US rape case loophole prompts uproar

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20918642

US rape case loophole prompts uproar

California lawmakers have vowed to close a loophole that allowed a man's rape conviction to be overturned because his victim was not married.

An arcane state law says a person who gets consent for sex by pretending to be someone else is guilty of rape only if posing as the victim's spouse.

Julio Morales was initially convicted of rape after tricking a woman into sex by pretending to be her boyfriend.

A similar loophole has already been closed in the state of Idaho.

In the California case from four years ago, Morales went into a room and had sex with an 18-year-old woman after her boyfriend, whom she had fallen asleep beside, had left.

Tricked into sex
She awoke to the sensation of having sex with Morales, a friend of her brother.

She only realised the man in her bed was not her partner when a ray of light from outside the room flashed across his face.

Defence lawyers argued that Morales believed the sex was consensual because the victim had responded to his kisses and caresses. But he was sentenced to three years in prison.

In its ruling on Wednesday, the California appeal court reluctantly decided that Morales was not guilty of rape, because he was pretending to be the woman's boyfriend and not her husband.

A law dating back to 1872 makes it a crime for a man to have sex with a woman while posing as her husband, but not as a boyfriend.

Judge Thomas Willhite wrote in the court's decision: "Has the man committed rape? Because of historical anomalies in the law and the statutory definition of rape, the answer is no, even though, if the woman had been married and the man had impersonated her husband, the answer would be yes."

A similar law in the state of Idaho prevented an unmarried woman from pressing rape charges three years ago after she was tricked into sex with a stranger by her then-boyfriend.

Idaho's law was amended to cover all women in 2011.

California Attorney General Kamala Harris has promised to work with politicians to amend that state's law.

State assemblyman Katcho Achadjian said on Friday that he would introduce a bill.

"Californians are justifiably outraged by this court ruling, and it is important that the legislature join together to close whatever loopholes may exist in the law and uphold justice for rape victims," he said.

Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal said she would back him.

"Allowing this [law] to stand in the 21st Century would be like applying horse and buggy standards to our freeways," she said in a statement, reported by the Los Angeles Times.
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In SA the guy would never have been arrested in the first place or the police would have bungled the rape test kit. :rolleyes:
 
I don't understand.

An arcane state law says a person who gets consent for sex by pretending to be someone else is guilty of rape only if posing as the victim's spouse.
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So, if I rape a girl by pretending to be George Clooney (who is not married), I can get away scot free?
 
Garyvdh said:
You can pretend to be anybody except her husband.
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So there are two people you may NOT be .... if you rape a woman.

The first is you ... the real you.
And the second is the woman's husband.

Aside from these two personas you can be anyone you like and get away with the rape.
 
Guys are dishonest when picking up girls all the time; doesn't make it rape. Rape specifically requires the lack of consent. You can sue him for emotional damage due to fraud though.
 
More like tricked sex than pure rape.If a woman consents to a gang bang, is it rape if she doesn't fancy one of the guys but he goes ahead anyway wihout her knowledge?
 
Garson007 said:
Guys are dishonest when picking up girls all the time; doesn't make it rape. Rape specifically requires the lack of consent. You can sue him for emotional damage due to fraud though.
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No, it requires the lack of informed consent. That's why children can't give consent, for example.

If you think you're fking an entirely different person, you are not informed. What constitutes "informed" is where it gets messy, but what they are suggesting happened here is a no brainer.

MexicanStandoff said:
More like tricked sex than pure rape.If a woman consents to a gang bang, is it rape if she doesn't fancy one of the guys but he goes ahead anyway wihout her knowledge?
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If she didn't consent with that guy, then yes, that is rape. He can't just "jump in" because "everyone is having a go" if that's what you're suggesting.
 
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MexicanStandoff said:
More like tricked sex than pure rape.If a woman consents to a gang bang, is it rape if she doesn't fancy one of the guys but he goes ahead anyway wihout her knowledge?
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No sorry that is rape.
 
TheHiveMind said:
What constitutes "informed" is where it gets messy, but what they are suggesting happened here is a no brainer.
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I'm not saying it was the case here.

Although this case is interesting, like I said, from a psychological angle.

satanboy said:
We don't have such a crazy law, but you go and look for the most negative thing you can say about SA. Sheesh
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Gary will always have something negative to say about South Africa in a completely unrelated thread.

Alan said:
No sorry that is rape.
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Bull****. How in God's name is that rape? She consented to the experience and it was her duty to make sure she knew what she was getting into, she didn't. The fact that she didn't know who she would have sex with is her own problem.
 
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Garson007 said:
Bull****. How in God's name is that rape? She consented to the experience and it was her duty to make sure she knew what she was getting into, she didn't. The fact that she didn't know who she would have sex with is her own problem.
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WTF are you smoking? Or better yet, WTF did you do?
 
If an unwanted gangbanger slips in with the crowd, technically illegal as it is, I think the victim is going to have a difficult time convincing the judge of his lack of consent.

The judge will probably throw out the case.
 
Garson007 said:
Bull****. How in God's name is that rape? She consented to the experience and it was her duty to make sure she knew what she was getting into, she didn't. The fact that she didn't know who she would have sex with is her own problem.
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Sounds like she awoke to this dude already doing the deed and only continued on with it assuming it was her boyfriend she had fallen asleep next to. That doesn't mean she consented to having sex with that individual.

If you want sex from someone ask them and make sure you get consent. Don't just stick it in while they are sleeping. Sounds like rape to me.
 
So now she is in a dark room and someone says "my name is brad pitt and i'd like to bang you till dawn".
She throws herself on to the bed & flicks her legs into the air and they go at it till dawn. Still panting wildly, she exclaims "again brad, again". They go at it again.
Afterwards, declaring that to be the best sex ever, so good that he can bang her in the bus, on the train, even in the fresh produce section of shoprite - she proclaims her undying love and asks him to marry her.
He says: " i-yes, but my name is juliaas".

Would that be rape ?
 
grantza said:
So now she is in a dark room and someone says "my name is brad pitt and i'd like to bang you till dawn".
She throws herself on to the bed & flicks her legs into the air and they go at it till dawn. Still panting wildly, she exclaims "again brad, again". They go at it again.
Afterwards, declaring that to be the best sex ever, so good that he can bang her in the bus, on the train, even in the fresh produce section of shoprite - she proclaims her undying love and asks him to marry her.
He says: " i-yes, but my name is juliaas".

Would that be rape ?
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Honestly, I love the internet. You don't even need a full moon for the complete nutters to come out :p
 
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