No, I'm asking because hat said at this point its too late to make a deal, if I'm understanding him correctly. I figured, why negotiate a deal before there was proved enough evidence to go to trial? If I'm innocent, I fight it to the end, if they made a good enough case to indict and I really think I did something wrong, that's when I start asking for deals. I never followed the process enough to understand it. I assumed you could negotiate a deal all the way up to before the prosecution rested their case.
One thing I know for certain...and I cannot possibly say it enough. DON'T FREAKING RAPE! This is not a statement declaring a rape did or did not occur. I suppose that will come out over tiime. However, it is a statement saying, regardless of whether it happened or not, DON'T RAPE!
There had to be girls lining up for blocks to bang this dude. Why force some girl? Ask her to leave and bring in the next. I'm not saying he did it, I'm just saying, a star football player should be banging cocktail waitress two at a time.
Innocent people take plea deals every day. Usually the poorest and most ignorant amongst us, at that.
It can be aggravated if there is another person that aids them and they use force to accomplish the act. There are other ways for it to be aggravated, but I believe that is the basis of why AJ is charged with it.
Absolutely. There are no hard and fast positions before an indictment. There's still a chance to create the narrative. Once you're charged with rape, that is all anyone will remember. The ultimate disposition becomes secondary.
You can try to negotiate anytime. Once your attorneys proclaim your innocence from the mountaintop and the DA has an aggravated rape indictment in hand, there's not much to talk about.
Routinely. If he was interesting in dealing, he'd have been lined up at the DA's office wanting to waive his right to an indictment and plead to something.
So at this point the Rubicon has been crossed, and the end result will more or less be black or white?
Seems like rape cases where the parties are familiar and there is some degree of voluntariness in being at a house/hotel whatever are difficult cases to prosecute. I am assuming this is not like the Vandy case where someone filmed criminal acts. Although, from what I know about this case there is at least one witness besides the victim that might testify that a rape happened. Is the other woman cooperating with the State?
I am not sure. I thought I remember hearing about a woman who claimed she was raped but would not press charges. Maybe she was from Florida or something. Have no idea how accurate I am remembering. Point is, though, that I believe cases like this are difficult to prosecute. Having a witness who can corroborate large parts of the victim;s story would help the State immensely. Was there a woman there who left as if nothing had happened?
Exactly. There's a big difference in choosing not to be drawn into a fecal blizzard and acting "as if nothing happened."
How should a recently raped woman appear, so as to maintain her credibility? And as a follow-up: how would you know?
