-Rape is defined as having
non-consensual intercourse
with another person accomplished
by means of force
or threats.
Intercourse is defined
as any penetration
no matter how slight.
Now when we think of rape, we
typically think of a situation
where you hold a gun to
somebody's head or you
literally force them down to the
ground and force them to
submit to sex.
And certainly that is
an example of rape.
But rape can also be charged in
a situation where you have
sex with somebody who's
unconscious.
So suppose you go on a date with
a woman, and you bring
her back to your place.
And you guys are making out,
and you guys are drunk.
And she passes out.
And once she passed out drunk,
you take her clothes off and
have sex with her, you can be
charged with rape because she
was not awake and alert and
able to give consent.
And we see many people
charged with rape
in just that situation.
Now rape is a felony.
If you're convicted, you could
face up to eight years in
state prison, more if you have
a prior record or if there's
injury caused to the victim.
And it would make you
a registered sex
offender for life.
So the consequences of being
convicted of rape are really
devastating.
That said, we find that a lot of
innocent people get wrongly
accused of rape.
And this happens, really,
for a number of reasons.
First of all, there's a lot
of false accusations.
A lot of times the accuser will
make accusations out of
anger or jealousy or spite.
We've seen situations where a
guy was dating a young lady,
and she wanted to take the
relationship further.
And she wanted to be exclusive,
and he didn't want
to do that and wasn't
giving her the
attention she was seeking.
And she felt insulted, and she
felt hurt and made false
accusations out of spite
to get him in trouble.
And situations like that are
actually very common.
We also find a lot of times the
accuser will make a false
accusation of rape in order
to get attention.
A lot of times, the accuser
has mental health issues.
The accuser is a narcissist, and
the accuser likes the idea
that they are so desirable
that other people are
desperate to have sex with them
and desperate enough to
commit rape.
And so they imagine things, or
they make false accusations to
try to create this reality
as part of
their mental pathology.
We see this very commonly.
Also, a lot of accusations
of rape arise out of a
misunderstanding.
So it may be a situation where
you went out with someone, and
you guys were making out.
And there was foreplay, and you
ultimately had sex with
the person.
But later, the person says, oh,
I didn't really want to do
it, but I was scared
to speak up.
I was scared to say no.
It was against my will.
But if that person didn't
communicate that to you and,
based on the circumstances, you
honestly and reasonably
believe that they were into it
and that it was consensual,
then that's really not a rape.
Here at Shouse Law Group, we've
had a great deal of
success over the years in
defending clients who were
falsely accused of rape
and date rape.
We had a case recently where
a young man was accused of
raping a young lady that
he was dating.
And the family came to me right
after the accusation was
made and even before
charges were filed.
And I was able to go to the DA
before the DA filed charges
and say, listen, just
wait on this a week.
Let me do an investigation.
And I sent my investigator to
look at the background of this
young lady who made
the accusation.
And we found a restraining order
a couple years earlier
that she had gotten on
a previous boyfriend.
And we got the declaration,
and we looked at it.
And she made an accusation of
rape against this other person
that was almost identical to
what she was accusing my
client of doing.
And I brought this to the DA,
and I said, look, this young
lady is a serial victim.
She accuses all her boyfriend's
of the same thing.
And when the DA looked at that,
she decided not to file
any charges.
So this case really underscores
the critical
importance of doing an
independent investigation and
being proactive any time there's
an accusation of rape
or sexual assault against
one of our clients.
If you or a loved one is in a
situation like this where
you're being accused of rape,
investigated for rape, charged
with the rape, we invite
you contact us here
at Shouse Law Group.
The sooner we get involved, the
sooner we investigate, the
sooner we work up the defense,
the more effective we can be.
