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I was watching the movie Cape Fear (1991). I know, it's a movie, but in the movie, the lawyer character was worried that his client would beat rape charges, because the victim was promiscuous.
But is a court allowed to decide if a defendant should go free based on a victim's sexual history? In the movie, the lawyer said that he got the report on the victim and the report said that she was promiscuous.
But how would a report say that? Do the people at the hospital who examined the victim hire their own private eyes to go around the whole town with a photo of the victim asking everyone, "have you slept with this person?"
Or is the police department obligated to do this, knowing it is serving in the purpose, of the defense? Where do you get a report on a rape victim's promiscuity from legally?
They talk to friends and people the person went to school with, to dig up personal information.
It's wrong of course to consider the victim's sexual history in a rape case, but there are posters on CD who do this in discussions about rape. They'll talk about how the victim asked for it, what she wore, how she acted, etcetera. I've been quite shocked reading those posts.
Was 1991 before rape shield laws? Or did the movie take place before them? Absolutely that used to be the strongest way to defend a rapist. Go after the credibility of the witness.
The movie came out in 1991 and was set in modern times so set like in 1990 around it seems. I just don't see how a defense attorney could have a victim's sex life, slapped on his desk in a report, that he didn't even ask for.
Who would give him this report? The prosecutor is not going to want to give the defense attorney a freebee, so would slap that on his desk so to speak? The hospital? The police?
A PI, I guess. He would ask for it. Not from police, no. But they do their own investigating too. They need to know if they have a case. The Accused is a good example of this. Her case is a loser. She was wasted, she was flirting, she didn't have a good background, nothing to make her a sympathetic victim besides the obvious that no one should have to endure what she did, and no one deserves it even if they did want to be wasted and flirt, even kiss, grind up against while dancing.
Okay thanks. However, would the men that the victim had sex with in the past be comfortable testifying in open court that they had sex with this person. In court, you cannot introduce a witness statement, unless you actually call a witness to the stand, so therefore, they would have to call all the men who had sex with her to the stand.
So would most men be willing to testify that they had sex with the victim in public court, even though it is personal and private? Wouldn't most men say 'screw that, I'm not going to talk about my sex life in court, just so some rapist can get off", and then therefore, the defense does not have a case?
Who would give him this report? The prosecutor is not going to want to give the defense attorney a freebee, so would slap that on his desk so to speak? The hospital? The police?
You know the Brock Turner case, don't you? And the rape allegation case at the U of Virginia a few years ago (which turned out to be false)? Of course evidence will be uncovered about both the alleged suspect as well as the victim.
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OP, I suspect you are really young.
Yes, rape laws have changed significantly in the last 40 or so years.
It used to be an actual defense to statutory rape if the victim had a reputation that she was not "chaste". A mere reputation for having sex with other men prior to the accused.
There were laws about forced sex with a man not her husband. So if the rapist was the victim's husband, that was a viable defense.
If you're sincerely interested in pursuing your interest in the history of rape laws, you could probably read through articles on the net.
But yes, there has been change in the method of prosecution of the crime of rape.
With every other crime except rape, the victim's behaviors/reputation/past comes in to play. You got an allegation of car theft and the car owner is claiming he didn't give permission to the thief but you look into the past behavior and discover the owner had in fact allowed the thief to use his car more than 25 times and the thief had been given a key to his car. Dismissed for lack of evidence.
You've got a guy murdered in an alley, and the accused was in the area and had been cheated out of drugs and money by the victim. The defense can get up and say that's all true but we've go a list of 10 guys who he also cheated out of drugs and money who were in the area right then too. Dismissed for lack of evidence.
I know there are people who say you can't say that, you can't bring up the fact that all other victims are scrutinized to ferret out the whole truth, but there it is.
I was watching the movie Cape Fear (1991). I know, it's a movie, but in the movie, the lawyer character was worried that his client would beat rape charges, because the victim was promiscuous.
But is a court allowed to decide if a defendant should go free based on a victim's sexual history? In the movie, the lawyer said that he got the report on the victim and the report said that she was promiscuous.
But how would a report say that? Do the people at the hospital who examined the victim hire their own private eyes to go around the whole town with a photo of the victim asking everyone, "have you slept with this person?"
Or is the police department obligated to do this, knowing it is serving in the purpose, of the defense? Where do you get a report on a rape victim's promiscuity from legally?
I am surprised there are still people who do not know that this defense has no basis and is extremely sexist. It is not the victims fault that someone else decided to be violent to get what they want. Besides rape is not about sex it is about power so "promiscuity" does not enter the equation at all.
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