Sexual Assault Trials

I was speaking with someone recently about how cops keep getting acquitted on rape charges despite pretty solid evidence. Whether juries are prone to acquittal for everyone, or if being a police officer grants them more leniency. I would think that civilians would be harsher towards police, since they're supposed to upstanding citizens - since they are responsible for arresting criminals, it seems even more egregious a crime when it is the cop who is the perp.

Yet we know that Franklin Mata and Kenneth Moreno were deemed innocent, and now another NYPD officer (although this one was off-duty) Michael Pena was also not convicted of rape (Although he was convicted on other charges, including predatory sexual assault). In Pena's case, his defense was not that he was innocent (plenty of witnesses saw him assaulting this woman and using his gun as leverage), but that no penetration occurred, and thus, no rape. Despite his DNA being on her underwear, despite her statement of pain, despite marks on her vagina, despite witness testimony. Apparently this is not enough.

So why the acquittal? Why are so many rapists (MOS or not) found not guilty on these horrible charges even in the face of overwhelming evidence? My friend's belief is that cops get off easy because juries don't see them as repeat offenders. They're not the stranger in the bushes that are attacking any woman they see. In which case, we really need more education on sexual assault in schools. Because when a vast majority of rapes are NOT the sociopath in the dark alley, we really need to start convicting the first time offenders, cops or not.

My friend also suggests that rape is so difficult to prove because the act itself is legal, it's just the force that is not, and coercion is hard to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt. Also troublesome is that NY law requires male to female penis to vagina penetration, or vice versa (as a side note, this desperately needs updating). So although sex might be proven, is the force? Hence the Moreno/Mata acquittal. And when the force is proven, is the actual penetration clear? Is it clear that it wasn't another object that was used? (In which case it only counts as sodomy). So without the man's DNA inside the woman, actual rape is almost impossible to prove.

Can we remedy this?

Should we remedy this? The justice system (rightly) revolves around the theory that everyone is innocent until proven guilty. Guilty beyond reasonable doubt. Where there is doubt, there should be acquittal.

So is there anyway that we can get better justice for the victims of this horrible crime? Can we make it any easier, without negatively affecting the very foundation on which this country was built?

Honestly, I don't know. The first step is obviously changing NYS law to reflect federal law (“The penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.”) I believe I still would have voted both those cops guilty. Fortunately, because of the other charges, Pena is still facing a possible life sentence.

These victims need justice. Cops or civilians need to do their time for a crime that causes severe lifelong psychological damage to its victims.

Let's figure out a way to deliver.