9-8-2010 United Kingdom:
TWO Accrington men acquitted of sexually assaulting a woman have told of their ‘two years of hell’ since being accused.
Paul Berry, 33, of Park Road, Richard O’Brien, 26, of Norfolk Grove, both Accrington, and Jamie Clayton, 30, of Rossendale Avenue, Morecambe, were cleared by a jury following a second trial.
They were accused of carrying out a sex attack on the woman after she claimed they had bullied her outside a house in Riding Barn Street, Accrington, on September 26, 2008.
The men had insisted they just exchanged banter with the woman, and were stunned days later to find they had been accused of sexually assault.
Mr Berry and Mr O’Brien said the accusations led to them being shunned by friends and work colleagues and branded ‘rapists’ by vigilantes who vandalised their homes.
Both have added their voices to the debate over anonymity for men accused of sex attacks, saying ‘mud sticks’. The new coalition government were said to be proposing a change in the law to work alongside the anonymity of victims.
In April 2009, the three men first stood trial at Burnley Crown Court and jurors failed to reach a verdict.
When the retrial finished after four days, the jury took just 12 minutes to return unanimous not guilty verdicts last week.
Father-of-one Mr Berry, who works at Asda supermarket in Accrington, said: “When I was suspended from work, that made me look guilty straight away. I’ve had colleagues shouting ‘Oi, rapist’ in front of customers.
“My family have stood by me even though I can’t even go into my local pub.”
Mr O’Brien said he was angry about that the case was brought to court: “I’ve had my door kicked in and my windows smashed for something I didn’t do.
“This has been hanging over us for two years. It’s been embarrassing. I saw a friend and he wouldn’t speak to me, then his girlfriend said ‘You're up for raping a girl’.
“When we got the not guilty verdict it felt like the world had been lifted of my shoulders.
“Yet because we were accused, people still think we’re guilty. There should be anonymity for the accused until proven guilty.” ..Source.. Sam Chadderton, Crime reporter
September 8, 2010
Accrington men tell sex assault charges 'hell'
December 6, 2009
Wrongful imprisonment leads to $2 million claim
The cost of false accusations: A story that needs to be told and one that sends spouses to prison far to often.12-6-2009 Alabama:
MONTGOMERY -- A Birmingham woman says her husband died from the stress of being wrongfully imprisoned for the sexual abuse of two young girls, and she wants nearly $2 million in compensation from the state.
The state has already agreed to pay Donna Doyle $129,000, and it has never awarded more than $1 million for a wrongful imprisonment.
But in her view, $129,000 doesn't begin to cover the pain and financial loss that her husband, Robert "Bob" Doyle, endured before his death.
"It's been a long battle. But my faith is still strong," she said.
A legislative committee will soon recommend how much, if any, to add to what the state has already agreed to pay Doyle.
Alabama law provides for $50,000 a year for wrongful incarceration. The Legislature can go above that in special circumstances, but it never has.
"Whatever we do now will be a precedent for the future," said Democratic Sen. Roger Bedford of Russellville, chairman of the Legislative's Wrongful Incarceration Committee.
Robert Doyle was making about $49,000 a year as a salesman for an insurance company in Montgomery before his ex-wife accused him of sexually abusing the two girls. In 1992, a Montgomery jury convicted him of abusing the two, ages 7 and 9, and he was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
He served about two years and seven months before a state appeals court threw out his convictions because the prosecutor had not disclosed to the defense that the girls had accused another man of sexually abusing them. ¶
The appeals court also pointed out that the prosecutor in the case, former Alabama Attorney General Charlie Graddick, had also represented Doyle's ex-wife in their bitter divorce prior to her accusations against him.
Graddick, now a judge in Mobile, said state judicial rules limit public comments by judges, and he would need to consult with state's Judicial Inquiry Commission before making any comment.
Bob Doyle got a Montgomery judge to rule in 2005 that he had been wrongfully incarcerated, but Doyle died of congestive heart failure in 2007 without seeing a dime of compensation from the Legislature.
The Legislature voted in May to give his widow the $50,000 a year authorized by law. It came to $129,041.
She and her legal team told a legislative committee Wednesday that they are requesting an additional $1.86 million to cover legal fees, medical bills, lost wages, and costs for pursuing compensation for wrongful incarceration. ..Source.. al.com
Birmingham widow seeks $2 million for husband's wrongful conviction on abuse charges
MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- A Birmingham widow says her husband died from the stress of being wrongfully imprisoned for the sexual abuse of his two young daughters, and she wants nearly $2 million in compensation from the state.
The state has already agreed to pay Donna Doyle $129,000, and it has never awarded more than $1 million for a wrongful imprisonment.
But in her view, $129,000 doesn't begin to cover the pain and financial loss that her husband, Robert "Bob" Doyle, endured before his death.
"It's been a long battle. But my faith is still strong," she said.
A legislative committee will soon recommend how much, if any, to add to what the state has already agreed to pay Doyle.
Alabama law provides for $50,000 a year for wrongful incarceration. The Legislature can go above that in special circumstances, but it never has.
"Whatever we do now will be a precedent for the future," said Democratic Sen. Roger Bedford of Russellville, chairman of the Legislative's Wrongful Incarceration Committee.
Robert Doyle was making about $49,000 a year as a salesman for an insurance company in Montgomery before his ex-wife accused him of sexually abusing their daughters. In 1992, a Montgomery jury convicted him of abusing his daughters, ages 7 and 9, and he was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
He served about two years and seven months before a state appeals court threw out his convictions because the prosecutor had not disclosed to the defense that the girls had accused another man of sexually abusing them.
"In the present case, the new evidence casts fundamental doubt on the accuracy and reliability of the proceedings to such as extent that it undermines the entire prosecution and it points unerringly to R.D.'s innocence," the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals ruled.
The appeals court also pointed out that the prosecutor in the case, former Alabama Attorney General Charlie Graddick, had also represented Doyle's ex-wife in their bitter divorce prior to her accusations against him.
Graddick, now a judge in Mobile, said state judicial rules limit public comments by judges, and he would need to consult with state's Judicial Inquiry Commission before making any comment.
Bob Doyle got a Montgomery judge to rule in 2005 that he had been wrongfully incarcerated, but Doyle died of congestive heart failure in 2007 without seeing a dime of compensation from the Legislature.
The Legislature voted in May to give his widow the $50,000 a year authorized by law. It came to $129,041.
She and her legal team told a legislative committee Wednesday that they are requesting an additional $1.86 million to cover legal fees, medical bills, lost wages, and costs for pursuing compensation for wrongful incarceration.
"There is no dispute he was wrongfully incarcerated," Bedford, the committee chairman, said.
"I wish my husband was here to hear that," Donna Doyle said.
Montgomery's district attorney, Ellen Brooks, said Doyle's widow may be due an additional $107,000 to cover her husband's legal bills from his appeal, but the widow is trying to recover for many expenses that are not allowed by state law.
The district attorney said Robert Doyle had heart problems before entering prison and he worsened the problem behind bars because receipts from the prison canteen show he made almost daily purchases of cigarettes and foods high in sugar and salt -- "items that a man in his condition should have avoided."
The committee plans to take a few weeks to consider the case and will make a recommendation to the Legislature in January.
Donna Doyle married her husband after his conviction but before he began his prison sentence. She recalled dropping him off to begin his sentence with nothing more than his Bible. An hour later, he contacted her, asking her to send Bibles to two men he had met in his holding cell.
When he got out of prison, he couldn't return to the insurance business. No one wanted to hire a convicted sex offender -- even one who had been cleared. Instead, he started a ministry program in Birmingham helping ex-felons get schooling and jobs.
His widow continues that ministry today.
"Bob was never bitter, but it has been a struggle for me, knowing what he went through and his untimely death," she said. ..Source.. al.com
October 20, 2009
False Rape Charge ‘Ruined His Life’ But No Repercussions for Her
10-20-2009 National:
Since Emily Bazelon claims to be concerned about false rape claims, I'd be interested in her take on this one (LoHud.com, 10/1/09). But it's more than just a false rape claim, it's a false DV claim and parental kidnapping all rolled into one. Into the bargain, the perpetrator got off scott free. So what say you Ms. Bazelon? Anything?
It all started when Stephen Vaughn had an argument with his wife. Vaughn is an injured war veteran with a prescription for Percocet to help him deal with the pain from his injuries. So when his wife kept pilfering his pain meds to feed her addiction, he got angry, confronted her, yelled and slammed his hand down onto the bed. He threatened to have her removed from the house if she didn't stop abusing drugs and alcohol.
That got him thrown out of his house and out of his autistic son's life via the usual expedient, a temporary restraining order. But his wife Rebecca didn't stop there. She gilded the lily by adding a rape charge, a kidnapping charge and numerous others.
So Vaughn was arrested and spent a year in jail. Although the article is not clear, it appears that the grand jury refused to indict Vaughn on the rape charge, but last month he was tried and acquitted of kidnapping and other unspecified charges. As things stand now, he's free (as in, "nothin' left to lose") and his attorney has written to the district attorney requesting that Rebecca Vaughn be charged with perjury. She's fled New York for the sunny climes of Florida, taking their son with her. Stephen hasn't seen the boy in over a year and doesn't expect to any time soon.
Incomprehensibly enough, the otherwise sympathetic article says that "the system actually worked in the end." Really? I wonder if Vaughn would agree. Let's see. He was falsely accused, spent who knows how much on legal fees, spent a year in jail, lost his house, his job and his son. His attorney says, "His life is ruined." And his wife has so far suffered no repercussions at all.
If that's the system "working," I'd hate to see what happens when it's broken. Perhaps Emily Bazelon can explain. ..Source.. by Robert Franklin, Esq.
September 18, 2009
NY- Rape accusation 'traumatizing,' former suspect says
9-18-2009 New York:
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Four young men falsely accused of raping an 18-year-old student at Hofstra University were trying to return to their normal lives Friday after an ordeal that two of them described as traumatic.
I was really scared. I couldn't believe what was basically going through my mind. It was like a big nightmare, and I thought I was going to do time for something I didn't do," 20-year-old Kevin Taveras said on HLN's "Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell."
"It was devastating," he said. "I was there just letting the clock tick and tick."
Authorities dropped charges and freed the four men hours after their accuser changed her story about having been forcibly tied up and sexually assaulted in a dormitory bathroom.
"The woman admitted the encounters with each of the men were consensual," Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice told reporters.
The woman recanted her story after authorities told her that part of the incident was recorded on a cell phone video, Rice said.
"That was when she began to tell the truth," Rice said.
Authorities have not released the accuser's name.
"I believe that it is a question of potential safety for her, and the investigation is ongoing," Rice said.
It is against the law to report a crime when there was not one, Rice said. Authorities gave no indication whether the woman may face charges.
"Her actions and her demeanor depict a very troubled young woman in need of much help," Rice said.
Hofstra University has suspended her pending hearings into the matter.
Only one of the four accused is a Hofstra student. He has been allowed to return to campus. None has publicly described what happened that night.
CNN affiliate WABC-TV of New York spoke with another of the accused, Stan Felipe.
"We respect women," he said. "We know how to treat a lady. The thing they said with the rope? Come on. That's disgusting. That's what we were looked at as: disgusting men."
"It did traumatize us," Felipe said. "I'm just happy to be home finally."
Taveras also spoke with WABC.
"It was traumatizing," he told the station. "It's supposed to be innocent until proven guilty."
He added, "We were treated like animals."
They thought they might go to prison for 25 years for something they didn't do, Taveras said.
His mother felt as though "she was imprisoned with me," Taveras told HLN. "My whole family was imprisoned because of this."
Taveras' attorney had sharp criticism for police in the case.
"They paraded their photos in front of the media. They held this press conference. They released all these terrible details about this alleged rape that never took place. And you know, they went off half-cocked, basically," Victor Daly-Rivera said.
Sgt. Anthony Repalone, spokesman for the Nassau County Police Department, told CNN on Friday that the department had no comment. ..Source.. by CNN.com
