Lacrosse Team Rape(?): What do you HOPE is true?

[Spinoza]

In reading the many, many posts on this subject throughout Du it becomes obvious that many people on both sides really hope that either a rape(s) did take place and guilty will be convicted or that no rape took place by the suspects and they will be exonerated. While I am sure none wants a genuine rapist to go free or an innocent man to be convicted I think we all have our own desires as to what the truth really is. Examine your feelings honestly. What do you WANT to be true? And why?

For myself, I hope the Lacrosse players are innocent of any rape and they are publicly exonerated. (Yes, if they ARE guilty I want them convicted but I hope they are truly not guilty.) I am biased in this respect due to a totally false charge of sexual harassment against me about 15 years ago for the purpose of extorting money from my company. The pain and suffering my family and I went through, the evil of putting an innocent family through the nightmare of a false accusation now makes me (perhaps) overly sensitive to the possibility of false accusations.

What about you?

[Botany]

1. I hope I never hear about it again.

:grr:

[Mandate My Ass]

2. amen (n/t)

This thread will turn into :nuke: in 5, 4, 3, 2....

[hobbit709]

3. Second that

and that the REAL truth comes out, no matter what it is.

[Warpy]

9. I hope everybody gets hit with a gag order the second it hits a

courtroom. I hope the lawyers who are talking to the media get fined, all of them. I hope the jury is told not to discuss it. I hope the press is barred.

I hope the trial is fair, that no information is withheld, and that justice is served.

[BlooInBloo]

4. I hope that if a rape was committed, the perps get justice....

... and that if a rape was not committed, that the matter of the false charge is adequately dealt with (if it was an honest mistake, so be it, if it was a malicious accusation, then there outgha be consequences).

[Marr]

5. I have no opinion, expectations, or hopes regarding this tabloid story.

It's not news.

[MadHound]

6. Frankly I don't care

If the players are guilty, then I hope they suffer the full consequences. Also, if they're guilty I hope that those who are currently defending them by ripping apart the victim will have learned a lesson about not being so hasty.

Contrariwise, if they are found not guilty, I hope that those who have been so willing to excortiate the players will have learned a lesson about "considered innocent until proven guilty"

Either way, I'll be glad when this trial is over and we don't have to hear about it endlessly. Until then, I'm happy to wait for a court verdict.

[noamnety]

7. Nobody HOPES that a rape took place.

That's a disgusting premise to put into the mouths of people that BELIEVE a rape took place.

[Spinoza]

14. I agree with you.

Hoping that a rape took place IS a disgusting premise and I apologise if that is what my question implied. What I meant is that some people clearly are hoping that the woman is NOT lying abut the rape or the perpetrators, not that anyone hopes a rape took place.

[noamnety]

16. Better phrasing

Some people believe a rape took place and HOPE the suspects will be held accountable.

Some people believe a rape didn't take place and hope the suspects are found not guilty.

(Also - some people believe a rape took place and believe it would be a shocking event if the suspects were found guilty, because the court system is so hopelessly stacked against convictions that it would be laughable - if, you know, the situation in fact were laughable.)

[Spinoza]

17. The court system is supposed to be

"stacked against convictions" for all alleged crimes. Remember Jefferson's comment: "Better 10 guilty men go free than 1 innocent man is convicted."

[noamnety]

22. Well, I guess it's working. (nt)

[noamnety]

23. I found my myself returning to this comment yesterday

The phrasing of it kept bothering me, and I finally figured out why.

What we're really saying, when we're talking about rape convictions, is "Better 10 women get raped than 1 innocent man is convicted." The implication is that a man being falsely convicted outweighs - by ten times - the trauma or importance of a woman getting raped.

Acceptance of a 10% conviction rate as how "the court system is supposed to be" is part of the problem.

[Spinoza]

25. Well,

perhaps in respect to claims of rape we should eliminate the concept of innocence until PROVEN guilty. That would definitely help the conviction rate.

[Jersey Devil]

8. Here's what I hope

I hope posts about this story wind up on some other board other than this one.

[Solo_in_MD]

10. I hope that Nifong is pursuing it because he has real evidence

and not just for re-election.

[WI_DEM]

11. I hope the truth is discovered whatever it may be

I wasn't there so I don't know and hopefully a trial will make the evidence clear and justice will be served.

[BillZBubb]

12. I hope whoever is lying is punished.

[mainegreen]

13. I hope that the Lacrosse players' al-Qaeda links are revealed during

a heated cross examination of Saddam Hussein's harem girls, and that that guy from law and order will fly into the room on magic handcuffs and scream over and over 'admit it! You couldn't stand that she reminded you of Saddam's soft brown eyes so you killed her, didn't you!' until the terrible trio break down and admit to everything: the rape, the cover up of the rape, the admission that the taxi driver is really their mom in disguise and that they are all brothers that arranged to be swapped with the real children of those waspy parents, and that they went to Michael Jacksons plastic surgeon to get the bleach treatment, and that the rape was actually a sneaky cover up of a diamond heist gone terribly wrong, and that in the end in a shocking twist no-one saw coming, except on the previews, the mystery of the 'others' will be revealed to be the real lacrosse team and that Dharma is really Duke!
:sarcasm:

[datadiva]

15. I hope the Truth comes out

Whatever the truth is. I'm not interested in taking sides on this issue. If she's lying, prosecute her. If they did it prosecute them. Thats what the law is for.

[porphyrian]

18. I hope everyone receives a fair trial before they're convicted.

Because that's what's good about our legal system. Unfortunately, the bad includes racist, sexist and classist bias, all of which must be removed before there can really be justice.

[Balbus]

19. I hope that if a wrong has been committed that justice is served.

[MercutioATC]

20. I hope.

(sorry, just a vague Shawshank Redemption reference that amused me...carry on)

[Mandate My Ass]

21. Hope is a good thing

maybe the best of things....

Shawshank roolz.

[phylny]

24. I hope justice is served, no matter what. n/t