Prosecutor: Cadet preyed on lonely women

The Fresno Bee ^ | 6/20/06 | MATT APUZZO,

[Enterprise]

"A Coast Guard cadet accused of rape and other sex offenses was a manipulative senior who preyed on lonely women, a prosecutor said Tuesday in opening arguments at the defendant's court-martial."

[Enterprise]

"The case centers on a night of heavy drinking last summer in Annapolis, Md. Friends testified during pretrial hearings that one of the accusers - Smith's on-again, off-again girlfriend - drank until she passed out and was enraged the next morning when she learned that she and Smith had had sex."

"Defense attorneys maintain the young woman was not as drunk as she says and suggested Monday that she may have concocted the rape accusation to cover up her embarrassment at having sex with an on-again, off-again boyfriend."

[thoughtomator]

Cadet Clinton?

[Enterprise]

LOL - not exactly. "Webster Smith." (Of Houston)

[skaterboy]

Girl sounds real nice too......lonely women? is there any other kind

[ConservativeMind]

I've never understood how women can ever feel comfortable drinking alcohol in light of what men are capable of doing to them.

[afraidfortherepublic]

The woman said she had consumed about two bottles of wine that night. !!! No DNA, no forensic evidence, no rape kit, no report until weeks later, no crime scene evidence, no memory of the incident. But there is a pregnancy. I'd say that there is no case.

[FormerRep]

Sarcasm off?

[Enterprise]

Here's a link to an ABC report.

ABC LINK

[ConservativeMind]

Alcohol specifically is meant to take away one's ability to control oneself.

I've known too many women who've been taken advantage of in circumstances in which alcohol was a part. Many of these women hide this or turn dysfunctional over what has happened, and then bring that into their marriages for their spouses to deal with in some form.

This said, I do believe that anyone who drives drunk and hurts someone should be tried in court as a premeditated crime.

Once you voluntarily ingest something meant to make you not think rationally, you have chosen to do whatever follows.

[ElPatriota]

history to charges including rape, sodomy, extortion and assault that stem from allegations by three female cadets.

Let's give the man credit yes!... This is obviously a corrupt individual... a criminal!...probably from the time when he was a young man. How is it he does not have a record yet? No one saw the signals? I would bet he started raping since he was in High School.... no record whatsoever??? AMAZING. This is a MASTER CON MAN.

On the other hand... it is a mystery to me, how a man like this can get away with this kind of behavior in ANY MILITARY institution... ANY, unless run by idiots.

[Enterprise]

Men are capable of sexual assaults against women whether or not the women have been drinking. I would advise any woman to be on her guard when she is drinking with males. Here is a link to another source, and evidently this cadet might have been a pretty busy fellow.

"A senior at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy has been charged with sexually assaulting six female cadets"

link

[Enterprise]

I found another article which indicates that there may be a little more than lonliness involved concerning this particular cadet. However, there is a matter of a trial and being presumed innocent until proved otherwise. We shall see.

"A senior at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy has been charged with sexually assaulting six female cadets in the campus barracks and other sites."

link

[Enterprise]

There's a little more to the story, as I found when searching for more information. The BEE link requires a registration.

link

[WL-law]

Smith also faces charges of disobeying an order, unlawful entry and being absent without leave.

That's some unlawful entry.

[Enterprise]

You are right. If this guy was getting away with something it is because idiots didn't see the pattern, or the victims were staying silent. Here's more.

"A senior at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy has been charged with sexually assaulting six female cadets in the campus barracks and other sites."

link

[Enterprise]

Gee, I just couldn't imagine that a woman would take the anger from one bad relationship and unload it on another man. (muffled laughter)

[WL-law]

In his opening statement, Bald described Smith as a manipulative person who preyed on women when they were weak.

I'm surprised that this line of argument, even in an opening statement, was not objected to. The prosecutor is implying that this is a pattern, that he has done this with other women. That line of evidence would typically not be allowed, so to make that inference (to inadmissiable evidence) in an opening statement would be improper, prejudicial, even grounds for mistrial.

[WL-law]

Another post says "A senior at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy has been charged with sexually assaulting six female cadets in the campus barracks and other sites." So -- what is it? Is he being tried for one rape here, or six?

If six, I retract my earlier post!!

[Enterprise]

"That's some unlawful entry."

Like the old boy once said to a dumbass, "Is the screwin' yer gettin' worth the screwin' ya got?"

[Enterprise]

It was a good post anyway. But here's the link to another article about this case.

link