Comment by IanDrake
13 years ago
> Your wife tries to testify in your favor at the trial...
Why would she do that? The only way you've gotten this far is because she's pressing charges.
13 years ago
> Your wife tries to testify in your favor at the trial...
Why would she do that? The only way you've gotten this far is because she's pressing charges.
No, the AG is pressing charges, ostensibly on her behalf, because everyone thinks she was in denial about the abuse. Alternatively, even if everyone agrees she consented, consent isn't a legally recognized defense to all forms of battery and you also have to consider sodomy laws: in the hands of a conservative judge/jury, what you were doing actually was illegal, even though you were consenting adults and nobody got (permanently) hurt, which is the standard most "reasonable" people go by nowadays.
IANAL and the little I know about the intersection of kinky sex and law comes from a single presentation I attended years ago during college. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm fairly certain I have the broad strokes drawn correctly.
As someone active in the kink scene, the current legal situation seems to be:
Sadomasochism is probably illegal in most states, but no prosecutor seems eager for the shitshow that would happen if they tried to prosecute something that was clearly consensual.
Chalk another point up for 'selective enforcement'? :P
Ok...I was generalizing from a friend's somewhat related experience. He was asked and chose not to press assault charges in MA and that was the end of it.
On second look, it seems that the state has a lot of discretion in these cases.
IANAL, but in some states there are certain legal mechanisms that prevent domestic violence victims to back off and drop their charges (as a "safeguard" against intimidation leading to dropped charges).
I wouldn't be surprised if some states had laws that more or less forced the potential victim to go through the trial even if she intends on testifying in your favor. I dunno. Just sayin'.
The state presses criminal charges, not the "victim".
The state presses charges, not the "victim". For an example, see the recent proceedings around Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi in San Francisco.