Sometimes law enforcement gets a report from an individual alleging that someone has raped them.  The police come out to investigate, hear the alleged victim’s side of the story, and then, whether intending or not, draws a conclusion that my client has forced his hand on her.  Then law enforcement either sends the matter to the prosecutor’s office for “screening” (where they review the evidence and determine whether or not there is probable cause to issue an arrest warrant or whether there is enough to actually win the case should the matter proceed to trial.

Many times prosecutors will file a case knowing that it is not a winning case should the matter proceed to trial, because the legal evidentiary standard is Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, not simply Probable Cause, the standard that is required to merely file a case.  If the police do not initially send the matter to the prosecutor’s office for screening, they usually will investigate the case until they feel they have enough evidence to meet the probable cause standard, at a minimum, and, if they are wise, they will not turn a matter over to the prosecutor’s office for screening unless they have met a much higher evidentiary standard, otherwise they may lose credibility with the prosecutor’s office should they refer too many cases to them that are weak from an evidentiary standpoint.   When the police go out to investigate a crime such as rape, they often interview a number of witnesses, including the alleged victim and her friends and associates.  This investigation is supposed to be objective, where the police officer reserves judgment until all witnesses are interviewed.  Unfortunately what often happens is after the alleged victim is interviewed, the police come to a conclusion before interviewing the suspect or his friends and associates in order to get the other side of the story.  Until the police see the other side of the story, any conclusion they arrive at is premature.

I had one such incident just this past week:  client accused of raping a female he was acquainted with.  She was at his house, with his wife, just prior to the alleged incident.  My client’s wife left the house to do some shopping and left them together.  The alleged victim claimed the sex was not consensual.  My client claimed it was.  He admitted that he should not have had an extramarital affair, but RAPE!  Never!!!  He hired me to assist.  My only objective was to get the facts to the police and the prosecutor so the investigation was FAIR and BALANCED!  I interviewed his wife and some of the other individuals that were present prior to the wife leaving.  They informed me that the alleged victim had made several sexual innuendos and suggestions to both the suspect/client of mine as well as to his wife suggesting sexual activities between them all.  My client’s wife left the apartment not believing that this women would actually carry out these comments, but when she left, her husband and this alleged victim engaged in sexual activity. Alcohol was also involved, which also made the prosecutor feel uncomfortable with the added burden of proving that my client forced himself upon this woman.

All in all, after several telephone calls with law enforcement, with several witnesses, and finally with the prosecutor’s office, I was able to convince the prosecutor’s office that it was a loser case and that they should not file the charges.  The case was dropped and my client now can sleep again (with his wife!).  He has learned important lessons from this.  From a moral standpoint:  don’t drink (it only inhibits one’s judgment), don’t engage in extra-marital sexual activity, and don’t be alone in the apartment with another female, especially when they are making sexually suggestive comments.

From a legal standpoint: police can rush to judgment without interviewing witnesses from BOTH sides of the case, prosecutors can believe law enforcement even though they may have only one side of the story, and a competent and experienced criminal defense attorney can play a HUGE role in PROACTIVELY preventing charges from being filed by digging a little deeper to present fair and balanced evidence to law enforcement and the prosecutor’s office.  If you or a loved one has found yourself in a similar situation,  you know how frustrating it can be to watch the police make a conclusion based on an unbalanced investigation.    Let us help you, contact Salt Lake City criminal defense attorney Sean Druyon at 801-532-1717 to set up your free consultation today.

If you have been charged with a serious crime such as Aggravated Rape of a Child, and have shopped for an attorney to represent you, you may have received price quotes ranging from $15,000-$50,000 for the legal fee.  Many of these quotes do not even cover the expense for forensic experts and/or private investigators, which are essential on most cases of this nature.  These additional expenses may make obtaining an adequate defense unrealistic and even impossible, even when family is willing to help, to some extent, pay for the legal services and/or experts.

The prosecutors have virtually unlimited resources to pay for experts and private investigators.  And yet many times a defendant, due to financial difficulties, cannot obtain necessary defense resources and, as a result, is not given a fair opportunity to present an adequate defense.

I have successfully persuaded judges that under the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, Article I, sections 7 and 12 of the Utah Constitution, as well as the Utah Indigent Defense Act and Rule 15(a) of the Utah Rules of Criminal Procedure, that a defendant, although represented by privately retained counsel, is still entitled to have the county and/or State provide funding to a Defendant so that he can obtain necessary experts in order to have a fair trial.

Some judges will disagree, however, believing that just because someone’s family has retained private counsel, they should not be entitled to county/state funding for experts.  These judges need to be corrected.  In such cases there is always an appeal process to a higher authority:  either the Utah Court of Appeals or Utah’s highest court, the Utah Supreme Court.

I have one such case where the trial judge did not believe that my client was entitled to funding for experts since his family had retained private counsel.  I respectfully disagreed and then appealed to the Utah Supreme Court.  They were convinced by my Petition to have them review the matter.  They asked all parties to submit briefs on the issues, and I just filed my Supreme Court brief on Tuesday.

We’ll keep you posted on the results. In the meantime, we can learn a few things: 1) defendant’s should not be denied necessary resources simply because they don’t have enough money for experts and/or private investigators, 2) judges are sometimes wrong, 3) prosecutors have a disadvantage in unlimited resources, and 4) there is an appeal process that should be utilized in order for justice and fundamental fairness to prevail.

Many people wonder what domestic violence actually is and what they should do about it.  The basis of domestic violence lies in behaviors used by one person in a relationship to control the other.  Domestic violence can include things from withholding money and keeping you from contacting family members to threatened or actual physical harm.

The penalties for such a charge, if convicted are:

- Up to 6 months in jail for a first misdemeanor offense

- A felony offense could mean 5 years to life in the Utah State Prison

- Fine of up to $10,000 plus an 85% surcharge, bringing to total fine up to $18,500 for a felony assault

- Assessments and anger management classes, domestic violence classes, and other therapy

- Possible child custody implications

Unfortunately some people accuse others of domestic violence or abuse for unjust or selfish reasons.  How can you over rule or beat such a charge?  There are many tactics, but to name a few, it must be established that the accuser has a history of untruthfulness.  You can expose the accuser’s motive to lie about you. Expose a bias in one of the prosecution’s eyewitnesses.  Expose inconsistent statements of the alleged victims or other prosecutor witnesses.  The officer may have used threats and/or coercion to get you to make incriminating statements to them.  And there are many other options that can be employed to counter a domestic violence charge.

In either case, whether you are a victim of domestic violence or you have been wrongfully accused of such you need to get in contact with a criminal defense attorney to help you get the situation under control and help you get on with your life.  Contact the best Utah criminal defense attorney at 1-888- 7- no-jail today to schedule a free consultation and find out what your options are.