Using Videotape To Prevent Rape Accusations

[Hersh2000]

My question involves criminal law for the state of: CA

I'm interested in possibly starting a company selling secret video recording equipment and I'd appreciate anyone who's in the legal profession/law enforcement or knows the law if any of the following scenarios would 1. Prevent someone from being arrested for rape - are these 2 independent from each other and 2. Prevent someone from being charged with rape or 3. Prevent someone from being convicted of rape.

A. Woman accuses man of rape. Man has the first 30 minutes of them recorded in bed showing it was consensual. Doesn't have the rest of the video because it ran out.

Would the police initially see the video and then based on the video, not arrest him? If he was arrested, would he likely be prosecuted? If he was prosecuted, would there be any way he'd be convicted? Assume no additional facts.

B. Woman accuses man of rape. Man has the first 2 hours before tape runs out of them in bed showing it was consensual.
Would the police initially see the video and then based on the video, not arrest him? If he was arrested, would he likely be prosecuted? If he was prosecuted, would there be any way he'd be convicted? Assume no additional facts.

C. Woman says part of sex was consentual but she then changed her mind- i.e. she didn't want to do Anal sex (as what was rumored for one celebrity)? If the woman makes her initial statement to the police that she was raped and it wasn't consensual but later changes her statement that it was first consensual then it wasn't.

Would the police initially see the video and then based on the video, not arrest him, assume there is no anal in it? If he was arrested, would he likely be prosecuted? If he was prosecuted, would there be any way he'd be convicted? Assume no additional facts.

D. Same Scenario as C. but this time it shows the man and woman having Anal sex after 15 minutes with her saying "You know I really don't want to do this" and him saying "Come on baby" and just doing it and she acquiesces and then after a few minutes they both go back to regular sex and she kisses him.

Would the police initially see the video and then based on the video, not arrest him, assume there is no anal in it? If he was arrested, would he likely be prosecuted? If he was prosecuted, would there be any way he'd be convicted? Assume no additional facts.

[mmmagique]

http://media.www.thebatt.com/media/s...t-515769.shtml

http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/800204

http://althouse.blogspot.com/2008/07...-presence.html

I wouldn't suggest this.

Not to mention it's sleazy.

How 'bout you find some girl who is really into you, woo her, and then, when she is truly ready you do the nasty?

[Hersh2000]

I need to start a forum called 'Forums Without Idiots". It seems everytime I bring up something on a forum, an idiot answers it. How you could get the idea that I condone rape or advocate rape, clearly shows you are lacking any form of intelligence. I was asking a question as to steps people can do to prevent false accusations. Why you would turn this into something else clearly shows how stupid you are.

[mmmagique]

Yes, well...I have never had to wonder whether someone sleeping with me wanted to or not and/or whether he/she would cry rape.

I'm just lucky and stupid I guess. ; )

~Christina

[Hersh2000]

Well celebrities and athletes seem to be open season.

[aardvarc]

First, unless the recording shows the entire evening the two spent together, it's useless. Just because PART of the evening on tape didn't include a crime doesn't mean that the crime couldn't have occurred later, off camera, jumped the other person in the shower after the taping, etc.

Second, secretly videotaping sex with another person without their consent is going to put the jury in a certain mindset, such that even if a rape DIDN'T occur, any prosecutor will have about zero difficulty painting the suspect as a sleezebag and whether it's wrong or wrong or fair or not, such a video tape is likely to be the golden ticket to a guilty vote from at least a good number of jurors. Gonna hurt more than it's gonna help.

[cyjeff]

First, will your buyers have a license to produce pornography?

Second, are you prepared for the law suit the first time that a "protecto camera" film is used to post on someone's facebook.

This will end up being the primary use of the cameras... to help sleazoid's film their sexual conquests...

Yes, it will be the sleazoid's fault... but you are a company and have bigger pockets.

Welcome to the "scattergun" method of civil suits.

Third, why wouldn't a written contract work just as well? Yes, I am advocating that you have both parties sign a contract saying they consent to sex.

Takes all the verve outta the act, you say? More or less than taking the time to roll tape?

[cyjeff]

I need to start a forum called 'Forums Without Idiots". It seems everytime I bring up something on a forum, an idiot answers it. How you could get the idea that I condone rape or advocate rape, clearly shows you are lacking any form of intelligence. I was asking a question as to steps people can do to prevent false accusations. Why you would turn this into something else clearly shows how stupid you are.

maybe you should ask better questions... ones that DON'T involve the unwilling and unknown being filmed in the sexual act.

[Hersh2000]

Are you guys from the US cause your answers don't seem applicable to the laws of this country. Again, I am not minimizing rape which is a serious crime but women who falsely accuse men of it because they want money, are delusional, or both. No one in their right mind is going to ask a woman to sign a piece of paper before they have sex and even if she did, she could always say later she asked the guy to stop and that he didn't and he made her have sex in an area she didn't want to do.

As far as I know, there is no law in the US to prevent someone from secretly videoing you having sex and if someone wanted to release/distribute it without the other party's consent, then they have grounds for a civil suit.

I'm merely advocating the use of videotape to help prove rape didn't happen either at the arrest or trial stages. Other than having an airtight alibi you were elsewhere, what's to stop women for falsely accusing men, especially those with wealth and/or celebrities and athletes. A recent prime example is some woman accused the drummer for the group Poison- I'm not into them by the way, of raping her and it turns out he was a few thousand miles away at the time she said he raped her. Obviously charges were dropped but his reputation and name were considerably damaged. What's he going to do, sue the woman who probably has nothing?

As I said I'm not trying to minimize rape and say it doesn't happen but people who falsely accuse people of rape should be sentenced to the same time in jail as people who commit rape.

[aardvarc]

He doesn't have to sue her for her to get her comeupance - filing a false police report is a serious criminal offense and SHE could be looking at doing time behind bars for doing so (and this does happen, it just doesn't get as much press).

Again, as other posters have noted, the best defense is to follow the path of having sex with persons that you are in long term committed relationships with. Outside of that, every "stint" opens the door for you to find out exactly how unpleasant, vindictive, mental, psycho, or gold-digging the other person, who you don't really know that well, can be.