U.S. Sailor acquitted on rape charges despite admitting to "lockdown maneuver"
A U.S. Navy servicemember was acquitted on charges of raping a sex worker although he admitted he used a "lockdown maneuver" to pin her to the bed when she wanted to stop. Via AP:
The woman told the court she had protected, consensual sex with Davis at the brothel where she worked, but said he became aggressive when she told him his time was up and forced her to have unprotected sex. The jury was shown police photographs of scratches on the woman.Davis denied forcing the woman to have sex, but admitted in court that he used a "lock down maneuver" to pin her to the bed when she said she wanted to stop. He told the court he backed off when she kicked him, though he said he muffled her mouth with his hand when she began to scream after he demanded his money back.
Because using a military maneuver somehow negates the rape? Or simply because she's a sex worker? Unbelievable.
Ok wait. He denies forcing her to have sex, yet acknowledges pinning her to the bed when she wanted to stop... I'm assuming what she wanted to stop was the sex, and that the pinning was to well, not stop. How is that not rape?
it's at least sexual assault, i would think.
Unfortunately I'm 99% sure it's cause she's a sex worker. She alos admitted they had consensual sex. For whatever reason people cannot comprehend that sex can be consensual and then in a different context be rape.
I would be curious to know the make-up of the jury. The trial was in Australia. I don't know that much about cultural perceptions of sex workers there but I just imagine they aren't considered real people. I think you'd get the same outcome in the US.
The good news is Officer Timothy Davis is on his way back to San Diego after his acquittal! Welcome home soldier (barf).
The good news is Officer Timothy Davis is on his way back to San Diego after his acquittal! Welcome home soldier (barf).
Seriously, I kind of want to put a warning notice out to all of the bars in town or something.
Yep. It falls into three common tropes, you see. 1)Sex workers can't be raped; 2)Once you've previously consented to any sexual act, you can't be raped; 3)Once it's in, it's in (remind me again which state actually legalized this form of rape so I can never ever ever go there?)
It makes me sick.
That's a very poorly written article. It isn't clear whether he continued to have sex with her after he pinned her to the bed. Reading between the lines, though, it sounds like his version of events is that they had consensual sex, then she said to stop, at which point he got angry, pinned her down and demanded his money back, covering her mouth when she started screaming. Of course, that's still a very serious crime - battery/assault - but not rape.
This makes me angry and nauseas enough to drop what I was doing and post something about this.
This woman never had a chance. He's a marine (our pride and joy) and she's a sex worker (meaning less than human in our society). I want horrible, horrible things to happen to this guy (I know that's not a healthy mindset) but something tells me he'll get a warm welcome home. It's an example of how a blanket respect for servicemen can really be dangerous. As one of favorite comedians, Doug Stanhope, says,SOME soldiers are DOUCHEBAGS. In fact, as we've learned here, some soldiers are rapists. And sex workers can be innocent victims of crimes that are much greater than the prostitution crimes they may have been committing at the time. It's not a hard concept to grasp. And fuck the jury here for failing to grasp it.
He admits to using the "lockdown maneuver" to pin her, but that doesn't mean he pinned her and then forced sex. I agree that this is an extremely biased case because of attitudes towards sex workers and military. Unfortunately, it would be a hard case to prove. :(
Uhhh, actually, the article says just that:
"...but said he became aggressive when she told him his time was up and forced her to have unprotected sex."
Not at all hard to prove -- HIS evidence said that he used a lock-down maneuver when she said she wanted to stop. It seems like a slam-dunk for the prosecution and probably would have been in a US jurisdiction.
I think the key there is that he pinned her when she wanted to stop. I read that as they were having sex - otherwise, stop what? - and he would not stop, and pinned her to keep her from stopping.
The good news is that everyone now knows he forces a prostitute to have unprotected sex. The bad news is that he wasn't fed to the dingos afterwards.
"Davis denied forcing the woman to have sex, but admitted in court that he used a "lock down maneuver" to pin her to the bed when she said she wanted to stop. He told the court he backed off when she kicked him, though he said he muffled her mouth with his hand when she began to scream after he demanded his money back."
This paragraph is unclear to me. So did he confess to forcing her to have sex, or to being physically violent? It seems that he'd at least be guilty of some kind of battery.
The better article is here http://www.smh.com.au/national/sailor-cleared-of-rape-20091123-iu4g.html
Not that it is relevant to the case, but was the man a Marine or a Navy Service member? Or can a person be both? The title states he is a Marine but then says he is in the Navy, does anyone know which or both?
Marines are Naval infantry. It's not really a separate branch.
The US Marine Corps is in fact a separate branch (one of 5 branches of the US military), although it is closely related to the Navy.
Nothing (now) in the linked article indicates that he's a Marine; it just says he's in the Navy.
Everyone's right. From Wikipedia:
"In the civilian leadership structure of the United States military, the Marine Corps is a component of the Department of the Navy, often working closely with U.S. naval forces for training, transportation and logistic purposes; however, in the military leadership structure the Marine Corps is a separate branch."
I wrote to one of those papers asking them to fix the mistake, because they called him a Marine but his rank (Petty Officer) is a Navy-only rank.
The Marines are seperate but their medical needs are taken care of by the Navy and when they need to travel they travel on Navy ships.
You can't be a Marine AND a sailor at the same time.
It sounds like it is happening alot. Can someone send all high ranking officials in the military the definition of RAPE.
Taken from
http://www.rapedinthecoastguard.blogspot.com
"A Lieutenant Commander from District 1 Legal team was assigned to me to be my legal advocate. According to him, it is dishonorable to ‘report a rape” According to the Coast Guard’s core values of Honor, Respect and Devotion to duty how am I honoring and respecting my shipmate for bring rape allegation against him. He also said that he believes that I was never assaulted. His reasoning was this: “One undergoes a security, background check to be able to serve in the Coast Guard. Only those that passed the criminal background check are able to serve and if he did not have a history of raping women in the past why would he be doing it now?” Yes, I do understand that it made no sense. Also he mentioned that I would go to prison unless I drop the charges. Initially I refused to drop charges. I know what happened to me, there was a confession by the rapist and evidences were there. I was naive in thinking that someone would step up to a leadership role, do their job, put a criminal behind bars but the system failed me. Eventually the threats from my lawyer was so severe and traumatizing that I had no other choice but to drop the charges even though there was a point during that time that prison sounded like a safer place than ISC Boston."
Appalling. For years rape apologists have been trying to claim that rapes that weren't brutal enough weren't "real" rape, and now this gets a pass? This should have been the most obvious verdict in the world, but if a clear cut case like this doesn't qualify as rape, what does?
agreed. But I think the problem here goes deeper than a definition of rape. I think it speaks to a definition of humanity and basic rights - sadly sex workers seem to lie outside the coverage of both of these categories for many, many people. Until sex workers are seen as human beings courts will continue to render verdicts like this one.
We sure don't want any of those difficult single mothers in our ranks, but if you've got a rapist, we'll take him. And a psychologically disturbed mass murderer at Fort Hood. We'll take him, too. Thanks.
Actually, this guy is a HERO because he was SERVING HIS COUNTRY while raping a sex worker.
Just becauase a woman consents to sex, sex workers or not, does not mean she consents to ever sex acts imaginable. If she didn't consent to having sex with him without a condom, and he forces her to, it's called ...wait for it ...RAPE!
Idiots like these are the reasons that I always, always hide the fact that I am a soldier each time I meet someone new and introducing myself.
We have all kinds of commercials and presentations about prostitution use, and how they could possibly be illegally trafficked and such. I guess it wasn't as effective as intended.
Not to go on a tangent, but what the hell kind of loser would hire a prostitute anyway? What's so fucking hard about going out to a bar, playing a couple games of pool, and getting to know someone, and if it clicks, bring them home.
That people would take the risk of hiring someone who might have been trafficked just for their own sexual satisfaction says a lot about where their priorities are.
Marc
Marc,
About your tangent...
You state that someone who hires/rents prostitute is a loser. Well, even if he is, so what?
There are many losers out there, be it professionally, personally, physically, financially, morally, etc. But they remain human beings are should (usually) not be mocked or denigrated. Just because you or me has more success in life does not give us the right to look down on others.
(Moralising lesson over.)
What's so hard (about going to a bar)? Well, not all men find it easy to chat up women. Not all men are good looking. Not all men have the time or inclination. It is sometimes easier to pay your cash and get instant gratification (fairly dilute, but gratifiction nonetheless).
A bit like grabbing a Big Mac instead of taking time to eat one's usual salmon or caviar.