This civil action was heard by Justice Diane M. Lahaie of the Ontario Court of Justice. The appellant Mr. Maclsaac is appealing his conviction of one count of aggravated assault on the basis that he did not receive a fair trial due to the trials judge speculative reasoning involved in achieving her verdict. The incident in question stems from a collision between the appellant and the complainant in a “no-contact” Ottawa senior men’s hockey league. The incident occurred at the end stages of the game, where the complainant, and the appellant collided causing the complainant lacerations to the face, two missing front teeth, and a concussion.
The Duke lacrosse case implicated criminal actions of: first degree rape, first degree sex offenses’ and kidnapping charges against three Duke University lacrosse players; Collin Finnerty, Reade Seligman and Dean Evans (North Carolina State Bar v. Nifong, 2007,p.18-20). According to Mosteller (2007) the case started with “gang rape allegations” by Crystal Mangum, a black exotic dancer who was also a student at North Carolina Central University on the morning of March 14th, 2006 (p.1337). The alleged rape occurred during the Duke lacrosse teams’ party at 610 North Buchanan Blvd (North Carolina State Bar v. Nifong, 2007,p.1). Suspiciously Mangum could not make any identifications of her attackers even after viewing most Duke lacrosse team members including the names mentioned above and the lacrosse team members who actually lived at 610 North Buchanan Blvd (Mosteller, 2007, p.1407). Mosteller (2007) also mentions that Mike Nifong had to know that
Good afternoon, my name is Torri Piekarski, and it's my pleasure to represent Maycomb County and to serve as a prosecutor in this case. The trial began Mayella Ewell lied under oath to the judge that Tom Robison had raped her. Mayella Ewell committed this crime because she knows that if she tells the truth, then her father would violently act upon her. So, she lied about telling the whole truth and nothing about the truth, so her dad wouldn’t do anything to her about telling the truth. They would just keep everything on the low down together.
After the devastating Recy Taylor rape case, the author researches similar cases about sexually abused black women. She finds a remarkable case about a courageous woman named Joan Little. The Joan Little case was about the abuse by police in a prison that lead Joan Little, a strong woman, to make a tough decision that would change her life. She was faced with either being raped or harm the abuser. She chose to kill the prison officer who was attempting to sexually attack her.
I am all so concern regarding Judge Jessica Colon-Sayre bias regarding the case base on a statement she allegedly made. Apparently in her chastising of my daughter (Jaclyn), Judge Jessica Colon-Sayre supposedly made a statement regarding her personal experience and used it as a point of references in the case, (“She
Id. at 22. Lastly, Plaintiff alleges that Defendants Neven, Nash, and Cox, who is not a named defendant, were “deliberate [sic] indifferent to the Plaintiff’s personal safety by their failure” to create adequate procedures for handling “PREA cases” (Prison Rape Elimination Act). Id. at
The possible biases in jury decision-making will be discussed, including those related to having a celebrity on trial. In addition, this paper will examine the taboo nature of sexual assault cases, the problems that often arise in such cases, and the psychological toll on the victim. One issue with this case is the prosecution’s lack forensic evidence. In a “he said, she said” case that lacks the evidence that jurors expect in order to make their decision, it comes down to whether they believe the defendant or the prosecution. When DNA is not available, other types of physical evidence are examined (LaPorte, G., Nguyen, M., Schwarting, D., Scott, F., Waltke, H., Weiss, D., 2017).
An incident occurring between Kaitlynn Kelly and Calvin Smith is a prime example of the court system’s failure. Kaitlynn met Calvin one night and invited him up to her room for casual sex. Once she noticed that her roommate was in the room asleep, she withdrew her consent and said they would just lay there and go to sleep. As Kaitlynn slept, Calvin began to rape her and woke her up in the process. [1] She became upset with him.
He explains that this in turn leads to unfair representation and unresolved rape cases. Krakauer describes this situation through the case of Kelsey Belnap. After providing convincing evidence to the prosecutor, mother Terry Belnap states, “‘We were left with no answers and no further investigation….I really felt that we were brushed off’” (44). Krakauer uses this testimony to show that the prosecutor's lack of care towards the victim in pushing forth their case.
In the book, Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in College Town, by Jon Krakauer, the reader delves into how rape and sexual assault are treated in the town of Missoula, and the University of Montana. As the reader, we are informed on how the university, the police department, the district attorney’s office, and the community reacted to these rape and sexual assault allegations. We see how the criminal justice system has failed the victims, and are forced to live with what happened to them, while their assailants are free of any burden. The law is set in place to protect people from victimization, but when the men, in this book, are not legally held accountable, then any woman, or man, is more susceptible to victimization. It is interesting
The Negroes were in constant suffering under the racist claws of whites who saw them as their prey. The black community suffered physical violence that made more than just their bodies hurt, violence so painful that made their hearts ache knowing that they were attacked for no other reason than their race. But even those vicious attacks seemed minor compared to the injustice that the blacks suffered. They were guilty of wanting justice so they were sentenced to misery and were tortured. Tortures by those who thought that their color made them unworthy of respect or fair treatment.
Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town is a in-depth look at the issue of sexual assault on college campuses as told through the stories of students at the University of Montana in Missoula. Through the narratives, author Jon Krakauer ties in statistics and information creating an effective work that stands as emotionally compelling while remaining grounded and applying these stories to the greater problem of sexual assault. It tackles one of the biggest problems surrounding sexual assault in general, the treatment of the accused compared with the treatment of the accuser. Though Missoula focuses on the victims, it does provide much of the necessary background and possible motivations for the assaulters. These insights contribute
The article explains how sexual assault continues to be a problem until this very day. When someone is sexually assaulted, it is very hard for them to cope with the fact that someone has touched them in the wrong way. For the ones who commits the assault, it will only become worse for them. A National Study says, “The main source of inmates’ knowledge of prison sex appears to come from their conversations with other inmates”(Response to the Prison Rape Elimination Act). Some inmates could portray the role of acting as if they are there for the victim to talk to, but there are other things that could result from this.
Judges has various roles and2 duties in the constitutional democracy of Canada. They interpret the law, assess the evidence presented, and control how hearings and trials unfold in their courtrooms. Most important of all, judges are impartial decision-makers in the pursuit of justice. (Canadian Superior Courts Judges Association, n.d.). The Canadian Judiciary is an adversarial system of justice and the legal cases are challenged between opposing sides, which assures that evidences and legal disputes will be completely and forcefully presented.
Sexual assault laws have been amended and created over time to ensure the criminal justice system remains sensitive to the tribulations involved in rape trials for the victim. However, the connotative capacity of language used in evidentiary testimonies in rape trials can defeat the purpose of these reforms as ‘language is not merely a means of putting forth evidence in a case, but it in fact transforms the nature of evidence itself, thus influencing the outcome of the case’ (Maheshwari 2014:1). As theorised by Bourdieu (1982) symbolic power as ‘the power to create reality through language’ (Matoesian 1995:38) is successfully employed in rape trials to instil patriarchal and legal domination over the victim. The use of language in courtroom
