Guilty until proven innocent

- and no, I do not have that the wrong way around.

Those of you in Downunder who have been following "that trial" (you know the one I mean) will now know that there will not be a retrial after the jury had to be dismissed.

There was always going to be some doubt about the case. Rape is notoriously hard to prosecute. It almost always relies on "he said/she said". There will very rarely be any other witnesses. It is never kind to the victim. 

The jury was dismissed because one of the jurors allegedly took it on himself/herself to do some research and take a research paper into the jury room. The nature of that research paper was, we have been told, to do with why those alleging they have been raped will lie about the (alleged) experience. Yes, I am trying to be careful here. It has been suggested to me that taking in the research paper was a deliberate act designed to ensure that the jury did not need to come to a decision. Yes, that in itself suggests that (at very least) a majority of them had come to a decision but all of them had to agree. We will likely never know what that decision might have been.

Most of the sympathy in both mainstream and social media has always been on the side of the alleged victim. That is also completely understandable. She was, if media accounts are correct, drunk at the time so the point of view taken by many is that "he took advantage of her".  Although some of her statements have been shown not to be true these have been dismissed as being of little or even no importance. The matter of a $325,000 "book deal" has also been met with, "Well, if she can get something out of it, why not?" The involvement of some members of the media has been seen not as interference in the justice system but as support for the alleged victim. That book deal is now in doubt. It would be a legal minefield with respect to defamation.

Now yes it is quite possible that she is telling the truth and that she deserves sympathy and support. I have no idea because I have not been in court to hear what she has had to say. I am concerned, very concerned, that she is now in hospital being treated for mental health issues - those same issues which have allegedly caused the prosecutors to abandon the case. The media is now reporting the alleged victim was found wandering the streets alone in the rain. She is obviously in a very bad place right now.

But there is also something else we need to consider. We need to consider the alleged perpetrator. He has not been declared innocent. If the media reports today are anything to go on then there is an even greater determination to paint him as guilty.  We do not know whether he would have been found guilty. Those prosecuting the case inevitably say they believe he would have been. Those defending him did have an opportunity to point out the many holes and flaws in the prosecution case but the case was not resolved one way or another. 

If the alleged perpetrator is innocent then the harm done to him is as great as that done to the alleged victim. There are no winners. The alleged perpetrator is left with little or no chance of employment, his name forever associated with that one event. The case is not yet over for him. There is always the possibility the case could be reactivated. It will hang over him until it is resolved one way or another. We might want to sympathise with the alleged victim but, unless proven guilty, the alleged perpetrator has for now also to be considered innocent under the law.