First-Degree Rape Charge Results in Probation Only

MARK L.

Mark came to me and he had a very difficult case. He was being charged with first-degree rape along with domestic assault and battery. We see domestic assault and battery charges married up with these cases quite often.
The allegation was that my client who had been married for six or seven years, that as he was preparing for work, that he had consensual sex with his wife, and then immediately afterwards, found out that she had been downloading pornography on her phone, and became so mad, that he slapped, pinched, scratched her, as he then forced himself on her, sexually, two more times.
So, my client allegedly has sex three times with his wife within just a matter of minutes. So, my client presents to me, this story of amazing sexual prowess that is possessed by no living man, to have committed this offense. But I'm still concerned, because a rape charge carries five years in prison to life, and the prosecutor has taken this lure hook, line, and sinker. Just completely enveloped it, she's adopted it as her own, and now she's out there, championing the cause for this woman.
The accuser is a foreign national, she's English. and, boy, does she have a story to tell. She talks about six years of just constant abuse. Sexual, verbal, and physical abuse at the hands of my client, that has never been documented, never been reported. There's not a single police report, no one knows about any of these allegations, or accusations, except they continue to trickle out from this person to the prosecution. It seems like, almost on a monthly basis, there's a new story, or a new version, or a new “it “of the day.
So, what does the prosecution do? They of course file a motion to introduce all of these prior bad acts. Completely undocumented. So, not only is my client now having to battle the accusation that's in front of him from the night in question, but now, he's supposed to battle six years of undocumented, unnoted, unreported, abuse for which he can't fight. It becomes his word versus her word. But the prosecution believes it. They're completely convinced by this liar's story. She’s got the prosecution just eating out of her hand.
So, how do we handle this, when we have a prosecutor that's become a true believer, even though the facts to pretty much any objective person, would leave you to believe, that this person is lying? Well, you knock the accuser, metaphorically, upside the head during that preliminary hearing. So, what did I do? I gutted that witness at prelim. In addition to everything else that we do in our process, through our proprietary defense system here at the Berlin Law Firm. What do I do? I took this thing up a notch.
I just didn't want to develop the facts of this case, which we did. I wanted this to become a major emotional event for the witness. I wanted this to be a preview, just a little snippet, of what would happen at trial. We exposed her, for what she is. Which is a liar. Unfortunately, for us, the prosecution didn't buy that story right out of the gate. As such, we had to set this case for trial. We had to continue to litigate it, and continue to work it, and continue to beat on the prosecution every day.
Kid you not, they wanted my guy to go to prison on this. During our case development we finally found out what the true story was. This gal, unhappy in her marriage, unhappy being poor, unhappy being a new mom, she knew that if she was to divorce my client, that she'd never become a permanent resident. She might even have to leave the country. She didn't want that. But she knew, that if she was the victim of a violent criminal act, that she could go and apply for a visa as a victim of violent crime.
The accuser believed if she could somehow delegitimize her marriage because she was a victim of domestic violence and this rape, she could stay in the country. So, as we packaged this up, and presented this to the prosecution, telling them, "We've got you, you're going down. You're going to lose, because we are going to employ this theory in our case that you don't have a defense for. You can't explain away our theory."
Well, as we were enlightening the state on our client and on the accuser, as well as the themes and theories of the case that she was going to have to deal with, as we prepared our objections to their motions to introduce prior bad acts evidence, the prosecution saw, "Hey, you know what? I'm really in jeopardy of losing this thing. He has a much more believable theme and theory of the case than I do. All I've got is somebody that looks like a ... a fairly, you know, believable witness. But I don't want to fight this fight." Let me tell you, folks, the pendulum has swung on a spousal rape case like this, even though the prosecution believes they still have the high ground, well, guess what? The defense actually has the high ground these days, in spousal rape cases.
But you must know this, and you have to know how to employ the defense properly. But if you do it, and you do it our way, it's very powerful. So, on the eve of our trial setting, the state finally capitulates. They finally give up, and throw in the towel, and say, "Okay, fine. We will plead this out to a lesser offense, straight probation." So, we were able to get this reduced down to assault with intent to commit a felony, and straight probation. My guy did not spend a day in prison. That's one happy client.

Have You Been Charged With a Sex Crime in the Tulsa, OK Area?

If you or a loved one has been charged with a sex crime in the Tulsa, Oklahoma area you need to speak with an experienced Oklahoma sex crimes lawyer as soon as possible. Please contact us online or call 913.384.0850 for your free consultation. We are proud to serve Tulsa and all surrounding areas.