The truth about Kathy Shelton, the 12-year-old rape victim Trump used to attack Hillary Clinton

[babylonsister]

https://thinkprogress.org/the-truth-about-kathy-shelton-the-12-year-old-rape-victim-trump-used-to-attack-hillary-clinton-72158e3c41cb#.1c3qe42bw

Adam Peck
Editor at ThinkProgress.
The truth about Kathy Shelton, the 12-year-old rape victim Trump used to attack Hillary Clinton
Kathy Shelton’s story has been warped and co-opted by the anti-Clinton machine.


snip//

With help from the sizable anti-Clinton apparatus, Shelton’s story has arisen every time Hillary Clinton has run for public office in an attempt to portray her as a heartless defender of a known rapist. In reality, the details of the case are far more complicated.

In 1975, Clinton was appointed by a judge in Arkansas to serve as the attorney for Thomas Alfred Taylor, the man who raped Shelton when she was just 12 years old. Taylor, who could not afford an attorney, requested that the judge assign him a female attorney to represent him, and Judge Maupin Cummings picked Clinton.

The prosecutor in the case, Mahlon Gibson, has said in numerous interviews that Clinton expressed hesitation about representing a rapist.

“Hillary told me she didn’t want to take that case, she made that very clear,” he told Newsday for a 2008 article about Shelton’s case.

Once appointed to the case, Clinton was legally obligated to defend her client to the best of her ability. That included hearing testimony from a number of expert witnesses, some of whom questioned the veracity of Shelton’s allegations. Though unquestionably upsetting to read about years later, nobody who was familiar with the case has criticized Clinton’s handling of the case. From the Newsday article:

“She was vigorously advocating for her client. What she did was appropriate,” said Andrew Schepard, director of Hofstra Law School’s Center for Children, Families and the Law. “He was lucky to have her as a lawyer … In terms of what’s good for the little girl? It would have been hell on the victim. But that wasn’t Hillary’s problem.”

Opponents have characterized the case as an instance of Clinton helping a convicted rapist avoid prosecution, but that too is false. Taylor pled guilty in the case after Clinton successfully struck a deal with the prosecution to lessen the charges.

Though she had spoken with various news outlets over the years, Shelton only came out publicly with her story this year, in an interview with the Daily Mail. Conservative media—including the website run by Trump campaign manager Steve Bannon—quickly seized on Shelton’s story to try and discredit Clinton’s lifelong work on behalf of children.

[Siwsan]

1. A whole lot of people think defense lawyers are evil - until they need one

Defense lawyers have an unenviable job.

[Evergreen Emerald]

2. I am saddened that this woman could not move on from the horrific thing that happened to her.

No one wins in these child rape cases. This child was traumatized by the rapist who, instead of taking responsibility for his actions, chose to put his victim through a trial. Clinton was mandated to do the best she could for her client...or risk losing her license to practice law.


Regarding Clinton laughing: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/oct/10/donald-trump/trump-says-clinton-laughed-about-rape-case/

Snip:

However, she recounts that the crime lab had taken a key piece of evidence — the accused man's underpants, which had blood on it — neatly cut out a piece, and then threw that piece away once testing was done, eliminating the ability to do independent testing. In this case, it's the interviewer, Arkansas journalist Roy Reed, who can be heard laughing, not Clinton.

On the tape, in which Reed laughs a few more times at her story, Clinton can be heard chortling when she reports that the prosecutor didn't want her to see the underwear before it was presented at trial. Defense attorneys have the right to see all the evidence first.

And when the judge is considering the plea deal, Clinton recounts that the judge wanted her to leave the room while he talked to the accused man. Clinton says she told the judge, "Judge, I can't leave the room. I'm his lawyer." The judge reportedly responded, "I know, but I don't want to talk about this in front of you." Again, Reed can be heard laughing after saying, "Oh God. Really?" It's not clear if Clinton is laughing as well.

Snip

[get the red out]

3. She followed the law

Trump calls for lawlessness.

[mopinko]

4. he really over played his hand by including her.

not that the whole stunt wasnt deplorable, but that woman has no case against hillary.

[aaaaaa5a]

5. There is no greater defender of the constitution

Than a defense lawyer.

[procon]

8. Why do Republicans hate a fair court system"

This means we provide lawyers for the defense who will focus on ensuring their client is getting fair treatment by the government who must live up to its Constitutional obligations to the accused. Those same Constitutional obligations means that judges are free to decide cases fairly and impartially, relying only on the facts and the law. It means that the lawyers are protected from political pressure, legislative pressure, special interest pressure, media pressure, public pressure, financial pressure, or even personal pressure.

[LynneSin]

10. Trump tried to use this woman as his own 'Alicia Machado' moment

Calling out a woman in the debate to shame Hillary like Hillary did in the first debate with Alicia.

Only difference - Alicia's story is 100% whereas Kathy Shelton's story is the right-wing's version of the truth.

What kills me is Ms Shelton has been through so much suffering because of that rape. Numerous witnesses have validated that Hillary never wanted the case but was obligated since the judge appointed her to represent the rapist. From there the story has been blown out of proportion, stretched to be a 'convenient story' for the right-wing to exploit. Shame on them for using Ms. Shelton like that - convincing her that somehow she was a 'gotcha moment' to expose some 'wretched' alternative reality against Hillary Clinton.

And as for Alicia Machado - everything Hillary said was true. And when Trump tried to claim she was in a porno (she wasn't) but instead we found out that Trump was in several soft-core Playboy porn instead.

Also - Hillary will once again take the high road. She won't shame Kathy Shelton or make 3am tweets of disgusting claims. She's better than that!