Interesting case and discussion. I came across this forum in the context of reading about this case. I read through the first thread and this one. Sledge and “whale” were both arguing fairly effectively presumption of innocence.
It seems that we’ve gotten a bit caught up of late in believing one gender over another in these sorts of cases.
Often motives can be obscure.
I found the discussion about the justice system and how one should view guilt and innocence at its hands disheartening to an extent. Witness testimony generally sucks. People view truth based on nonverbals, how attractive is the speaker, how confident. If all you’ve got is a witness, you don’t have a lot, not without corroborating data.
Look at the Kavanaugh case and how the accuser was judged and how Kavanaugh was judged based on political affiliation of the beholder. The same probably holds here. Those that are, rightfully so, concerned with justice for rape victims, tend toward presumption of guilt. That’s not how our justice system is supposed to work. Presumption of innocence necessarily results in guilty parties walking free. But, that’s a price that we should probably all be willing to pay. The alternative is less pretty.
The justice system doesn’t get it right frequently. It’s an imperfect system and results often favor who has the most resources or the best gift at presenting information.
It seems that we’ve gotten a bit caught up of late in believing one gender over another in these sorts of cases.
Often motives can be obscure.
I found the discussion about the justice system and how one should view guilt and innocence at its hands disheartening to an extent. Witness testimony generally sucks. People view truth based on nonverbals, how attractive is the speaker, how confident. If all you’ve got is a witness, you don’t have a lot, not without corroborating data.
Look at the Kavanaugh case and how the accuser was judged and how Kavanaugh was judged based on political affiliation of the beholder. The same probably holds here. Those that are, rightfully so, concerned with justice for rape victims, tend toward presumption of guilt. That’s not how our justice system is supposed to work. Presumption of innocence necessarily results in guilty parties walking free. But, that’s a price that we should probably all be willing to pay. The alternative is less pretty.
The justice system doesn’t get it right frequently. It’s an imperfect system and results often favor who has the most resources or the best gift at presenting information.