Posted on 08/13/2007 7:13:07 AM PDT by flowerplough
Cassandra M. Hernandez, a female airman at the Pope Air Force Base near Fayetteville, N.C., faces court-martial after refusing to testify in her own rape trial, the Washington Post reported Aug. 8. Hernandez accused three male airmen of raping her in May, but then refused to testify because she said she felt pressured by the Air Force judicial process and intimidated by a defense attorney, who interviewed her without a victim's advocate present.
The three accused men received administrative punishments and criminal charges were dropped against them. The Air Force has given the men immunity to testify against Hernandez, who has now been charged with an indecent act and for neglect of duty for drinking alcohol while underage.
Following publicity about the case, the Air Force released a statement that said the investigation revealed inconsistencies in Hernandez's testimony, the Associated Press reported Aug. 9, an assertion that her attorney quickly denied.
(Excerpt) Read more at womensenews.org ...
Why would I welcome you if you weren’t a recent arrival?
Thanks, although I have been here a while. Where were you in 2002?
Stupidity crosses a lines of gender and race.
“Where were you in 2002?”
Planet Earth...
“So since you stand for equal justice why don’t you explain why MAJOR JILL METZGER has not been prosecuted.”
Why should I? I'm not the folks who would be responsible for her prosecution.
It appears that you signed up principally to push this, your pet cause. What did Jill Metzger ever do to you? Stand you up on a date?
sitetest
If she was truly raped, once having made formal allegations, she must continue through the process, or be compelled by the courts to do so.
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Excellent post, sitetest.
Half the problem is that young girls don’t know what sex is. They think it’s a Maxim magazine spread, or a glamorous Playboy photoshoot done on the beach.
They find out (the hard way) that it’s more like a Hustler video filmed behind a dumpster.
“Buyer’s remorse” is putting it mildly.
>>BECAUSE I have a close relative who was a victim of rape, I’m not keen on women who make false charges of rape.
I would hope not. It makes it harder for those of us who face the scrutiny and work to put the assailant away. It should also anger you when people do not take the crime of sexual assault seriously.
In the civilian court system, the assaulted person does not always testify during the criminal prosecution. During the criminal trial, the State, not the person making the complaint, is the Plaintiff. If the States Attorney feels he can win the case, he’ll put the case in front of the judge & call on the person making the complaint if it will be beneficial in the trial. The person making the complaint can sue for monetary damages during in civil court for things like analyst bills and so forth.
I would think the military court would follow similarly where the military gather evidence and then decide to prosecute the assailant.
There was no reason in this thread for banning this poster.
I hope this decision was not as arbitrary as it seems.
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Agreed. Unfortunately, there are those who believe that no one would falsely claim rape, and that therefore the standards for prosecution and conviction should be different than for other crimes. It is more of the same thinking that women are perennial victims of men. They are not, and it is typically the liberal philosophy that promotes it.
Just used your screen name to post my frustration at what seems to be some arbitrary hair-triggered banning lately.
“In the civilian court system, the assaulted person does not always testify during the criminal prosecution.”
That’s true.
But if the prosecutors believe that it’s necessary for the accuser to testify, then the accuser must testify or face sanctions. That appears to be the case here. The article states specifically that she refused to testify.
That leads me to believe that she may well have lied about the facts of the case. If she did, I have no sympathy for her at all should she receive harsh punishment.
sitetest
Oddly enough, when an accuser later refuses to testify at the trial of her own supposed assailants, it usually means that she knows her testimony will be poked full of holes and shown to be fabricated. Truth stands in its own right, and vice versa.
I think we drove her away. She’s fixated on those ridiculous statistics like they mean anything. They’re crap.
however, it's best not to get into certain situations to begin with... i know many rapes are not because a woman got herself into an iffy situation... but many are--especially with young women... i know it doesn't mean it's not rape, but gosh... we do need to be careful about our choices... even if it's not the woman's fault, (and i'm talking about young women in general, not the person in this article... i know nothing about that situation) why take a chance at the possibility of being raped? to me, rape is just as bad a crime as murder...
“They find out (the hard way) that it’s more like a Hustler video filmed behind a dumpster.”
Any writers reading this thread should steal that excellent line.
Perhaps a good reason women shouldn’t be in the military!
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