The girl, whose name is being withheld by The Bee because she is an alleged sexual assault victim, was abducted last year from a light-rail station on Del Paso Boulevard and then driven away and raped by Rackley, according to the criminal complaint.

She was scheduled to testify against Rackley at his preliminary hearing and then at his trial, originally set for Feb. 28.

She failed to appear for either session.

Rackley's complaint accuses him of raping two women. But the other alleged victim has been identified in court papers as a prostitute, and the DA's Office felt it was critical to have the girl appear because prosecutors think she is a more credible witness.

It is not clear if the girl will actually be forced to testify at trial. The state's Code of Civil Procedure says sexual assault victims don't have to testify. Nor is it clear under what circumstances the DA's Office would be allowed to introduce the statements she gave to police to the jury – or if they'll be able to at all – if the girl takes the witness stand but refuses to say anything. DA's officials declined to comment on the case Monday.

Read more here: [www.sacbee.com]

Sure looks like the moral of this story is that if you are a 17 year old girl and get raped, be sure to not tell the police. Whatta mess...

Moral could easily be don't file formal complaints, promise to testify and then not honour your commitments.


Shame that she has to physically appear but isn't it great what the Libs have done to our court system ? [i/]



not waiting for the howling from the bowels of sarchasm hell.

Actually this quote says it all.

"This case has charted thankfully rare legal territory," Brown said. "It represented a difficult balancing of protecting the community from an alleged violent criminal and ensuring the integrity of the court subpoena process of a critical witness."

Tough ? You bet. I do know that if it was my daughter, I would be right there by her side through the whole process, and encourage her to face her attacker and see him defeated.

And then make sure she gets a CCW and practices more than she currently does. She does know how to shoot, but prefers a shotgun. Which really doesn't fit in a purse.

We don't need 17 year olds with guns and I'm pretty sure is legal NOWHERE.
Somebody quoted this in the comment section:

CCP sec. 1219(b) states: "no court may imprison or otherwise confine or place in custody the victim of a sexual assault or domestic violence crime for contempt when the contempt consists of refusing to testify concerning that sexual assault or domestic violence crime.”

DA may have an ethical violation here. Hope somebody is reporting this to the bar.

My daughter is over 21. Sorry I was not clear on that aspect. She DOES carry heavy duty pepper spray when she's on campus, and she's taken a few self-defense classes. College campus rape statistics are horrible.

cbelt - pretty sure that a gun in this case would be of no help at all and would only introduce a weapon to the scene (for the criminal) where one did not exist before.

Any purse would be snatched right off - then you have a rapist... with a gun - great! Perhaps a gun would be of help if she simply held it in her hand while she waited for the train. The NRA wet dream - all citizens walking around with their guns out and ready.

What a wonderful world that would be...

But ninety percent of college rapes are by acquaintances/date rape. Wouldn't it make more sense to be sure she understands the dangers of going home with someone she doesn't know very well, rather than count on her blowing the guy away when he attacks her?

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"Stop thinking about art works as objects, and start thinking about them as triggers for experiences." ~ Brian Eno

hal, $tevie, Oh, agreed and good points. Mostly the best defense a parent can offer their child is to avoid bad situations before they become bad. Date rape is the biggie on campuses.

There's a high probability that my hypothetical desire to arm my daughter is an emotional one. In the case of the young lady in the posting, her treatment at the hands of the legal system has been abominable.

One hopes the treatment of her rapist will eventually be much, much worse.

I was listening to an interesting radio discussion this morning, about guns, stand your ground and concealed carry laws, in which the bleeding heart liberal charged that the right wing is trying to shift the zeitgeist from optional gun ownership to a situation where just about everyone starts thinking about getting a gun because everyone else has one. The right wingnut said the NRA is merely standing up for Second Amendment rights and liberty. And since that's all the RWN had to fall back on in that argument, I awarded the point to the BHL.

Edit: delete redundant phrase



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/17/2012 02:16PM by Gutenberg.

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$tevie
But ninety percent of college rapes are by acquaintances/date rape. Wouldn't it make more sense to be sure she understands the dangers of going home with someone she doesn't know very well, rather than count on her blowing the guy away when he attacks her?

Also don't get so intoxicated that you have no idea what is going on, or just lose a sense of good judgement.

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Lemon Drop
Also don't get so intoxicated that you have no idea what is going on, or just lose a sense of good judgement.

You are talking about college. Intoxication happens.

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Gutenberg

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Lemon Drop
Also don't get so intoxicated that you have no idea what is going on, or just lose a sense of good judgement.

You are talking about college. Intoxication happens.

Of course. It doesn't have to though.
Alcohol use is one the strongest indicators in campus date rape.
Does not in any way excuse the crime, but it certainly increases the odds that a person will become a victim.
Most college students are underage anyway.

In Michigan, an underage sexual abuse victim does not have to be in the courtroom at the same time as the defendant. They will empty the court room and allow the victim, victim's advocate, judge and both lawyers to be alone when the victim testifies. I think this is a fair way around the issue of the victim being too scared to testify.

nothing good comes from arresting victims. it is bad policy and bad lawyering.

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michaelb
nothing good comes from arresting victims. it is bad policy and bad lawyering.

That's the real bottom line, prosecutors are all to often afflicted with a god complex.

Were I to invoke logic, however, logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Or the one.

The question you have to ask yourself is do you want the accused free to prey on your wife, your girlfriend, your daughter ...

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