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Criminal Law Double Standards: "Technicalities"

We recently lost a troubling appeal based on a technicality.  The client, a 28-year-old man had been convicted of statutory rape.  He met a girl on MySpace who claimed to be 19 years old - and she looked and acted it.  In the client's state, the age of consent is 16.  The had consensual sex twice.  Once when the girl was 15 years, 10 months old; and once when she was two weeks shy of her 16th birthday.  The client is now in prison.  When he's released, he'll be known as a registered sex offender for the rest of his life.  How is that just?Did something magical happen to that young lady in that two month gap between when she had sex, and when she turned 16?  Was there some quickening?  Why didn't the Court say, "The girl lied on her MySpace page...continue to full post

Full post as published by Crime & Federalism on February 10, 2009 (boomark / email).