Alleged Rape Victim Refuses Questioning By Alleged Rapist; Charges Dismissed

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Earlier this week, I wrote about the 21-year-old Seattle woman who threatened to jump off the King County courthouse roof to escape being cross-examined by the man on trial for raping her over a span of years as a child. The solution to her inability to undergo the trauma of being cross-examined by her rapist? Dismiss the charges.

Salvador Aleman Cruz was representing himself, which gave him the right to interrogate all the witnesses — including his victims — on the stand. The prospect of undergoing this ordeal, which essentially empowered her childhood rapist to again assert control over and intimidate her, pushed the victim to the brink of suicide. So prosecutors asked that the charges against Cruz involving this victim be dismissed, as Cara reports in a follow-up on The Curvature.

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This is a tough one.

On one hand, I feel in rape cases, if you cannot afford a lawyer as a defendant, the courts should appoint one for questioning of the rape victim.

Then again, a defendant has the right to question his/her accuser, that is something I believe in STRONGLY.

It may be horribly painful, but sometimes justice HURTS.

I do want to add I find it hideous that prosecutors just dropped the case instead of trying to give this victim justice, but if the victim was most of the evidence, I guess they had little choice.

What are your thoughts on this case?

I think it's incredibly unfortunate that the woman had to relive her trauma, but it's for the assurance of her claims. Plenty of men have been falsely accused of this act, and the ability of anyone to confront their accuser is a cornerstone of the justice system. I feel for the young woman, and don't wish the pain and suffering on her, but it is a necessary part of the process. I don't know what else to say, other than it sucks. I hope the guy gets his in prison.

...i can appreciate the trauma of having your abuser question you in court - but - everyone has the right to be their own lawyer (even though its rarely a wise choice)... ted bundy did it and was very proud of himself too but all he accomplished was to give more insight into his very disturbed mind... "really creepy" doesnt even begin to cover that one...

...the travesty is not that cruz was allowed to be his own lawyer... the travesty is that the judge dismissed the charges... shame on that judge... they could have postponed the trial until the victim recieved medical attention... that would have been the normal process if the victim had a heart attack or a stomach virus or any other physical ailment that prevented them from testifying...

...i suspect the victim protection law didnt pass the first time because some saw it as limiting the rights of the accused... i'm not surprised that a pedophile's rights are more valued than his victims... its always been that way... countless pedophiles (especially incestuous pedophiles) perceive the statute of limitations as their ally because it is... there should be NO time limitations and many states are changing their laws...

www.rainn.org...

Wait a minute, since when does a rapist have a right to question the person he/she raped?

What country do we live in again?

Originally posted by The Sword
Wait a minute, since when does a rapist have a right to question the person he/she raped?

What country do we live in again?

This is an American case.

Every accused has the right to represent themselves, a right I support.



But I think it was heinous and sad that the prosecution decided to just dump this girl's case, instead of trying to go after justice.

It is entirely plausible that this woman was not raped. She may have been spurned by the guy, or she may have felt the need to discredit him in public and chose this as a venue to go after him. This would not be the first time a false accusation of rape had been levied in the history of mankind.

Sometimes in the western world we hear a woman cry rape, when in fact no rape occurred. Sometimes a woman is caught cheating on her husband, and cries rape to absolve herself of the responsibility. Link
Other times she finds that she was simply "used" by a lacrosse team Link
Or, other times just for the attention it brings or the pain it causes. Link

Now Rape is without a doubt, a terrible crime that scars the victim mentally, emotionally and physically. No one should take rape lightly but no one should take the false accusations of rape lightly either. Was this woman raped? Not according to the courts. In that respect there should be some kind of punishment for the wrongful accusations of rape. Being acquitted of a crime doesn't make up for the stress, grief and anxiety of a false accusation or the costs of a defense, if one hired a lawyer.

It is critical in this society that a person may face their accuser. If not, the door is open for the anonymous complaint that results in the loss of liberty for innocent people. How would any of us feel if we were accused of a heinous crime, but were not allowed to see the person who accused us?

If this woman had been raped, and had brought charges against the assailant, then carried the process forward to court she would likely have been ready to throw it in his face, exposing him for the kind of person he was. If she hadn't really been raped then her actions to avoid having to convincingly lie on the stand were her undoing. As it works out, the latter seems to be true.

..Ex

Originally posted by The Sword
Wait a minute, since when does a rapist have a right to question the person he/she raped?

What country do we live in again?

Most of us probably live in the United States, a country where people are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty, and a country where people charged with violent crimes get to confront their accuser in court. Or did you think that people charged with crimes are always guilty, and thus we can dispose of courts altogether?

reply to post by v3_exceed


The poor girl in the OP claimed to have been a victim from childhood, and is only 21 now. She wa sstill too traumatized to face him, he chose to forgo a lawyer and represent himself to further victimize her and she threatened to kill hrself if she was forced to allow him that.

Really sad imo. I feel very sorry for her and hope she gets help to heal.

And hopefully the pig that did this to her will eventually get his due.

This wasnt just any old rapist this 'man' was a child molester! A paedophile...he raped her for years as a CHILD.
The paper has used a bait and switch wording to minimise the impact and outrage due his crimes..but call a spade a spade at least here!

Given the consequences of childhood trauma there is no way a rapist or paedophile should have any access whatsoever to their victims during a legal proceeding...not just for the victims but for JUSTICES sake. so BOTH sides CAN be heard without interference.

Here they dont force people to face abusers...it doesnt interfere with ' innoncent until prooven guilty' at all! Thats a convenient crock started by abusers! Many times here, when the situation warrants it, evidence is given by remote tv and remote tv is used for some cases when the perp is in the dock too so victims dont have to be in the same room at all....he speaks freely and so does the victim.
This backaward situation just gives the ciminal power instead of the legal system...gives him control instead of the court having control.

This isnt "justice" at all! I don't know how anyone could think it is...imo this is clearly a case of a paedophile intentionally using the legal system against his victims in order to get away with his crimes.
Its absolutely disgusting.

To the person who said somthing along the lines of " if she wasnt lying she'd have faced him' that is specious reasoning and utter igrance of the results of rape and child molestation to the victim. CSA brings out the worst kinds of trauma and PTSD as an acronym doesnt even begin to describe the rebound affect of abuse in daily life let alone in crisis situations like court appearances.

But hey..its your country...and if you dont mind paedo's running around undermining the intent of your legal values and using your systems against you..thats your choice...and your/ your childrens consequences.

Just know that if he did do it...this man will never face himself or real justice on this earth he wont even suffer his crimes.. because he doesnt have his conscience involved in this..he most likely believes - like they all do - that he has done nothing wrong..as no paedophile does think what they do is a crime....they think its love....they think its care...and that is the basis of why it is such a horror.


unbelievable...another one got away with it...for now...he cant run from God.

Originally posted by hotbakedtater
reply to post by v3_exceed

 

The poor girl in the OP claimed to have been a victim from childhood, and is only 21 now. She wa sstill too traumatized to face him, he chose to forgo a lawyer and represent himself to further victimize her and she threatened to kill hrself if she was forced to allow him that.

Really sad imo. I feel very sorry for her and hope she gets help to heal.
And hopefully the pig that did this to her will eventually get his due.

This becomes even more suspect. So, she was traumatized from child hood, but had the fortitude to sustain several interviews, but not the fortitude to face him in court. Many children who had actually been abused have found the ability to face their accusers when years and years of abuse had been sustained.

In the court of public opinion this guy has already been convicted, yet in a court of law he was vindicated. There is way way way too much credence being given to this womans allegations and not near enough on her mental stability. Anyone can accuse anyone, this the the strength and weakness of our judicial system.
From the perspective of the information so far, she's likely just fabricated the whole incident and using this perception of victimization as her way out.

..Ex

Originally posted by The Sword
Wait a minute, since when does a rapist have a right to question the person he/she raped?

What country do we live in again?

Everyone has a right to face their accuser. That is one of the pillars of our legal system. In this case it seems kind of cruel to the rape victim, but then again a lot of rape accusations are false, so who is the real victim?

If she was really raped repeatedly for years, and she found the courage to come forward and press charges, then she should have stuck it out. The prosecutor was there representing her, and with a prosecutors lawyering skills vs. an amateur trying to question a sympathetic witness, it would have turned out drastically in her favor. Now, in my opinion, her whole story seems suspect. The prosecutor must have also had doubts, because they dropped charges.

He still has more charges against him.

Cruz, 40, is still charged with seven felony counts, including first- and third-degree child rape, first-degree child molestation and communication with a minor for immoral purposes.

thecurvature.com...

Originally posted by Pauligirl
He still has more charges against him.

Cruz, 40, is still charged with seven felony counts, including first- and third-degree child rape, first-degree child molestation and communication with a minor for immoral purposes.

thecurvature.com...

Well, that link is a heavily slanted read. I really don't know much about this case, except what has been presented so far, however upon reading that link, I am now more than ever convinced that we are simply not going to hear a fair and impartial version of the story.

By dismissing the other charges they have weakened the case against this guy substantially. Police will often charge a person with as many possible variants of the crime with the hopes that something will stick. This has been effective in leveraging a person to plea bargain with the idea of reducing their overall exposure. The reality is, if you are being unjustly accused, in most cases, you wouldn't want to plea bargain at all.

It is becoming more and more apparent that if you want to smear someone you only have to accuse them of a sexual crime stemming from years and years ago. So how about, for a change, we wait until he's actually been convicted before cheering for his imprisonment.

Now, once he has been convicted, then sure, I hope he gets what he deserves as well, but until then I think it would be reasonable to keep an open mind.

..Ex

I notice the same thing in every thread like this....everyone's ready to hang the suspect in the case.....he's almost always guilty in the court of opinion...what if the off chance he's actually innocent,and SHE couldnt FACE him BECAUSE her story would slip???

reply to post by v3_exceed


No court of law "vindicated" him.

What evidence do you have she is lying?

reply to post by hotbakedtater


Other then her 'word', what evidence does the DA have?
Just so you know, evidence is hardly needed anymore to convict one of a sex crime....most times a jury will take the word of the victim forto comvict...

If the only compelling evidence against the defendant in the case, was the alleged victim's word, I am not sure why it even went to trial? Seems strange to me, I am wondering if there isn't more to it than that.

Additional Information at This Link

The case against Cruz (pictured above) concerns two pairs of sisters. One of the girls was only 8 years old when Cruz started molesting her in the early '90s, according to court documents. Now 21, she's the child of Cruz's girlfriend at the time and the younger sister of the woman who threatened to jump off the roof. Identified as J.C. in court documents, the 21-year-old was as a child so scared of Cruz that she took to hiding under the bed when left alone with him in the family's Redmond apartment, according to the prosecutor's trial memo.

J.C. is scheduled to testify today once Cruz finishes cross-examining her mother.

Judging by Cruz' performance in court this morning, that may take a while. Holding a huge sheaf of papers, and using two Spanish-language interpreters to help him ask questions, the 40-year-old defendant made slow progress. (Cruz is a Mexican native who returned to his homeland for 10 years before reentering this country in 2008 and landing in police custody.) He went line by line through the transcript of an interview the mother, V.C., gave to police. His questions made so little sense that prosecutor Val Richey frequently objected and King County Superior Court Judge Douglass North took to giving Cruz lectures on how to proceed.

"You have to ask a question the witness can understand, not just read long sections of the transcript," North admonished. Even reading the transcript, Cruz made mistakes, telling the witness she said something that was not on the page, as the prosecutor pointed out.

So it looks like the accused rapist is not here legally? And the younger sister of the 21 y/o girl too traumatized to testify IS testifying, and so are two other girls.

Also, he must not speak English either, and he has a translator. This must be difficult for the victims.

If I understand this to mean he is not even here legally, I am of a different mind in this case of allowing tax dollars to go towards translators, etc. Without citizenship he does not have citizen's rights, so I am wondering why he allowed to get away with this.

Our justice system needs overhauling so badly!


.

reply to post by v3_exceed


Your amazing insight into women and children is truly telling....about you.

Originally posted by hotbakedtater
reply to post by v3_exceed

 

No court of law "vindicated" him.
What evidence do you have she is lying?

When the court starts dropping charges, its a pretty good sign they have no ability to convict on those charges in the first place. Courts will not normally drop charges other wise. Dropping charges is a form of vindication.

vindicate
1. to clear from guilt, accusation, blame, etc., as by evidence or argument
Link

Her actions are evidence of her lying. When a person refuses to take the stand to provide their "evidence" that refusal can be construed as misrepresentation. So the evidence I have that she is lying, is within her actions. eg: You really can't accuse someone of something, then refuse to explain why it is you accuse them.

The problem with these kinds of cases, is that they are very "inflamed". The "rape" card, the "child molestation card" are very dangerous cards. Once played, you can't just take them back. Peoples lives have been irrevocably destroyed by nothing more than the accusation of child molestation or rape.

Other than the people claiming to have been raped, there doesn't really seem to be any evidence at all, and if they refuse to testify, well I don't blame the judge for dropping the charges thus far.

What evidence do you have that she isn't lying?

..Ex