How Often Do You Handle Cases Where Drugs And Alcohol Are Involved In The Sex Crime?

Sometimes it is difficult to ascertain that drugs and alcohol were involved in a sex crime case. In many sexual type crimes, the actual incident is a little nebulous in terms of what exactly happened. If it’s a child case, the actual incident can be fuzzy to the child. The way they describe it may not be complete, and so it’s hard to know if drugs or alcohol played a role. However, it certainly can play a role.

A sex crime is not just sexual assault, it can be indecency by contact or exposure. Indecency by contact or exposure are very serious sexual offenses. Sexual assault, by definition, has to involve some form of penetration, regardless of whether it’s an adult or child.

In one specific case, an adult male was very intoxicated, and he was being inappropriate toward his cousin. His cousin was underage. She was around 14 or 15 years old, but looked older. would say maybe in her 20s, early 20s, she had grown or matured faster. Again, he was very intoxicated, and said very explicit things, which he admitted to later. In addition to saying explicit remarks, he slapped her on the butt. Consequently, that’s indecency by contact because he was saying very aggressive and promiscuous things to her along with unwanted contact. He admitted to doing it, and admitted to being intoxicated. But honestly, it does not matter. Intoxication by nature with any offense, especially sexual crimes, cannot be used as a defense to negate intent.

What Role Does Forensic Evidence And Experts Play In Sex Crime Cases?

Forensic evidence and experts play a major role in sex crime cases. They’re even more important in sexual assault cases involving children. There’s a wonderful book called Jeopardy in the Courtroom that has essential statistics and information in regard to why children make false allegations. The book describes how the proposition of repeating over and over again the alleged occurrence or lie that they might have constructed, could then become the truth in the child’s head. As a result, when you go to trial, that person, who’s testifying many years later, can sometimes believe that they’re telling the truth. Forensic evidence cannot be underscored enough. In fact, analyzing the forensic interview is forensic evidence by nature by how it’s done and how the questions are asked.

Physical evidence, such as DNA also greatly contributes to sex crime cases. If you look back to the O.J. Simpson trial, DNA was very new, but Barry Scheck probably played the most important role in O.J.’s acquittal. Barry Scheck knew a lot about DNA at a time when no one did. He was so passionate about how all the evidence was mishandled, and that none of the DNA could be trusted. However, I think that there would be a different paradigm if that happened today. But during the early 90s, attorneys didn’t know about DNA, but Barry Scheck did. He knew how DNA, hair, fibers, and things like that were collected.

Any physical trauma that results in medical reports is an invasive investigative tool, but it can determine a lot of things in sexual assault cases. An expert is also employed. An expert is essential because whatever an attorney says in a trial is an argument, not a testimony. In theory, even if I could state everything an expert would say in court, it would all be arguments. It would not be testimony. But an expert could present the same types of evidence, and whatever they said would actually be testimony for the jury to consider. I’ve had trials in which I’ve gone through different books in the courtroom while asking the experts, what does this book state? What is that? What does this one state? They’ll give the statistics behind those questions. Therefore, an expert is as equal to the forensic evidence. Without an expert, you’re not going to be able to get any of that information or statistics into evidence.

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