Once again, it's the alleged victim on trial in rape case - Los Angeles Times
from celebrity sex scandal - Bing News [expanded by feedex.net] by nospam@nospam.com (anonimous)
If prosecutors still believe that a sexual assault took place — and Monday's news stories make clear they do — then they ought to stop worrying about saving face and get their witness ready to appear in court.
This case is no longer just about what happened in that hotel room. It has become social and political theater, less entertaining but more important than the farcical drama of Anthony Weiner.
It's a public test, on an international stage, of the strengths and weaknesses of American justice when dealing with tricky sexual cases. You'd be hard-pressed to find better circumstances and players in a test case on a law school exam.
But this case requires more than abstract calculations about presumed credibility and trial outcome odds. Sex and scandal are at its center, but the public discussion is ranging far beyond that, to issues of power and greed and politics.
More than 1,000 readers weighed in on the New York Times' website Friday, after it broke the news of Strauss-Khan's release.
Some saw the focus on the maid's missteps as proof of an enduring double standard that tilts toward money and men.
"This is not about innocent until proven guilty," wrote Los Angeles reader Linda Fleming. "This is about men with power and money and bad reputations, against women without power and money with bad reputations."
But others, from around the world, saw the unraveling legal case as evidence of a "lynch mob mentality" of the American public and media, eager to sell a sensational tale by bringing down a powerful man.
And many worried that a derailed prosecution would make it harder to bring rape cases to trial and persuade juries to convict. As one Boston rape crisis counselor said: "If you are not the Virgin Mary, you take a huge risk in bringing a rape charge."
But that lesson, alas, is nothing new. Think back to the summer of 2003, to a hotel room in Colorado, where a powerful celebrity was accused of forcing a hotel worker into an unwanted sexual encounter.
The defendant then was Kobe Bryant, charged with the sexual assault of a 19-year-old desk clerk. By the time the trial date neared, investigative reports had transformed her from hard-working local girl to schizophrenic, suicidal trollop.
She spared prosecutors the choice the New York City district attorney now faces. She refused to testify, and the case was dropped. She sued Bryant instead, and a year later the civil case was settled with a public apology and cash payoff.
I wouldn't be surprised if the next act in this drama plays out that way, with a humble, impoverished immigrant maid and her justice-seeking lawyer.
Time to cue Gloria Allred.
If prosecutors still believe that a sexual assault took place — and Monday's news stories make clear they do — then they ought to stop worrying about saving face and get their witness ready to appear in court.
This case is no longer just about what happened in that hotel room. It has become social and political theater, less entertaining but more important than the farcical drama of Anthony Weiner.
It's a public test, on an international stage, of the strengths and weaknesses of American justice when dealing with tricky sexual cases. You'd be hard-pressed to find better circumstances and players in a test case on a law school exam.
But this case requires more than abstract calculations about presumed credibility and trial outcome odds. Sex and scandal are at its center, but the public discussion is ranging far beyond that, to issues of power and greed and politics.
More than 1,000 readers weighed in on the New York Times' website Friday, after it broke the news of Strauss-Khan's release.
Some saw the focus on the maid's missteps as proof of an enduring double standard that tilts toward money and men.
"This is not about innocent until proven guilty," wrote Los Angeles reader Linda Fleming. "This is about men with power and money and bad reputations, against women without power and money with bad reputations."
But others, from around the world, saw the unraveling legal case as evidence of a "lynch mob mentality" of the American public and media, eager to sell a sensational tale by bringing down a powerful man.
And many worried that a derailed prosecution would make it harder to bring rape cases to trial and persuade juries to convict. As one Boston rape crisis counselor said: "If you are not the Virgin Mary, you take a huge risk in bringing a rape charge."
But that lesson, alas, is nothing new. Think back to the summer of 2003, to a hotel room in Colorado, where a powerful celebrity was accused of forcing a hotel worker into an unwanted sexual encounter.
The defendant then was Kobe Bryant, charged with the sexual assault of a 19-year-old desk clerk. By the time the trial date neared, investigative reports had transformed her from hard-working local girl to schizophrenic, suicidal trollop.
She spared prosecutors the choice the New York City district attorney now faces. She refused to testify, and the case was dropped. She sued Bryant instead, and a year later the civil case was settled with a public apology and cash payoff.
I wouldn't be surprised if the next act in this drama plays out that way, with a humble, impoverished immigrant maid and her justice-seeking lawyer.
Time to cue Gloria Allred.
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