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To: Iwo Jima
Are we to believe that after having been raped -- in her own hometown and in her place of employment surrounded by those who know and support her -- she docilely put her clothes back on and quietly left without lodging any complaint whatsoever? (And then failed to make any complaint or take a shower for 12 hours.)

Yes, I do. Shock and/or embarrassment does that to people. A rape victim would likely feel one or both. On the contrary, a lying attention-seeking groupie might react quite differently if she was out to scam the adultering athlete.

I'm truly amazed at how many posters (I'm presuming most are men) seem to think that a rape victim should immediately go running and screaming to the cops instead of dealing with the shock, physical pain and emotional chaos of being raped while trying to determine what they should say or whom to say it to. And all we know is that it was 12 hours before she reported it *to the police*. That doesn't mean she didn't tell her parents, a co-worker or a best friend - although I don't know if she would anyways.

From what I hear about victims of rape, they are stunned at first. They might blame themselves or they might just be so shocked that they don't know what to do or think.

Keep in mind that this was near midnight so twelve hours is simply noon the next day - that's not much time when you're shocked and confused. If you haven't been there yourself, how can you say what is a normal time to wait before reporting a rape, much less judging her for it?

268 posted on 07/21/2003 8:09:22 PM PDT by Tall_Texan (http://righteverytime.blogspot.com - home to Tall_Texan's new column.)
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To: Tall_Texan
If you haven't been there yourself, how can you say what is a normal time to wait before reporting a rape, much less judging her for it?

Well, I haven't been there myself and neither has anyone close to me (thank God). But that's something that I have in common with the eventual jurors in this case. Looking at it as though I were a juror, I ask myself what evidence I would require to send a man away to prison for rape, and all that I can say is that it is more evidence than I have heard thus far.

Of course, if you do convince me (as a hypothetical juror) of his guilt, he's going to go away for a long, long time.
277 posted on 07/21/2003 8:26:19 PM PDT by Iwo Jima
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