The Methods to Reject Sexual Assault Cases - Essay Example

Filing a complaint is the first step in every case including the sexual assault one. In order for the case to proceed to trial, the victim must be deemed credible when reporting the sexual assault. The credibility will go ahead and assist when it comes to seeking testimony. Evidence even a little strengthens the credibility of the victim. If the victim is deemed credible, then the case will go to trial and be given priority, if not, it will be rejected at this stage (Chancellor, 2012).

When victims report sexual assault to a police station, they record official statements. During the trial, the victim is asked to narrate the events following the sexual assault and this is also recorded. The narration of the story and recording may be carried out several times and then all these official documents are compared for consistency. If the prosecutor finds any inconsistencies or discrepancies in these statements, then this is a good reason to reject the sexual assault case by first discrediting the allegations and then filing for the case to be thrown aside. The victim must therefore ensure that they stick to the details of the first statement recorded at the police station.

If the victim passes this stage successfully and the statements in all the official documents match, then the case moves on to prosecution by calling witnesses and presenting evidence of the sexual assault. In every different kind of sexual assault, there are certain behaviors that accompany them and which are known by the prosecutor. During examination or cross-examination of the victim in court, some of these behaviors (depending on the type of sexual assault) are expected to be provided Failure to do this or divert from the “typified behavior of the assault” leads to the discrediting of the statement and evidence and the whole case based in credibility issues.

Conclusion
Based on the three methods based above, the one thing which is common in all three and which is what really leads to the prosecutor discrediting the allegations is the fact that the victim looks like he or she has ulterior motives and the credibility at this juncture is questioned even more. In order therefore to avoid the case being discredited or even being rejected in court, the victim must have the facts and evidence right and stick to these facts from the beginning to the end. Perseverance and confidence are also required since the moment of sexual assault which is painful to the victim will have to be relived over and over again and without confidence or perseverance, the victim might refuse to go on, fail to provide all the facts and even leave some out which may lead to the case being discredited or rejected.