After a re-trial, He’s been found not guilty of rape.
This is going to sit well with the female population.
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May not be a rapist, but still a massive twat
Never thought he was guilty. Delighted for him.
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This was a truly disgusting trial and has highlighted just how disgusting much of our male population is.
Eh? How so?
:cech:
Really staking out a position! We didn’t get any coverage of this trial in the US (we have our own allegedly rapist athletes to cover plus the UK judicial system would confuse our relatively uneducated populace).
Was the general consensus that he was guilty? Not guilty? Factually guilty but not legally guilty?
Well it is basically an argument about consent. One side argued that the intoxication made any consent non binding, and the other argued that the intoxication wasn’t as bad as it was made out.
The consensus, as it tends to be with cases such as these, is one of guilt. A view that I’ve never shared.
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His acquittal demonstrates that if you have enough money, you can get away with anything.
He’s still a prick in my opinion
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This case highlights how complicated sexual offence trial can be.
There is no right judgement in this.
Girls when intoxicated are prone to manipulation but as well prone to giving consent & not remembering it.
And somehow the excuse of intoxication is not afforded to the guy. Even if the guy is highly intoxicated, he has to bear responsibility of his action but if the girl is slightly intoxicated, she is not liable for her poor decision.
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Yeah, and it used to be that the man was automatically believed. Neither are perfect, but I’m glad that these days women are at least taken seriously when it comes to the issue of rape.
I don’t think I agree with you anyway, if you read some testimony from rape victims it’s clear that the idea that women across the board tend to be believed and that men are assumed guilty doesn’t really hold water. The conviction rate for the crime of rape being so much lower than nearly all other crimes kind of works against the idea that men are by default assumed to be guilty.
Edit: I do see where you are coming from though, we need to try and avoid assuming anyone’s guilt, being falsely accused of sexual crimes is awful as it’s something that will always be a stain on your reputation.
Never ever believed he was guilty.
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When I said it was a view I shared, I was specifically pointing towards this case, and not a broad view. I’ve never thought he was guilty of rape. Had it not been a footballer involved, I’m not even sure this would have gone to court, let alone result in a conviction.
And when I said about the consensus, I was referring to the celebrity status of the accused. It feels like the more famous you are, the more that guilt is implied. Or maybe that’s simply the result of the case being so public, and you would see similar results if every case is covered in the same way.
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I wonder if Jessica Ennis will issue a public apology in the same way she was public to try to ruin his attempts to piece his life back together after prison.
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Well he was a convicted rapist at the time of her comments. I don’t think she needs to apologize for anything tbh
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I don’t remember this. Had he served his time by that point?
Happy for him, he was one of my favourite players during his time at Sheffield.
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yeah he had
Yep.
A convicted rapist who was in the process of appealing his conviction on the grounds of new evidence that has ultimately led to his conviction being quashed and him being found not guilty in a retrial.
I don’t think she’s in any position to refuse him the opportunity to piece his life back together.
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