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Fears of juror biases often prevent rape cases from making it to trial, Cuyahoga County prosecutors say

By "eAdvocate"

10-25-2010 Ohio: CLEVELAND, Ohio -- One factor can trump all others when prosecutors are deciding whether to take a sex assault case to trial or to give the accused a plea deal: the public's preconceived notions of what constitutes rape. More than most crimes, rape stirs emotions within the public consciousness and prompts gut reactions to the circumstances and characters involved. Prosecutors often feel they have to review their cases with consideration to how the facts might play on a jury. And that means many cases are never brought to trial or are pleaded down to lesser charges or sometimes to non-sex-related offenses that exempt the defendant from having to register as a sex offender. According to a Plain Dealer analysis, defendants accepted plea deals in about 70 percent of the 2,477 sex crimes cases indicted in Cuyahoga County between 2004 and 2008...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sex Offender Issues, News, Recidivism and Studies on October 25, 2010 (boomark / email).