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Jury orders blogger to pay $8.4 million to ex-Army colonel she accused of rape
The Washington Post ^ | August 11, 2017 | Tom Jackman

Posted on 08/12/2017 7:51:32 AM PDT by ptsal

Col. David “Wil” Riggins, after a highly decorated Army career that included multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, was on the verge of promotion to brigadier general in July 2013 when he got a phone call at the Pentagon from the Army’s Criminal Investigative Division to come in for a meeting. Once there, he learned that a blogger in Washington state had just accused him of raping her, when both were cadets at West Point in 1986. An investigation was underway.

Then, Riggins sued Shannon for defamation, claiming that every aspect of her rape claim on the West Point campus was “provably false,” and that she wrote two blog posts and a Facebook post “to intentionally derail [his] promotion” to brigadier general. During a six-day trial that ended Aug. 1, a jury in Fairfax County, Va., heard from both Riggins and Shannon at length. And after 2½ hours of deliberation, they sided emphatically with Riggins, awarding him $8.4 million in damages

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; US: District of Columbia; US: Virginia
KEYWORDS: army; defamation; fairfaxcounty; hangthebitch; hoax; rape; regretsex; usma; virginia
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To: yldstrk

While I do believe that unreported rape occurs in the academies, her side was so full of holes that I see why the jury sent a message here by establishing the damages on their own. She came off as a nut case.


61 posted on 08/12/2017 9:37:27 AM PDT by SgtHooper (If you remember the 60's, YOU WEREN'T THERE!)
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To: Sequoyah101

I was glad to get out when I did, too. I was talking recently with a woman whose husband just retired at 65. He hated his job, mostly because of the culture there. I can’t imagine what that did to him over all of those years, including what it did to his health. She says he’s happy now. I hope so and that he has a long and enjoyable retirement.


62 posted on 08/12/2017 9:40:01 AM PDT by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: Reily

she didn’t ask for money, she just didn’t want him to become a general officer and send kids to their deaths


63 posted on 08/12/2017 9:43:26 AM PDT by yldstrk (My heroes have always been cowboys)
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To: yldstrk
Oh well, jury has spoken,

What the hell do you want? Hang him anyway, because women never lie?

64 posted on 08/12/2017 9:44:33 AM PDT by NorthMountain (The Democrats ... have lost their grip on reality -DJT)
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To: ptsal

No one has figured out that military academies should not be co-ed. Ever.

Nor should there be co-ed units in the field. The world isn’t the way we think it should be, the world is as it is.


65 posted on 08/12/2017 9:45:24 AM PDT by ChildOfThe60s (ueati)
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To: ChildOfThe60s

Well said.


66 posted on 08/12/2017 9:49:32 AM PDT by ptsal ( Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please. - M. Twain)
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To: NorthMountain

Her only hope is appellate relief


67 posted on 08/12/2017 9:53:09 AM PDT by yldstrk (My heroes have always been cowboys)
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To: ptsal

Women who make false accusations of rape (I am a woman by the way) are sexual predators, and should be criminally prosecuted, and their names added to the registry of sex offenders.


68 posted on 08/12/2017 9:58:10 AM PDT by erkelly
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To: ptsal

https://shortlittlerebel.com/2015/09/28/shannon-vs-riggins-rape-trial-t-v-interview/


69 posted on 08/12/2017 9:59:36 AM PDT by yldstrk (My heroes have always been cowboys)
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To: yldstrk
Or was there a reason, such as she thought he was a horrible human being?

So, if she resented him for some reason 27 years ago do you think that justifies a bogus charge of rape to derail his career?

And the jury settled the question of it being believable or bogus, didn't they?


70 posted on 08/12/2017 9:59:50 AM PDT by Vlad The Inhaler (We were Trumpin' before Trumpin' was cool.....)
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To: ptsal

That slut that went after Gen. Petraeas, she was a Woo Poo grad too, Right? The military academies have turned into bordellos.


71 posted on 08/12/2017 10:00:41 AM PDT by batterycommander (I learned my Artillery skills from the United States Marines. USNA 65)
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To: Vlad The Inhaler

That doesn’t mean it was bogus, does it now?


72 posted on 08/12/2017 10:02:18 AM PDT by yldstrk (My heroes have always been cowboys)
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To: ptsal

I took the time to read the article. This is the Washington comPost. However, the description of the testimony would leave any objective person to conclude this woman, Shannon, is a bald faced liar and purely BS crazy. It is inconceivable to me that anyone so unbalanced could ever achieve admission to any service academy. One must consider the times though I suppose.

It is a dirty shame the Colonel was caught up in any accusation during the Barky years as even the slightest hint of any action against the social engineering agenda became immediate grounds for end of career actions. Thus the Flag ranks are populated with the gang of perfumed princes.

Too bad for her family but they will get all the enduring misery she deserves. I hope she gets some help for her mind though.

I’m sure the FReeper persecution crusader did well in the military of the last decade considering every male in sight a rapist or potential rapist. That has been a very popular career advancing position to take for some time now where only those who truly demonstrate their dedication to diversity are favored.

Any person with half-a-brain and a shred of common sense would know that cats are cats and dogs are dogs and they do what cats and dogs do. Same with people of the opposite sex when you place them in close and available proximity especially when they are young and virile. Virility is present in both sexes. Like it or not, we are basically animals first and rational humans second. If most of us who are brutally honest admit it we fell in lust to some degree in our early 20s instead of love and we either made a commitment for a relationship to stick or not after the lust wore off. That is pretty much the natural progression of things.


73 posted on 08/12/2017 10:05:58 AM PDT by Sequoyah101 (It feels like we have exchanged our dreams for survival. We just have a few days that don't suck.)
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To: yldstrk
Her only hope is appellate relief

Duh ...

That's not the point. The point is your vociferous assumption that she's the victim and not a liar.

What you you think should be done with people who make false accusations and defame others?

74 posted on 08/12/2017 10:07:57 AM PDT by NorthMountain (The Democrats ... have lost their grip on reality -DJT)
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To: yldstrk
Think about it dude, WHY did she think he was a horrible human being?

I have known quite a few horrible human beings. Some were rapists (including Teddy Kennedy, who wanted me to work for his campaigns), and others were not (as far as I know). If she hated him because he was a horrible person (not certain but quite plausible), that explains her accusation, but it only justifies the charge if it was true.

75 posted on 08/12/2017 10:17:41 AM PDT by Pollster1 ("Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed")
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To: yldstrk

The truth is that she committed a vile slander. I’m not sure how that sets her free.


76 posted on 08/12/2017 10:20:57 AM PDT by Mr. Lucky
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To: ptsal

The vicious liar needs to pay the penalty, and then go to jail for life.


77 posted on 08/12/2017 10:28:42 AM PDT by I want the USA back (Insanity, even when disguised by a nice-sounding name, is still insanity.)
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To: yldstrk

After a bit of thought, I am going to agree with you. I know some people in the same situations as this one and were too afraid to come out at the time. Look at the Cosby case for example.


78 posted on 08/12/2017 10:36:14 AM PDT by KC_Conspirator
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To: Sequoyah101

Yep. You are correct.

Coed military academies and field units are a disaster because they ignore basic human nature and basic human physiology.

In order to field a successful military we must acknowledge the world et al as it is, not as we wish it to be. Not all things that are “unfair” (as defined by who?) can be made “fair” (also as defined by who?)


79 posted on 08/12/2017 10:39:14 AM PDT by ChildOfThe60s (If you can remember the 60's....You weren't really there)
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To: NorthMountain

It completely baffles me how anyone can read the accusers account of the alleged offense and side with her or even suggest an appeal.

She is a liar and just nuts. She needs some help for her mind. I wonder what kind of character witnesses she would have?


80 posted on 08/12/2017 10:44:14 AM PDT by Sequoyah101 (It feels like we have exchanged our dreams for survival. We just have a few days that don't suck.)
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