Defending Sexual Assault Cases May Get Even Harder
Any accusation of sexual assault, whether it be Aggravated Sexual Assault, Sexual Assault or Indecency with a Child is difficult to face. Often times there is no more evidence than the word of the alleged victim. Although that does not seem like much evidence, a jury is left to ponder, why would someone lie about such a thing?
Although an accused is presumed to be innocent, that presumption seems to fade away once a jury panel hears the charge in a sex case. I have defended numerous clients charged with Sexual Assault and have taken easily over 50 sex cases to trial.From my experience, it is not uncommon to bust a panel in sex cases. That is the term when we are unable to come up with 12 jurors who can be be fair from a panel of over 60 people. Many jurors have their mind made up without a shred of evidence, simply based on the accusation. Its sad but true.
A bill introduced by state Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, could make things a whole lot more difficult in rape cases. The bill, which was tentatively approved by the Senate, would allow the introduction of testimony about allegations of other sexual assaults to be admitted during the guilt /innocence phase of a trial if a judge, outside the presence of the jury ,hears the evidence and deems it relevant.
In my opinion this would guarantee a conviction for the state. To present extraneous evidence to a jury, even without charging the accused with a crime, is prejudicial and unjust. If the measure passes the uphill battle of sexual assault accusation will get steeper and more difficult.
If you or someone you know is in need of the legal services of a Houston Sex Assault Attorney, call Texas Board Certified Attorney Mario Madrid at 713-877-9400.
In cases like this, often the victim just wants justice. In our own personal case (btw lawyers have said it's too costly to litigate--it's valid but too costly) my disabled daughter was sexually assaulted numerous times over a 5-year period due to a lack of supervision by staff at her high school. She does not have the concept to lie about what happened, yet we are told by the system "your rights are too costly to fight for." Both her purpetrators had a history of this and yet school officials did nothing to protect the potential victims. So yes, sometimes being able to bring forth the history of the attacker is the only way to prove this person was capable of doing this crime.