1 to 3 years for false rape accusation

[paulsby]

Seems reasonable to me. And it's refreshing. In my experience, prosecutors are loathe to charge people with false reporting in rape cases, even when the evidence is clear, for a # of reasons... mostly political.

remember, just an accusation of rape can ruin a life, let alone a conviction. i knew a guy who committed suicide upon being accused. shortly thereafter, it turned out the whole thing was fabricated. sad story.

in this case i am linking to, a man got sent to prison for FOUR YEARS based on her accusations.
http://volokh.com/2010/02/25/1-to-3-year-sentence-for-knowingly-false-accusation-of-rape/#comments

A young mother who falsely cried rape, sending an innocent man to prison for nearly four years, will ... spend one to three years behind bars for perjury....

McCaffrey, 33, of The Bronx, was locked up after Gonzalez accused him of raping her at knifepoint on a Bronx street back in 2005....

been hanging out with a group of girlfriends when she accepted an invitation to get into his car.

After she returned, her pals were furious that she’d ditched them — so she made up the rape story to gain their sympathy....

Gonzalez, 27, had recanted her story last year after new DNA evidence proved she’d been lying and a priest to whom she’d confessed urged her to come clean....

[Warpy]

1. False rape accusations hurt women who really have been raped

and anybody who does this really needs to be locked up to think it over, at the very least. Her need for revenge made a horrible crime even harder to prosecute successfully and ensured we're all endangered by the real rapists out there going free.

If this woman ever manages to own anything, expect a juicy civil suit against here. Were I on the jury, I'd rule for the plaintiff.

[Warren DeMontague]

2. *

Catchy, isn't it?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NFN_22klUo

And no, I have no idea who the hair farmer in the video is, either.

[Lance_Boyle]

3. Innoncent guy locked up 4 years

Guilty as hell rape fabricator only faces "1 to 3." Fuck that. Put her in for the full term her victim would have gotten. And all others who falsely accuse.

[kudzu22]

27. +1

[Joanne98]

4. Good. I hate women who falsely accuse men of rape!

[Zywiec]

5. She recanted her story last year after new DNA evidence proved she’d been lying

Otherwise I'm sure she would have let this poor man rot in jail forever.

:puke:

[paulsby]

6. this is a good example of the power of DNA

both to exonerate the innocent AND help punish the guilty

[DireStrike]

7. Is it difficult to secure a perjury charge?

Is there tougher sentencing for things like this?

[Deep13]

9. It's difficult.

The state has to prove falsity and that the perjurer KNEW it was false.

[paulsby]

16. AND that it was material

the prongs are

1) knowingly lying under oath
2) about a MATERIAL statement

[paulsby]

12. on getting a perjury charge

getting a charge isn't that difficult. all you need is a grand jury indictment (which requires a majority decision of probable cause) in states that have a grand jury (mine doesn't) or an information or other formal charging procedure.

getting a conviction requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt that a person was lying.

iow, just because a jury disbelieves a witness, or there is strong evidence that a witness was lying isn't enough. there has to be proof beyond a reasonable doubt that they KNOWINGLY lied about a material issue.

the "material" issue is a bit vague, and is often used politically.

not to bring up the whole clinton thang again, but consider that he lied (knowingly) about having sex with a woman intern (workplace etc issues) during a sex harassment case. was that a MATERIAL lie? the prosecutor opted to go with contempt not perjury. like i said, i dont think the trial should have even taken place, but the decision was pretty political, just like the whole case was from the get go

furhman took a guilty plea for perjury in regards to his claim in court that he never used the N word. it was clearly a lie but was it MATERIAL to the case at hand? hard to say. he took the guilty plea to avoid the risk of jail time if he fought it.

in regards to rape (and domestic violence) cases, prosecutors are very loathe to prosecute EVEN when the evidence is clear because it is seen as "blaming the victim" even though a false accuser is NOT a victim, it is seen as creating a disincentive for REAL victims to come forward when raped or abused.

iirc, the accuser in the duke case was not tried because of mental health issues, but it's kind of bogus because her mental health wasn't an issue when the state was prosecuting, but NOW it's an issue. kind of political to say the least.

there was recently a case in my neck of the woods where a 12 yr old kid falsely reported being kidnapped to avoid getting in trouble for a BAD GRADE at school!

a deputy tracked the kid down, and located him on the side of a busy highway. he ran across the street in attempts to protect the kid from traffic, and was himself struck by a car and seriously wounded.

even though it's clear the kid knowingly lied and it wouldn;'t be PERJURY (since it wasn't a sworn statement), i doubt they will charge him with false reporting (a misdemeanor) due to his age, fwiw.
http://renton.komonews.com/content/king-county-deputy-hit-car-near-renton

i myself have had two cases where young girls made false rape/kidnapping charges to avoid getting in trouble for being out all night.

the cases seemed pretty bogus to me from the outset and in both cases i got confessions they were bogus within the first three hours of the investigation. in none of those cases were the kids charged (14 and 16 iirc).

[LostInAnomie]

8. I read that story the other day. It's pretty fucking pathetic that the guy she falsely accused...

... spent more time in prison than she is going to receive. She should have had the book thrown at her. She knowingly sent a man to prison for rape and would have ruined his life because he would have been a sex offender. They should have given her a sentence just as long as he received then tacked on at least another 10 years for the 4 years of his life he lost.

I'm all for fully investigating all accusations of rape or sexual assault, but if someone provably makes a false accusation they should be sentenced in the harshest manner possible just for the damage the charge could have done.

[Mopar151]

10. How about a "Malicious Prosecution" charge?

There are some prosecutors out there who should be doing hard time.

[Supersedeas]

15. there's a catch-22: we want prosecutors to take rape charges seriously, but then hold them

criminally accountable when the 'victim' utterly fabricates her story.

[paulsby]

22. we want this with most crimes

1) prosecutors take the crimes and victims seriously
2) hold false accusers accountable

the difference with rape is that false accusation of (for example) burglary RARELY if ever result in false accusations, arrest and/or imprisonment against a person.

they are done for insurance purposes usually, and there never IS a suspect.

rape (and domestic violence) false complaints almost always target an individual.

the damage is much much worse.

fwiw, in EVERY crime i investigate, i have it in my mind that the accuser may be lying. you take everything everybody says (victim, witness, suspect) etc with a grain of salt and LOOK for holes.

the job of the police is NOT to get convictions. it is NOT to look for incriminating evidence. it is to impartially investigate and gather evidence whether incriminating or exculpatory and it is just as important to eliminate the innocent from suspicion as to bring the guilty to justice.

i can think of more than one example i PERSONALLY experienced where a 'domestic violence advocate' tried to get me or another officer to change a REPORT just to make prosecution easier. sorry, that's unethical.

[Mopar151]

24. Good for you.

I know a prosecutor I'd like you to educate. Preferably with seasoned hardwood.

[paulsby]

25. let me give you an example

in regards to the domestic violence advocate (a person hired by the courts to assist DV victims)

officer sees two adults (male and female) sitting on the curb sharing a beer.

this is a violation of open container law.

so, he approaches and Id's them.

his intent was probably just to issue a warning and have them the pour the beer out if they are cooperative and have no warrants.

they are very cordial and not intoxicated/or being a nuisance.

they both provide their names

officer runs the names and learns that there is a valid, served no-contact order prohibiting the female from contacting or being within 500 ft of the male.

they are clearly boyfriend/girlfriend, arms around each other etc.

the law offers the officer ZERO discretion. if he observes a no-contact order violation or has probable cause to believe it occurred in last 4 hours, he MUST make an arrest. it is a mandatory arrest in WA state (one of the few).

he must arrest the female and does so. they both explain that about a year ago, she was arrested for domestic violence assault against the male. regardless of the case status (which iirc was dismissed), there is a valid no-contact order issued by the judge, which is routine in DV arrests.

since both parties are indigent, they cannot afford a lawyer to smooth out getting the order lifted. although it is certainly possible to do w/o a lawyer and just go plead to the judge (i have seen judges deny these requests, too. effectively prohibiting people from associating with each other due to DV allegations)

so, the female gets arrested and booked (as is mandatory for DV order violations). the male of course refuses to give a statement for prosecution.

when the DV advocate gets the reprot, she contacts the officer. she is upset that he reported that they were both "happy go lucky" and the male was reported to have been laughing and getting along well with the female. why? well, because it makes the case hard to prosecute (with a jury) because it makes the "victim" seem like he didn't care about the violation, etc. which is of course TRUE, but she actually requested the officer not use such language, DESPITE the fact that it was true (and we are always supposed to report DV victim's demeanor, etc. as relevant to state of mind, present sense impression, etc.).

our sgt. tore the DV advocate a new one, but my point was --- this 'advocate' is so intent on their CAUSE, that she actually suggested to an officer to leave out relevant information on his report, to make it EASIER to adjudicate.

incredlbe.

now of course, under the letter of the law, even if the male INVITED the female to be with him, it's STILL an order violation on her part, since it PROHIBITS contact. period. even if requested by the :victim:

but it clearly is a mitigating factor , that the "victim" did not feel in fear, did not want the order in place and wanted to be with his girlfriend

[paulsby]

17. generally speaking, prosecutors have "absolute immunity"

but i see no evidence there was malicious prosecution in this case

it MAY be the case, but i havent seen any

in the duke case, the evidence was ample imo

[Selatius]

11. I find it odd the man spends four years in prison, while the woman only gets one to three years.

Funny how the justice system works.

[alp227]

13. I think that she should get a longer sentence than the falsely accused.

She stole four years from the man's life; she should be also charged for false imprisonment! Sadly, it's too easy to abuse justice these days, whether it be false accusations of rape (and a prosecution/jury that sympathizes with the woman usually) or cover-ups of police brutality.

[seabeyond]

14. works for me. no greater injustice than the falsely accused, but the damage a woman does to all

rape victims by falsely accusing is valid and wrong too.

[PVnRT]

18. I think it's almost worse

It simply feeds into the attitude that she regrets having sex with the guy, so she cries "rape."

[seabeyond]

20. .

my private view, though posting it makes it not so private, i get more angry at the female that accuses rape than a rapist....

and i dont see it so much as the girl that wishes she didnt have sex as the bitch that is angry at a man.

i guess seeing it as a girl regretting having had sex and hten twisting in her head to cry rape is a perspective i hadnt thought about. so thank you.

[redqueen]

26. Good point. (nt)

[reflection]

19. Subhuman piece of garbage.

I hope the sentence is closer to 3 years than 1.

[proteus_lives]

21. He should sue her for every penny she has.

[frebrd]

23. She ought to get the one to three years......

plus the actual time the man has served!

Edited to add:

In fact, that should should be a prescribed sentencing criterion for that crime.

[bluestateguy]

28. Will Gloria Allred make excuses for her?

Or some other "feminist" attorney?