warned: "An immediate custodial sentence
is inevitable when a false allegation of rape is made."
It was an offence which "attacks the criminal justice
system". Scarce police resources were also diverted and
innocent victims faced a "terrifying allegation", he said.
Mr Justice Henriques read out the words of the
Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, made in a previous ruling
relating to a false rape claim.
Lord Judge, pointing out that such an
allegation involved more than the individual victim, said:
"Every false allegation of rape increases the plight of those
women who have been victims of this dreadful crime.
"It makes the offence harder to prove and, rightly concerned to
avoid the conviction of an innocent man, a jury may find itself
unable to be sufficiently sure to return a guilty verdict."
He said it was an offence which not only causes
great problems for the victim, but also damages the
administration of justice in general in "this extremely
sensitive area".
Question: I
would fear that if I could not prove my rape (conviction rates
are low) than I would be prosecuted for false rape allegations.
The fear of not being believed and the fear of harsh penalties
for not being able to prove my real rape would keep me silent.
Good question. This hypothetical falls
pessimistically outside of current reality. The good news is
that the victim doesn't need to prove anything. That is not your
burden. As a [hypothetical] rape victim your role is
unfortunately from the outset a difficult one as there is a need
to quickly report the crime and preserve DNA evidence. That
means doing nothing whatsoever but get yourself into the care
of first-responders.
Forget urban legends that precede current-day
technology. Forensics done quickly yield extensive data
and extremely compelling evidence. Some of the recent case law
where the victim has acted quickly because of a cell phone or
electronic messaging of some sort have been extremely positive;
unequivocal in fact, with excellent prosecutorial result.
Currently
there is a problem getting convictions in many cases
where the report of the crime is made late and evidence
collection is delayed or denied. When rape victims report the
crime late, there is seldom any corroborating evidence, and
there is already a bias of society to disbelieve rape claimants
because of a large number of apparently false allegations. These
types of cases must be a prosecutor's nightmare. The pain and
anguish of a trial wherein the case has no evidence but the
testimony of a witness with tainted credibility because of a
late report of the crime, may end in terrible disappointment.
You would fear this? But not being believed and
criminal conspiracy to deceive the Court are two entirely
different matters. In most countries the burden of proof is
beyond a reasonable doubt that a crime was committed with
criminal intent.
First and foremost, good, honest community members
report all crimes. Yes, you should always fear telling
a lie to the judicial system. Don't lie. Say what you know to be
true. Some people would say you should always be wary of being
involved in the judicial system, but in any case always get
professional legal advice once you have done your fiduciary duty
of promptly reporting a crime.
Arguably there are maybe one billion sexual assault
victims walking the earth at this moment. The numbers
are growing.
One by one, RINJ seeks elimination of impediments
to ending rape. A part of the judiciary's failure in rape crime
has to do with false allegations and the difficulty in building
a jury pool that does not have a skeptical bias.
In a substantial percentage of contested divorces
there are claims of sexual misconduct. If a person lies
to police or to civil court to say that their ex-spouse has
committed a sexual assault upon them or their children of the
marriage in order to manipulate the courts for custodial
decisions; asset assignments; child support; for acrimonious
reasons; or for any consideration, gain or benefit; the matter
should be treated as a criminal offence. That is the nature of
the statute that RINJ has advanced.