Should men who are accused then cleared of rape charges be able to file for damages?

[JayC9]

read so many cases of the morning after morals. it should be punished more severely. smears and false accusations can ruin the rest of someones life. what a make or break accusation. if it goes for you then you get the sympathy of everyone and compensated, if it goes against you then you've publically confirmed that you're just another slut

 

[blut wump]

Society needs that people be held responsible for their actions. Without knowing whether she either recklessly or maliciously accused him it's impossible to know whether she is to blame for his misfortune or whether he was just a victim of the system.

If she genuinely believed it to have been him when she made the accusation then the system is to blame for permitting such exposure prior to conviction and he should be suing the State for failure to protect him while in its clutches. It is well known that personal testimony from a highly stressful situation is wholly suspect. Eye witness accounts are often completely false and often those accused of rape have born only a passing similarity to the actual perpetrator. It all depends on the situation.

He is clearly due redress from somewhere.

 

[nycgirl]

No. It appears from the article that she didn't committ fraud, she wrongly accused another man. He may look like the man that was implicated (of course, this is an assumption because the article doesn't say). If you have been the victim of a crime like attempted murder, gun robbery, rape, etc. unless you personally know your attacker, identifying someone isn't easy. Everything happens so fast, the only characteristics you may have are eye color, hair color, maybe height (you get my point.) Hence, people are wrongly arrested and let go all the time. Some cases go as far as the grand jury and are let go.

I'm not familiar with VA criminal law (I really should be.), but in NY, you can only be held for 48 hours without being charged. I don't understand why he was held for 5 days. Of course, this is VA, things are a bit different when you get below that Mason-Dixon line. I can understand him suing the City of Charlottesville and/or State of Virginia, if his rights were violated (e.g., like holding him too long), the District Attorney continued with prosecution without looking at all the evidence leading to conviction and jail time, etc. I can see him suing the media for throwing his name out there prior to being charged and ruining his reputation.

As I stated above, she did not committ fraud. It doesn't appear from the article that they knew each other or interacted in some way and she was out to "get him", thus she should not be sued.

 

[*MissFit*]

if it can be proven without a doubt that he didnt do it and the claim was flase yes.. his reputation was ruined and ppl will always wonder.. his career might have been damaged..

 

[covergrl80]

Absolutely.


The women…

It is a little hard for me to judge being I have never dealt such a thing and have no idea, what she went through. Her state of mind was probably one that was not all there after her innocents was taken in such a manner. Therefore no one here should be judging that women unless you have walked her shoes.

 

[rnch]

HELL yeh

 

[slat1]

No. It appears from the article that she didn't committ fraud, she wrongly accused another man. He may look like the man that was implicated (of course, this is an assumption because the article doesn't say). If you have been the victim of a crime like attempted murder, gun robbery, rape, etc. unless you personally know your attacker, identifying someone isn't easy. Everything happens so fast, the only characteristics you may have are eye color, hair color, maybe height (you get my point.) Hence, people are wrongly arrested and let go all the time. Some cases go as far as the grand jury and are let go.

I'm not familiar with VA criminal law (I really should be.), but in NY, you can only be held for 48 hours without being charged. I don't understand why he was held for 5 days. Of course, this is VA, things are a bit different when you get below that Mason-Dixon line. I can understand him suing the City of Charlottesville and/or State of Virginia, if his rights were violated (e.g., like holding him too long), the District Attorney continued with prosecution without looking at all the evidence leading to conviction and jail time, etc. I can see him suing the media for throwing his name out there prior to being charged and ruining his reputation.

As I stated above, she did not committ fraud. It doesn't appear from the article that they knew each other or interacted in some way and she was out to "get him", thus she should not be sued.

Here are a few thoughts though.
She said to the police "he raped me" = Libel
She signed a sworn statement that he raped her = slander
He was "falsely arrested"... the police did so on her sworn accounts. Should the police be held liable? We have seen numerous false arrest lawsuits. I think she should pay... not us the taxpayers!
Also, that crime did not happen in a matter of seconds. There was DNA. They were face to face.
I believe the person who commited the crime should be killed.. you heard me right.. killed. DNA will prove who it was... no mistakes!
I also believe that the wrongfull accuser should face the same exact penalty as the accused would have. Put her in jail. Ruin her relationships. Destroy her carreer. Have her pay all the legal cost incurred by the victim (the guy) and the state. The accuser should then inturn sue the actual purp when/if found for damages.
Here is the big thing. How many times has someone cried foul when being pulled over and saying its racist and profiling. Well, here is this guy (no idea if he is white, black, latino or what ever) who is stopped because he matches a description of the person who commited the crime. He matched the profile. If this guy is a minority he could sue the gov for millions and win. I hope if he is white he could too. Could you imagine if the guy was black and she said "it was a medium build black guy"? and then said "thats him"? The fall out?
My point is its done all the time but the gov pays. So really we pay.
There is precedent for him to sue all over the country on multiple points.
What if he was in jail for 10 years? She she pay restitution?
I believe instead of the money coming out of my pocket it should come out of the accusers!
I have one other thing I want to mention. Any person who gets raped.. man or women... who does not report it should be held liable if someone else is raped by the same person later!
If they do not report it the person is not exposed. They do not have to register as a sex offender. They are free to roam about society if it is not reported. My feeling is if you don't report it you hold some responsibility in the next rape. In a sense you assisted in the crime.
My thoughts. As you can imagine I know numerous people who have been raped and some who have been falsely accused.

I went to school with a guy who was a real nice guy. Very popular etc.
A freshman accused him of rape after they had sex. He admitted they had sex in court etc and said it was okayed by both.
She said she was a virgin and he raped her. He forced himself on her.
He was about to be found guilty in court when her parents came forward and stated that she has done this multiple times.
Later more things came out about her behavior. Including her coming into my room, locking the door, and trying to have sex with me. I had to force her off of me.
My friend was already expelled from school and labeled a rapist.
How do you apply to another school. He was expelled. There is a stigma to being expelled. He is associated with the term "rapist" at the school we went to also.
I wonder today what has happened to him. He stopped contacting his friends out of depression.
I doubt he has a college degree due to the circumstances. Does he have a decent job? How much has his potential income decreased from this? Can he hold a normal relationship now with the trust issues he has?
The point is his life was greatly effected by that event. He should have sued.
For all I know he could have committed suicide due to the events. It wouldn't surprise me.
The girl victimized him the same way she accused him of victimizing her. Its a crime.

*It should be noted. Only the first paragraph was in response to NYCgirl. She is a sweetheart.

 

[DannoMight]

Originally posted by slatl I went to school with a guy who was a real nice guy. Very popular etc.
A freshman accused him of rape after they had sex. He admitted they had sex in court etc and said it was okayed by both.
She said she was a virgin and he raped her. He forced himself on her.
He was about to be found guilty in court when her parents came forward and stated that she has done this multiple times.
Later more things came out about her behavior. Including her coming into my room, locking the door, and trying to have sex with me. I had to force her off of me.
My friend was already expelled from school and labeled a rapist.
How do you apply to another school. He was expelled. There is a stigma to being expelled. He is associated with the term "rapist" at the school we went to also.
I wonder today what has happened to him. He stopped contacting his friends out of depression.
I doubt he has a college degree due to the circumstances. Does he have a decent job? How much has his potential income decreased from this? Can he hold a normal relationship now with the trust issues he has?
The point is his life was greatly effected by that event. He should have sued.
For all I know he could have committed suicide due to the events. It wouldn't surprise me.
The girl victimized him the same way she accused him of victimizing her. Its a crime.

That is a horrible thing to do to a man. I know this guy whose girlfriend is a cheating whore. She has been ratted out several times by her freinds and other people for cheating on him. One night he went to pick her when she got off work.(she is a cocktail waitress at a strip club) At first he didn't see her anywhere. When he found her she was getting ate out by a co-worker in the back seat of his car. She was flat out busted. So she accused the co-worker of rape to try to cover up her whoring. If she was really trying to stop him from orally pleasing her she could have done more than lay there.

 

[manny78]

Yes and there should be mandatory jail sentence for false claim.

 

[nycgirl]

Slander: A false and malicious statement or report about someone.
** This article doesn't provide much information. But, I don't believe the accusation was false or that it was made with knowledge of its falsity or in reckless disregard of whether it was false or true.

Libel: Defamatory communication in writing.
** The media was more at fault for this, hence why they should be sued (many media outlets carry libel insurance) for throwing his name out there before the test results came back and charges were filed. The defendant may be entitled to recover compensatory damages for defamation upon showing that the media knew publication was false, lacked reasonable grounds for believing it to be true, or acted negligently in failing to properly investigate.


The justice system is not a perfect science. As I stated, he should be able to sue the media for ruining his reputation before charges were field. If his rights were violated because of the city not following rules & procedure when it comes to making arrests and holding people, then yes, he should sue them.

If possible, please cite said precedents where the person arrested sued the victim that "wrongly" accused him (I believe there's a difference between being wrongly accused and maliciously accused). I'm very interested in this.