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Man acquitted in sex assault because he was asleep
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| Orko |
| quote: | Man acquitted in sex assault because he was asleep
Last Updated Wed, 30 Nov 2005 09:27:49 EST
CBC News
A judge in Toronto has acquitted a 33-year-old man of sexual assault, accepting evidence he was asleep during the attack.
"His conduct was not voluntary," said Justice Russell Otter in a Toronto Sun report.
The woman in the case cried and left the courtroom upon hearing the acquittal and said she fears the ruling could set a precedent.
"I believe the floodgates have been opened." said the woman, who adds she will pursue her case "to the highest level."
The court heard Jan Luedecke and the woman met at a party in July 2003. Both had been drinking and the woman fell asleep on a couch. She woke up to find him having sex with her and pushed him off.
Luedecke testified he only suspected he had been having sex when he went to the bathroom and discovered he was wearing a condom. He confessed to police.
Sleep expert Dr. Colin Shapiro testified that Luedecke had parasomnia, a disorder with symptoms such as sleepwalking. The doctor also said Luedecke suffered from "sexsomnia," which is sexual behaviour during sleep.
Luedecket previously had sex with four girlfriends while asleep.
The court also heard Luedecke had cut down on his drinking and is taking medication to stop his sexsomnia. |
source
can of worms anybody? |
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| zokissima |
| This has got to be one of the STUPIDEST things I've ever heard of in my life. "sexomnia"?????? What the F***? Man, it looks like there is no limit to this new age psycho bull. Apparently everyone suffers from some kind of condition, and rape seems to be included. Absolutely ridiculous. |
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| Stingray |
| Yeah I read this in the paper this morning. Sounds quite fishy to me. Even if he is a 'sexsomniac', he's still a threat to society. Some course of action should be taken! Something more than 'cutting down on his drinking and is taking medication'. |
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| Moral Hazard |
^^^^ people have gotten off on murder due to automatism defences involving sleep walking. There is one rather famous incident of a man who woke up in his bed covered in blood. He had no clue what had happened until he was informed by police that his mother and father in-law had been stabbed to death that night. This man had a well documented history of sleepwalking. Turns out the man drove across town (I cannot remember where this happened) in the middle of the night, killed his in-laws and returned home all while sleeping.
This sort of thing is hardly new and does in fact happen. I do not know the details of this particular instance but provided the accused has a documented history of sleep walking then it is a viable defence and likely a well founded decision. |
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| Skipper |
| quote: | Originally posted by Moral Hazard
^^^^ people have gotten off on murder due to automatism defences involving sleep walking. There is one rather famous incident of a man who woke up in his bed covered in blood. He had no clue what had happened until he was informed by police that his mother and father in-law had been stabbed to death that night. This man had a well documented history of sleepwalking. Turns out the man drove across town (I cannot remember where this happened) in the middle of the night, killed his in-laws and returned home all while sleeping.
This sort of thing is hardly new and does in fact happen. I do not know the details of this particular instance but provided the accused has a documented history of sleep walking then it is a viable defence and likely a well founded decision. |
Agreed
This is hardly setting precedent. |
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| Moral Hazard |
Abstract from study on subject (conducted at UofT I believe)
| quote: |
Sexsomnia—A New Parasomnia?
Colin M Shapiro, MD1, Nikola N Trajanovic, MD2, J Paul Fedoroff, MD3
Parasomnias are well-described, common nocturnal phenomena.
By definition, parasomnias are “events that occur
intermittently or episodically during the night” (1,2). They
may occur in any phase of sleep. Most parasomnias are characterized
by partial arousals before, during, or after the event.
There are several classifications of the major parasomnias—a
widely used description of the types of parasomnias is provided
in DSM-IV (3) and the International Classification of
Sleep Disorders (4). New additions are expected to enter the
International Classification, for example, the newly described
disorder of sleep eating (5) and overlap parasomnias (6).
While parasomnias are considered normal in children, where
the prevalence is relatively high (> 15%), in adults they may
be indicative of a psychopathology, and the prevalence is relatively
low (> 6%) (7). The most common precipitants of
parasomnic behaviour in adults are stress, sleep deprivation,
and alcohol or drug consumption. It is common for family
members to have similar parasomnias.
Can J Psychiatry, Vol 48, No 5, June 2003 311
Objective: To describe a distinct parasomnia involving sexual behaviour, which we have
named sexsomnia.
Method: We have used a case series as a basis for the description of sexsomina.
Results: Eleven patients with distinct behaviours of the sexual nature during sleep are described.
The features in common with other nonrapid eye movement arousal parasomnias,
such as sleepwalking are documented. Some patients had simply been referred to a tertiary
sleep clinic for investigation of unrelated sleep problems. A small number had been involved
in medicolegal issues. Sexsomnia has some distinct features that separate it from
sleepwalking. The automatic arousal is more prominent, motor activities are relatively restricted
and specific, and some form of dream mentation is often present.
Conclusions: A significant number of patients with this unusual parasomnic behaviour
were identified only after specific questions were asked, suggesting that the behaviour is
more common than previously thought. |
From the Canadian Psychiatric Association
http://www.cpa-apc.org/Publications...une/shapiro.pdf |
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| Halycon |
| quote: | Originally posted by Moral Hazard
^^^^ people have gotten off on murder due to automatism defences involving sleep walking. There is one rather famous incident of a man who woke up in his bed covered in blood. He had no clue what had happened until he was informed by police that his mother and father in-law had been stabbed to death that night. This man had a well documented history of sleepwalking. Turns out the man drove across town (I cannot remember where this happened) in the middle of the night, killed his in-laws and returned home all while sleeping.
This sort of thing is hardly new and does in fact happen. I do not know the details of this particular instance but provided the accused has a documented history of sleep walking then it is a viable defence and likely a well founded decision. |
i remember that case from when i studied law. ed up . |
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| Nikitha |
Even as a major in psych this still seems fishy to me...
and when i watched that documentary on the guy that killed his mom and dad-in-law i thought it was rather fishy as well...
my best friend when i was younger had a very CHRONIC sleepwalking problem... and she would hardly ever get out of her room.. so i don't know....
after reading that article it all seems a little too like that final scene in the movie Kids when that guy just decideds to rape that passed out chick on the couch to me..
Nikitha |
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| DigitalMP |
| I used to have sex with my ex while she was sleeping. that was hot...she loved waking up to that. |
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| Ziggy |
| Hey, Michael Jackson tried the same excuse but the lawyer advised him it would be better to declare the kid is "all about the money". |
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| TheVrk |
I agree that this won't be precedent setting,
but can it get any MORE ridiculous?!?!:mad: |
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| StereoPrincess |
apperently the other day on dr. phil there was a couple that was on and their story was ed up like this.
in their case the woman was the one that was sleeping and the man had sex with her. outside the sleeping thing they didn't have sex because the marriage was rocky. but she found herself pregnant and was going crazy. finally the man confessed that he had sex with her while she was asleep. apperently she was a very deep sleeper. |
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