Steubenville defense case: Near-unconscious Jane Doe gave “consent”
Defense lawyers in the Steubenville rape case argue the victim didn't "affirmatively say no" to her assailants
By Katie McdonoughTopics: steubenville rape case, Rape, sexual violence, Violence Against Women, Life News, News
First, there are the photos depicting the 16-year-old Jane Doe at the heart of the Steubenville, Ohio, rape case being carried around by her hands and feet, head hanging lifelessly toward the floor. Then there is the viral video of a high school boy deriding her as “dead” and “so raped.” And then there is the pre-trial testimony from three “Big Red” athletes (also implicated but as-yet-untried) who say they witnessed the unconscious girl being paraded around, slurring her words and collapsing on the ground before being digitally penetrated by Trent Mays and Ma’lik Richmond.
But lawyers for the defense are prepared to argue on Wednesday that she consented to it, every step of the way. Not just consented, but as a drunk, football “groupie” following the “Big Red” athletes from party to party, she was practically asking for it.
As Rachel Dissell reported for the Cleveland Plain Dealer:
“Defense attorneys believe the girl, who lived across the river in Weirton, W.Va., made a decision to excessively drink and — against her friends’ wishes — to leave with the boys. They assert that she consented to sex.”
And if you didn’t think the framing could get any more more stomach-churning, it can. Attorney Walter Madison, who represents one of the accused football players, told the Plain Dealer that there is “an abundance of evidence here that she was making decisions, cognitive choices,” and that the victim, in her impaired state, “didn’t affirmatively say no” to being sexually assaulted.
But the law — and, frankly, common sense — doesn’t require a victim to actively resist or say the word “no” for a rape to occur. And in pretrial testimony, three boys who were present that night told a judge that the deeply intoxicated girl was coming in and out of consciousness while Mays and Richmond digitally penetrated her.
“I wouldn’t say she was passed out but she wasn’t there to say yes or no,” one of the witnesses testified, according to the Plain Dealer. Another said she was “not quite passed out but she was not OK.”
This murky, was-she-wasn’t-she conscious, did-she-didn’t-she want to be dragged by her hands and feet and sexually assaulted “debate” is only as maddening as it is predictable. Focusing on the victim’s behavior — rather than the actions of the accused — is an infuriatingly common tactic used to silence rape victims. Silence that, until her parents discovered a leaked video of her assault online, Steubenville’s Jane Doe also fell victim to.
And as Alexander Abad-Santos at the Atlantic wrote about the details of the case: “Date rape exists.”
Continuing:
That under the law, even though a woman or girl may accompany her attacker, that does not equal consent? And that, under the law, a woman or girl under the influence of drugs or alcohol, willingly or unwillingly, is not at fault for being sexually assaulted? Date rape is a felony under Ohio state law — with two mentions of controlled substances under the National District Attorney’s Association classification of rape.
Mays and Richmond are set to go on trial Wednesday in Jefferson County juvenile court. The country will be watching.
Katie McDonough is an assistant editor for Salon, focusing on lifestyle. Follow her on Twitter @kmcdonovgh or email her at kmcdonough@salo
Related Stories
More Related Stories
-
Federal court strikes down Arizona abortion ban
-
I'm not achieving my dreams!
-
The most popular Tumblr porn
-
Slave descendants seek equal rights from Cherokee Nation
-
Snapchat is secretly storing your photos
-
Peace Corps to allow gay couples to volunteer together
-
Facebook's hate speech problem
-
Rand Paul: Congress should apologize to Apple, not the other way around
-
When my home was destroyed
-
Okla. mother's tearful reunion with her 8-year-old son
-
New campaign compares gun control to anti-LGBT discrimination
-
Study: Salt Lake City is gay parenting capital of the U.S.
-
You are less beautiful than you think
-
"Ghetto" tour lets you gawk at New York's poor
-
Teen activist to meet with Abercrombie CEO
-
Watch: Family emerges from storm shelter after tornado
-
Okla. tornado survivor reunited with dog trapped in rubble live on camera
-
My miscarriages made me question being pro-choice
-
Why I tried to be a punk
-
I'm terrified of the cicada onslaught
-
Limbaugh: No one willing to impeach the first black president
Featured Slide Shows
The week in 10 pics
close X- Share on Twitter
- Share on Facebook
- Thumbnails
- Fullscreen
- 1 of 11
- Previous
- Next
-
Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
Credit: AP/LM Otero -
Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
Credit: AP/Matt Rourke -
A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher -
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
Credit: AP/Molly Riley -
Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite -
Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster -
O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid -
Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield -
When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin -
A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin -
Recent Slide Shows
- Share on Twitter
- Share on Facebook
- Thumbnails
- Fullscreen
- 1 of 11
- Previous
- Next
Related Videos
Most Read
-
Oklahoma senator: Tornado aid "totally different" from Sandy aid
Jillian Rayfield
-
Horrifying new trend: Posting rapes to Facebook
Mary Elizabeth Williams
-
Facebook's hate speech problem
Mary Elizabeth Williams
-
Revenge, ego and the corruption of Wikipedia
Andrew Leonard
-
Brad Pitt keeps breaking his silence on how boring marriage to Jennifer Aniston was
Daniel D'Addario
-
GOP attorney general candidate tried to force women to report miscarriages to police
Katie Mcdonough
-
Inhofe and Coburn: Red state hypocrites
Joan Walsh
-
Beltway scandal machine breaks, knows nothing about America
Joan Walsh
-
Zach Galifianakis to take formerly homeless woman to "Hangover 3" premiere
Prachi Gupta
-
Anyone regret slashing National Weather Service budget now?
David Sirota
Popular on Reddit
links from salon.com

3142 points3143 points3144 points | 2789 comments

157 points158 points159 points | 67 comments

37 points38 points39 points | 4 comments
From Around the Web
Presented by Scribol
-
Diane Gilman: Baby Boomers: A New Life-Construct -- From "Invisible to Invincible!" -
Susan Gregory Thomas: Why Divorced Boomer Moms Don't Deserve The Bad Rap -
British Nanny Offered An Annual Salary Of $200,000 -
Arianna Huffington: What I Did (and Didn't Do) On My Summer Vacation -
Vivian Diller, Ph.D.: Maybe Happiness Begins At 50






Comments
46 Comments