What Are Some Defense Strategies Used In Sex Crime Cases?

An investigator in a sex crime case can be employed as part of a defense strategy. Sometimes there are motives behind sex crimes. Perhaps it’s a scorned lover. Initiating the forensic interview can help answer any motive behind adults and the outcry witness. For instance, the outcry witness could be a child while the person who the child confides in could be a motivated adult with some sort of axe to grind against the accused.

Also, reviewing all of the physical evidence can produce defense strategies. Sometimes there are reasons why people say certain things. Or, if they report something to the police, perhaps they don’t remember it. They’re too afraid to go back on what they’ve said. Again, that lie can become the truth. There is a myriad of different strategies, but it is based on every single case. The circumstances are going to be different in all sexual types of crime. Every case may be different, but there are defenses to be employed. Experts are very important in sex crime cases because of how much work begins with the amount of forensic evidence that is present, and how they can extrapolate or interpret the evidence for a jury.

How Should My Defense Attorney Handle My Case If I Have Been Falsely Accused Of Child Abuse?

In any type of assault case, including sexual assault, indecency, or unwanted contact without penetration, the first thing to ascertain is whether or not the witness wants to go forward with the prosecution or work with a defense attorney. For example, the DA sometimes gets irritated if you try to contact the CW saying that this is our witness, you don’t have right to do that because it’s witness tampering. However, that’s not the case. Witness tampering or obstruction only occurs, if the person has made it clear that they do not want to talk to the defense attorney or representative, such as an investigator, and you do so or try to do so anyway.

They have every opportunity, and you can talk to that person as much you want as long as they’re willing. If they are not, they’ve made that clear, and so, if you’ve been wrongly accused ascertaining that is paramount. If they do want to talk, or willing to talk to you, getting an investigator on board or someone that can talk to the person is the number one thing. The investigator can start ferreting out motive, what the story is, and how it may differ. Therefore, if you can talk to the complaining witness to start developing a defense, that is the first step, and that necessarily wouldn’t hurt the accuser. And that’s also why it’s important to have someone, though, sometimes it’s better if an attorney does not do it. Even if it isn’t a defense attorney, if it’s a DA, a police officer, or the same forensic interviewer that asked them to describe the details of the incident, it’s often better if it’s just a layperson like an investigator that asks general questions. That definitely wouldn’t hurt the accuser. There’s nothing that’s discrediting, it’s just sort of getting to the truth.

What Is A False Memory As It Applies To Sex Crime Cases?

False memory in sex crime cases can be applied in two ways. For instance, there was a case once that involved an individual who was very intoxicated when the incident occurred. The individual had been ingesting cocaine and consuming Everclear, which is believed to be one of the most powerful types of alcohol in existence. The combination of two results in total memory loss. Now, the key thing to remember is that there’s a difference between someone being passed out or being blacked out. In her case, she was actually blacked out. She wasn’t passed out. She was blacked out because those two types of substances that she ingested prevented the synapse in her brain from forming memories.

Consequently, she had no recollection of whatever occurred. The other person involved in the incident swore that everything was consensual, that was the actual contested matter. If a person was passed out, it’d be a situation where someone would give them drugs to do stuff to them, which is definitely a crime, and they would have no memory of it. But, if a person is blacked out because they ingested cocaine and Everclear, where their synapse doesn’t connect, they could have developed a false memory or no memory at all.

Cases involving children is another way in which false memory can be applied. False memory is very common with children because they’re in the early stages of forming memories and maturing as people. If they say something, or if a thought is implanted into their memory, especially as they grow, a false memory can become the truth in their minds. As children, those lies, so to speak, that they’ve been told, become the truth. And so, when they testify at trial, that false memory that they once thought or knew was false can become the truth in their minds. Therefore, when they testify, they think they’re telling the truth, even though it’s actually a false allegation. The book, Jeopardy in the courtroom, is a very good book talks about false memory implantation of children, and how that false allegation or memory can then become the truth in their own mind.

What Will Happen If I Am Falsely Accused Of Child Abuse During A Divorce?

If you’re going through a divorce, and your spouse is falsely accusing you of child abuse, the prosecutor will not take that into account when pressing charges. They’ll move forward regardless. In fact, they could move forward more vigorously because they might think that the defendant might have done so due to the acrimony in the divorce. Accordingly, if a child has made an outcry or anyone has made an accusation of sexual assault, the allegation wouldn’t be mitigated because the accused is going through a divorce.

Also, the prosecutor won’t be investigating that part of a person’s life. However, a defense attorney should investigate. One of the first sexual assault cases that I had involved that very exact scenario. Two people were going through a divorce, and during that divorce, the stepchildren made an outcry. The children made an outcry because the parents were going through a divorce. The case ended up getting dismissed. After Polygraph tests, and swearing that they didn’t do it, the DA had him come in to talk to them, which I’m usually against, but in this case, I felt like he had nothing to lose. I would say that was an exception rather than a rule, and usually they wouldn’t take that into account, and if they did, it would be to someone’s detriment.

For more information on Defense Strategies In Sex Crime Cases, a free consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (469) 900-0000 today.