Rape Victim Jailed ... Accused Freed

Cincinnati Enquirer | Sept. 27, 2003. | Sharon Coolidge

[BluH2o]

Afraid or not, it's her duty to testify, judge says

A rape victim is in jail and her accused attacker is free today after the woman's refusal to testify raised the ire of a Hamilton County judge.

Patrick Dinkelacker, a Hamilton County Common Pleas judge, Friday charged the 33-year-old Cincinnati woman with contempt of court, saying he wants to send a message: Not showing up for court - even if you're fearful of retaliation - is "slapping the court in the face."

The woman is the fifth victim or witness in the past month to fail to show up for trial in Dinkelacker's courtroom, forcing him to throw out the charges.

"There's a point here," Dinkelacker told the tiny blond woman Friday as she stood before him, shaking, her wrists handcuffed. "If victims don't participate in the system, we don't have justice.

"You claim you are a victim," he told her. "But, where's the guy who did something? You know where he is today? Free. Free, because you didn't come to see that justice was done."

The woman told police she was dragged into the woods near her North Fairmount home July 8 and raped by a stranger. Michael Lindsey, 25, also of North Fairmount, was arrested and indicted on rape and kidnapping charges.

Lindsey's attorney says his client is innocent. Three times the woman did not show up in court, forcing Dinkelacker to dismiss the case.

The woman explained that neighbors threatened her and her children, calling her a snitch. "I've already been hurt once, I don't know what will happen," she told her attorney, William Welsh. This way, she told him, "At least I'll be alive."

"We all have to play by the rules," Dinkelacker said before sentencing the rape victim to 10 days in jail. "You didn't. A judge doesn't want to see a victim in handcuffs."

Amy Howton, the sexual-assault response coordinator at the University of Cincinnati's Women's Center, said the sentence sends the wrong message to victims. "We're making it harder and harder to come forward and report a rape," she said.

[jocon307]

Just damn, that's all I can say!

[Cicero]

The strange result of all that feminist protest over the past few decades seems to be that rapists get lighter sentences than ever from liberal judges. This woman probably knows from past history and common knowledge that the rapist will soon be out and that the justice system has no interest in protecting her and her children.

[SkyPilot]

Neighbors threatened her? Something doesn't add up here at all.

[BluH2o]

Neighbors threatened her?

Time for this women to find a new neighborhood.

[StriperSniper]

I'd have immediately asked for the names and addresses of the neighbors. Threatening a witness is pretty serious stuff.

But if she won't show up for the rape trial, I guess the judge figures she won't show up for that either.

[randog]

The B.S. flag is hoisted.

Something certainly doesn't smell right here. Makes me wonder if this might have been a false allegation.

[Sabertooth]

"There's a point here," Dinkelacker told the tiny blond woman Friday as she stood before him, shaking, her wrists handcuffed. "If victims don't participate in the system, we don't have justice.

"You claim you are a victim," he told her. "But, where's the guy who did something? You know where he is today? Free. Free, because you didn't come to see that justice was done."

The woman told police she was dragged into the woods near her North Fairmount home July 8 and raped by a stranger. Michael Lindsey, 25, also of North Fairmount, was arrested and indicted on rape and kidnapping charges.

Lindsey's attorney says his client is innocent. Three times the woman did not show up in court, forcing Dinkelacker to dismiss the case.

The woman explained that neighbors threatened her and her children, calling her a snitch. "I've already been hurt once, I don't know what will happen," she told her attorney, William Welsh. This way, she told him, "At least I'll be alive."

"We all have to play by the rules," Dinkelacker said before sentencing the rape victim to 10 days in jail. "You didn't. A judge doesn't want to see a victim in handcuffs."

I wonder if her neighbors were Freepers from the Kobe Bryant threads?

I'd like to know the priors on the perp.

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

When justice becomes perverted Vigilance Committees can help. In fact their rise is inevitable.

[ImphClinton]

We need tp reomstate tje death penalty. We also need to protect the victims past. Only if she has previously falsely reported being a victim of a crime should it be admisible in court. Even then I don't know. I sat on a jury and the man's history of a previous conviction was not let in. So why the victims history???

[BluH2o]

Neighbors defending a rapist in their midst? A "stranger" no less?

This is a mixed neighborhood, that may be a factor.

[Zevonismymuse]

Neighbors threatened her? Something doesn't add up here at all.

My impression exactly. Something stinks about this one.

[ImpotentRage]

"When justice becomes perverted Vigilance Committees can help. In fact their rise is inevitable."

I agree - think it is just a matter of time. How much time is the question.

[chadwimc]

Mixed neighborhood? 99.9% black doesn't make it "mixed". My guess is the victim has more than a passing aquaintance with the rapists and his neighbors. Still, if threats are being made, let's round 'em up, then charge 'em. As my wife would say about rapists "Give him a fair trial then hang him".

[only1percent]

The right to confront witnesses against you is an absolute and fundamental right in the Anglo-American legal tradition, and further enshrined in the Constitution. No testimony, no case, plain and simple.

And I agree -- neighbors don't usually threaten their neighbors as snitches when they complain about a rape (the way they might for say snithcing out a local drug dealer or loanshark). Judges don't usually put genuinely frightened witnesses in jail, they order the sherrif to protect them. Local cops don't let "neighbors" ruin their cases -- they send some cruisers by and remind the "neighbors" what will happen to them if the victim or her kids are harmed. There's definitely something rotten here.

[novacation]

"Dinkelacker" Probably a sissy woman hater.

[kaylar]

I thought this article would be about Egypt,or some other country languishing under shariah law, wherein rape victims have to beg their rapists not to report the crime because they are the ones the police will jail.

Note description of the victim : tiny blond woman . IOW,she's white. I'm guessing her assailant is not, and the neighbors are threatening her and her children because they are of the same race as the rapist. Her neighbors feel more sympathy for a person of their race who commits a violent crime , than for the victim of a violent crime, if the victim is not of their race or ethnic group. Sick, but not unheard of.

[Doe Eyes]

We also need to protect the victims past. Only if she has previously falsely reported being a victim of a crime should it be admisible in court. Even then I don't know.

Read this story. Men are falsely accused.

Tucker Carlson's sex scandal