I remember asking one of my co-workers back in 2009 the question: If you were ever a part of a jury in two trials against men that have committed the same type of crime, with one man being wealthy, having grown up in a privileged household, and the other being poor, struggling for daily survival in the gutter, whom would you presume innocent or guilty of the crime at the onset of the trial? Whom would you enact stricter punishment on at the end?
Surprisingly, my coworker answered: I would think the rich man to be guilty, because depending on the crime, what reason would a well off individual have to commit any crime at all, petty or grand?
Unfortunately, many of my fellow liberals always seem to assume the same thing when it comes to high profile cases, like the most recent one involving Dominique Strauss Kahn and rape charges brought against him by a hotel maid.
At the very beginning of his trial, fellow liberals and lefties alike were chanting: stop blaming the victims, Straussie go to jail, wearing provocative clothing does not entail an automatic yes to sexual advances; DSK is a serial rapist etc.
The trend of saying things like: Oh she deserved to be raped! Just look at the way she dresses, is a deplorable trend. The attitude of individuals proclaiming this view has reached a new low. However, involving DSK, no one, so far as I’m aware, has made the claim that the victim provoked Mr. Kahn into raping her.
Of course all of these calls to find DSK guilty of the crime, presuming the man guilty at the onset of the trial, fly right out the window in the face of hard evidence.
Still, rape is not to be taken lightly and the presumption of innocence must still be given to the accused until all of the evidence is presented and then a judgment made. Are these not the fundamentals of justice?
Fortunately, the charges laid by the Guinean hotel-maid Nafissatou Diallo were dropped by a New York judge on the recommendation of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. The District Attorney cited issues with the credibility of Ms. Nafissatou’s testimony and evidence.
There is only the matter of Ms. Diallo’s civil suit that needs to be dealt with. Whether new and more incriminating evidence surfaces in the civil suit remains to be seen, but if not then that case will also surely follow suit in being dropped.
However, Mr. Kahn is not out of the woods yet since suspicion lingers and he is still to face similar lawsuits in his home country, France.
Whether these cases are indeed cases involving rape or just money-grabbing remain to be seen.
I am no expert, but I think the only thing worse than a criminal getting away unpunished and the victim not receiving justice, is condemning a man or woman, rich or poor, for a crime he or she did not commit.
