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Nutter's "The idiots are winning" thread number 17
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| Trance Nutter |
| quote: | BOSTON—Prosecutors say they cannot press rape charges against a pharmacist who allegedly posed as a gynecologist and examined two women because of a half-century old state law that says an assault can't be considered rape if consent is obtained through fraud or deceit.
Police charged pharmacist Nicholas Creanza with rape after he allegedly lured the women into the back room of his Springfield pharmacy and gave them exams. Because the women consented to the exams, even though they were being deceived, by law it could not be considered rape, Hampden County prosecutors said in dropping the charges.
Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court urged lawmakers to close that loophole in the law in a 2007 case in which they found a man could not be prosecuted for rape for duping his brother's girlfriend into having sex.
The court said state law currently defines rape as sexual intercourse compelled by force and against the will of the victim. Fraud cannot be allowed to replace the force required under the law, the court found.
Hampden County prosecutors referred to that case in dropping the charges last month against Creanza.
"The facts and circumstances of this case clearly indicate that the victim's consent was obtained by fraud and deception. However, the Commonwealth is unable to proceed with the prosecution of this case in light of (the SJC ruling)," Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Dineen said in court papers.
Creanza was arrested in 2005 after two women told police he assaulted them at the Louis & Clark pharmacy in Springfield.
One of the two women later decided not to go forward with the charges, Hampden District Attorney William Bennett said through a spokesperson.
Bennett did not return calls seeking comment Friday on the decision to drop the charges against Creanza in the other case.
Wendy Murphy, a Boston attorney and victim's advocate who teaches a seminar on sexual violence at the New England School of Law, questioned the decision to drop the charges.
"It is not possible to consent to a medical exam by a nonmedical professional," she said. "If it's not a medical exam, what's left? It's a sexual assault."
Neither Creanza, 59, of Wilbraham, nor his attorney, Jack St. Clair, returned calls seeking comment. St. Clair told The Republican of Springfield that Creanza has always denied the charges and plans to return to work as a pharmacist.
In court papers, St. Clair said there was no evidence of rape or indecent assault and battery. He said the grand jury that indicted Creanza heard testimony that the woman was pregnant, and Creanza asked her if she was happy with her obstetrics care. When the woman said no, Creanza offered to make a referral. They then went to Creanza's office, where he performed an examination.
St. Clair's memorandum said the woman never told Creanza she was uncomfortable or called out to the person in the next room.
Springfield police Sgt. John Delaney said he hopes the decision to drop the charges against Creanza will not have a chilling effect on rape victims.
"We can't be discouraged nor do we want victims to be discouraged when they come forward and something like this happens," Delaney said.
State Rep. Peter Koutoujian, D-Waltham, said he has been working with the Massachusetts District Attorneys Association to draft legislation that would add deceit and fraud to the rape statute.
"The way the law was written is the old understanding of what rape was. It was a forcible act," Koutoujian said.
"In fact, we know now through decades of work with victims that rape is not necessarily only a physical act. You don't need to use force in order to rape someone. It's really the act of consent that is more pivotal to the charge of rape."
The SJC's 2007 ruling came in the case of a Westfield man who was accused of impersonating his brother and raping his brother's girlfriend in a darkened room. The woman told police she was asleep alone in the bedroom she shared with her longtime boyfriend when a man came in, climbed into bed and had sexual intercourse with her. The woman said that during the intercourse she believed the man was her boyfriend, and if she known it was his brother, she would not have consented.. |
http://www.boston.com/news/local/ma...ail_to_a_friend
The fact a law exists that lets people get away with disgusting acts like this makes me wonder who the idiots in the example are, the people carrying out the act or the lawmakers:rolleyes:
Yeah a bit of a heavy one this time, no funny/amusement
I can't claim credit for finding this, I was directed to it by the drugmonnkey blog. |
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| Ian |
| this reminds me of law & order so much, some of the laws they have and the way people fight against it is really, weird & ed up. |
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