January 31, 2007
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Rape and Arrest
A woman went to the police for help. She had been raped. The police then arrested her.
The police arrested her for “not paying restitution from a 2003 juvenile case.” The police have now apologized for arresting the college student. Here is the link: Link A police spokeswoman said, “We feel remorse that she ended up in jail.”
The police in this situation are said to have followed the procedure. Police are “instructed to take those with felony warrants to jail, even if they were victims of serious crimes.”
Should a person who has a felony warrant be taken to jail even if they were a victim of a serious crime?
Comments (97)
I don’t know .. that’s pretty tough. Tey could have waited until they sorted out the rape case before bringing charges against her.
Not in this case.
This one not hard to call, the cops had the heads planted in a dark and smelly place
If they were victims of a less emotional crime such as a robbery, then yes, they should be arrested. If they were victims of a crime like rape, they should be taken to a hospital and have their physical and emotional needs seen to first.
They* – First! =)
For those that don’t know, the girl was guilty of not paying back a restitution order. It was all over an unpaid fine
Settle the issue at hand and then go to the next issue.
logicalemu had a good comment.If they were victims of a crime like rape, they should be taken to a hospital and have their physical and emotional needs seen to first.
NO! Not only that, but the police themselves said that she might have even paid back the fines. and the arrest might have been the result of a clerical error.
Fucking pigs.
Dan, you fail to mention the religious zealot who w uldn’t let her take her second morning-after pill.
Sure.
Why can’t they penalize both crimes at once?
It’s not like they were ignoring her claim about being raped.
But if you do the crime, you do the time…
Oh the humanity.
Dont do the crime and then think you will get away from it. Sorry.
Whoah.
If it had been a less traumatic experience, maybe.
But like logicalemu and others said, her physical and emotional needs should be seen to first.
That is callous and cruel.
I think it needs to vary case by case. In this case, her problem should most DEFINITELY have been taken into account first. She went to them for help and they punished her (for another reason but still). That’ll teach her to respect her government, huh?
Seems like there could have been a compromise. There’s also the issue of her not being given the second dose of the morning-after pill.
I’d say that yes, it would be okay….but first settle the matter at hand, then go back and take care of the other issue.
oooooooooohhhhh-KAY! Shall we go to jail?
People get raped all the time in jail.
maybe my comment was a little harsh
she def. needs to have her needs met
but she had to expect that she would be taken to jail for this sometime
She must not have been white.
I think they should have settled the issue at hand first, and then dealt with the other crime. The fact that they arrested her is only going to add to her trauma down the line.
Shouldnt juvenile cases be sealed and cleared once they hit 18?
plus isnt the rape the higher cause of crime?
wouldnt the statue have run out for that by now?
its to long if it was a juvenile case; right?
i watch to much law and order?
I think the police should have a little leeway here to apply some common sense and deal with the traumatic nature of the case first. I think they probably sent her “overboard” emotionally.
no, not a serious crime like rape
they should make some modifications to the procedure for situations like that, or give them the ability to use their own judgement call
and not letting her have the second half of the dose of the morning after pill?? even if it is violating protocol , there’s some serious ethical issues with denying someone that treatment
Yeah I think they should. Let’s say some guy rapes a girl so he has a warrant out for his arrest. Then the same guy gets carjacked and beaten up by someone else. If he goes into the police station, should he not be arrested for the rape because he’s all of a sudden a victim?
They most certainly should. The police should proceed with trying to solve the case but just because someone is a crime victim themselves should never get them out of the crimes that they have committed. Isn’t it possible that she had been purposely trying to avoid the warrant out for arrest?
You missed the worst part. The person attending her in jail wouldn’t give the “morning-after pill” because it was against their beliefs. They didn’t ask her.
I am with seedsower on this. We need to take care of the victim then follow suit with what they are required to do. Sheesh! She was raped for petes sake!
(why did she wait two hours to call the cops?) I think the arrest was appropriate, but things deteriorated from there, quite apparently. Obviously both cases will have to be handled simultaneously and separately.
A person can still be in custody while in a hospital being treated medically.
They should’ve waited and brought her to the hospital first.
Dan, I messaged you a very important story that has surprisingly stayed well away from mainstream media. Please post it or at least a link. I’ve got the story on my site, but you get more traffic in an hour than I do in a week.
Not immediately. What the hell? Let it lie for a couple months, unless it’s murder or something.
And if someone gets raped and wants any kind of related medication, you fucking give it to them. Even if it IS against procedure.
Not if the difference between the cases is so severe; practically a misdemeanor compared to a very serious felony (with psychological ramifications) is not reasonable in this case. I think that especially in the case of rape, the more serious crime and all things involved should be taken care of first, and they should be treated as a victim before they’re treated like a criminal (but only if their not the perpetrator of the more serious crime). Something like that.
-Jared
Umm, duh?
hahaha Doc4040
haha that’s hilarious
yeah, at gasparilla. Its basically mardi gras. While its unfortunate she was raped, she shouldn’t have been walking alone among all those drunk people. I feel really bad for her.
No.
Time and a place.
You think they would have taken her to the hospital first.
yeah, at gasparilla. Its basically mardi gras. While its unfortunate she was raped, she shouldn’t have been walking alone among all those drunk people. I feel really bad for her.
Posted 1/31/2007 11:00 PM by LightningRichy
Dude…
What the fuck?
Let’s not blame the victim for being RAPED. Jesus.
crime committed upon them first before crime they committed
OK. She should have been taken to the hospital for the rape. There is a small window of opportunity to collect evidence in rape cases. Similarly, there are often other medical needs that result from sexual assault. She was a victim of a crime that by choosing to take to her to jail first, the officers jeopardized conviction on and essentially ignored. Just as her crime shouldn’t be forgotten and she should be required to pay the fine, neither should the crime against her be forgotten.
“Isn’t it possible that she had been purposely trying to avoid the warrant out for arrest?”
Posted 1/31/2007 10:38 PM by mrcolorful
That is by far the ugliest thing I have read in a long time.
Obviously, mrcolorful has not been a victim of sexual assault. He is, however, a victim of ignorance, callousness, and terrible judgment.
no!!!!!
Sure,just make sure to take care of the “serious crime” part as well. They should do whatever investigation and questioning they would normally do, then afterwards they can arrest her.
it sounds like someone messed up there
Definitely! But only after justice is brought to her raper.
I thought it was interesting that Miguel said that she probably wasn’t white. Race seems to play a rather large role in the way a person is treated when they approach the authorities for help. Naturally, it would make sense that they resolve the issue that had been brought to them before they dump a poor girl who was just attacked and raped in a jail cell. Even if it required stepping away from “procedure” for a moment.
Jail after a medical exam.
Another case similar to this popped up — a woman was pulled over and while she complained that she was pregnant and bleeding (and on her way to the hospital), the cops arrested her for a previous record. She then miscarried. She’s now suing.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16908366/
…
What the fuck… they didn’t have to shove the crime at hand aside for something that obviously wasn’t urgent? She did something 4 years ago, so they chose THAT moment to do something about it? Ridiculous. That is a complete abomination right there.
They could have gone and investigated the scene, and potentially caught a rapist, but instead they decided the better option was to take care of something that obviously could have waited a few more hours considering it had already waited 4 years.
Anyone who reads this case and thinks the police were in the right are the reason that such henious acts of stupidity happen at all.
i think we need to use good judgment. it says it was from a juvenile case, about 4 years ago. there’s a good chance she was a minor then so maybe they should’ve talked to the poor girl’s parents. it’s hard enough to get a woman to go to report a rape.
ryc: I’m absolutely ecstatic about the Colts. Even though I’m originally from Miami and am a hard-core dolphins fan, I’ve lived in Indy long enough to have a very deep respect and appreciation for the Colts. o yes, I’m very happy, if a bit envious of the fact that my family in Miami gets to go to the superbowl while I have to remain in Indy
They should — but couldn’t they at least wait until the rape case was sorted out? Rape. You need to get the evidence from the ASAP, before they shower, pee, whatever, so couldn’t they just handle the rape first and then jail her later?
A person with a felony warrant should most definately be put into jail. That is the whole point of the warrant.
It is like when someone is shot while robbing a house. As soon as their wounds heal (if they heal), they go to jail.
Although I do feel sorry for her being raped, maybe if she had her shit together a little more she wouldn’t have a felony warrant out against her.
Yes.
This is just one of those stupid situations that causes all kinds of new laws to be made. I can hardly believe how stupid those cops were and also how stupid that girl was for not paying the fine.
Yes. When do we start making exceptions and where do the exceptions stop? That guy that just carjacked me said he was raped by me as well? You can’t arrest him?
Yes. Certainly. Otherwise, you could get away with murder simply by ensuring that someone mugged you.
Ooh that’s a tough one. For once, I don’t know. I’ll think about it.
-David
But what about denial of the second moring after pill? crazy. Sad. actually, understandable. Didn’t she have anyone from home she could get the pill from?
the consequences of the crime require jail time, but the rape requires attention. I think they should have sorted out the rape, put that guy in jail, set her up with counseling and then put her in jail for her crimes. i definitely see a rape being more important than not paying restitution.
Yes, and then the crime they are accusing someone else of should be investigated and prosecuted if appropriate. She should have been allowed the treatment – physically and emotionally – that she needed and then be thrown in jail.
I think that she should have been taken care of first… very, very closely, meaning she isn’t to be out of site. Once seen to, she could be taken in… What a crappy situation. The worst of both worlds, the criminal victimized.
I think they should have proceeded with the rape case and THEN addressed any issues that she may have had.
For serious crimes, like if she had commit a murder, then yes, she should be arrested, but so should her rapist.
She should’ve been taken to the hospital right away..
yeah
im in shock, its hard to believe that this has even happened, they needed to treat the crime scene; they didnt then she should have gone through rape kit and pill admin., at the same time deal with the felony its called multitasking, she like the artical said could have been stabbed as well, and her felony could have been even worse, however due prosses was not even concitered here as well they had near by city go through the same thing that ended up with a policy change, that was not state wide.
Yes. Just because something bad happened to them doesn’t excuse what they had done.
My god… and people wonder why rape victims so rarely report the crime?
to answer your question: yes… but only after the crime in which they were the victim is dealt with…
in response to all the comments regarding the morning-after pill, “religious reasons” was the accusation of the victim’s lawyer… the nurse’s lawyer said “against protocol”… you’re all taking this way too one-sided…
This is known as effective multitasking in enforcing the growing book of American law! Actually this saves tax dollars and makes America safer. They should install an x-ray camera in her house so we can move in as the next rape takes place…
So she, and we can ALL be SAFER… from terrorists who hate freedom.
In all due seriousness, I’ll bet there are a few stories in the new testament about moral enforcement of law straight out of Jesus own mouth to answer the question. The answer is… yesnomaybe see attached quotes…
Of course they should, just because she’s the victim doesn’t negate that she broke the law before.
NO.
Dont do the crime and then think you will get away from it. Sorry.
Posted 1/31/2007 10:26 PM by Verklempt
It was a fine!!!
If she was like a most-wanted criminal guilty of murder and all this other shit, than yeah, but they did things that will possibly allow a rapist to go free
(why did she wait two hours to call the cops?) I think the arrest was appropriate, but things deteriorated from there, quite apparently. Obviously both cases will have to be handled simultaneously and separately.
Posted 1/31/2007 10:39 PM by LetMeGoToo
Because she had just been raped and was scared?
The big problem is that not only did they arrest a rape victim and keep her, without bail, for three days, but they denied her a prescription for Plan B because the jail’s pharmacist had “religious objections”.
Makes me want to throw up. On that pharmacist.
If the cops were following protocol, I have no beef with them. I can see a need for rewriting it to allow for such cases as this, but she should still pay the fine (which I don’t think was ever disputed).
All of the men (and it is mostly men) that are saying “of COURSE she should have been thrown in jail” because being raped doesn’t mean that some fine from four years ago should wait a couple more days, and the stupid girl shouldn’t have had the audacity to be outside her house at night in the first place… Put yourself in her position. You’ve been anally raped by someone, and (this wouldn’t be the case, but to make it more like the situation at hand we’ll add it in) there’s only about 72 hours to take a pill to prevent you from getting HIV, if the rapist was infected. You’ve been hurt, violated, gone through the whole rape experience (just stop and imagine it), and then you get thrown in jail for an unpaid parking ticket, and you end up HIV+.
That’s basically what faces this girl if she ends up pregnant. Now tell me that, in her position, you’d rather be thrown in jail because you forgot to pay an old fine. You probably all consider yourselves good Christian “men”; have done to others what you would want done to you.
When do the authority figures get a good light, Dan? Between this and the tazer case, you would think every police department was supplied officers from the Neo-Nazi group.
I agree with the above poster. The officers followed protocol; there was no breach of law or anything. They were doing what they were supposed to do; bring someone in with a felony warrant in. The fact that she had just been raped does make it much harder to bring her in without guilt, but it had to be done. It sucks to give punishment since we’re only human and we’re flawed with human judgment.
yes
No.
Wait a little while.
I know prisons aren’t supposed to be good at treating you. Like if you break a leg or an arm you might have to wait a couple weeks to get it attended? That basically for anything it’s “here’s an aspirin”.
So yeah. IF someone’s raped they should be more considerate.
There’s the letter of the law, then the SPIRIT of the law!
yeah, at gasparilla. Its basically mardi gras. While its unfortunate she was raped, she shouldn’t have been walking alone among all those drunk people. I feel really bad for her.
Posted 1/31/2007 11:00 PM by LightningRichy
Dude…
What the fuck?
Let’s not blame the victim for being RAPED. Jesus.
Posted 1/31/2007 11:03 PM by attercop
Oh no, I’m not blaming her, rape is never ever the victims fault. I was at gasparilla that day, and in that kind of environment, with people so intoxicated and acting on animal instincts, if I were a young woman, i would not want to be walking alone.
No, there was evidence of a rape that should be taken into account first!!
what goes around, comes around.
Yes. When do we start making exceptions and where do the exceptions stop? That guy that just carjacked me said he was raped by me as well? You can’t arrest him?
Posted 2/1/2007 1:59 AM by vangelicmonk
Yes. Certainly. Otherwise, you could get away with murder simply by ensuring that someone mugged you.
Posted 2/1/2007 2:08 AM by Imworkingsoshutthehellup
A person with a felony warrant should most definately be put into jail. That is the whole point of the warrant.
It is like when someone is shot while robbing a house. As soon as their wounds heal (if they heal), they go to jail.
Although I do feel sorry for her being raped, maybe if she had her shit together a little more she wouldn’t have a felony warrant out against her.
Posted 2/1/2007 12:44 AM by funny_guydude
Allowing someone who was raped medical treatment is not “making an exception.” If a man carjacks you and then claims rape, he can be taken to the hospital to ascertain whether or not he was raped. At the same time, he can arrested and taken into police custody, therefore, when he released from the hospital, he is taken to jail for carjacking you.
Assuming a crime is committed against you, your record doesn’t disappear or become wiped clean. This woman would still be held responsible for the fine, regardless of whether or not her rape was properly handled. Implying that by giving her justice for the rape committed against her she is let off for the previous fine is incorrect.
In contrast, while the fine against her won’t disappear today, tomorrow, or four years from now, the evidence that could be used to convict her rapist is rapidly disappearing every hour she spends in jail.
As for the example of a burglar being shot, he would be taken to the hospital, for his wounds to heal, before being taken to the jail. So why should the girl who was raped be taken directly to jail?
Regardless of whether she “has her shit together” she deserves proper treatment and proper police handling of the crime committed against her.
The answer to that is certainly “it depends”.
Isn’t this the woman who was denied the morning after pill in jail and got pregnant from the rape as well?
*I joined this discussion way too late I see…
i suppose that depends on the crime. if they were mugged or robbed or something, then yes, but not after being raped.
At least it wasn’t Kansas City – They should have dealt with the rape first – that’s traumatic. Poor girl.
not until they take her to the hospital to get her taken care of…..and they still need to look for the guy who did that to her
WHOA!!??!?!! WHAT THE HELL!?!?!? Rape is pretty serious… they should take care of her!! THEN, later, if it still warrants it, take care of her previous crime or whatever.
Definatly not. That just aint right
Not in this case. They should use some fucking judgement.
Dumbasses.
You missed the worst part. The person attending her in jail wouldn’t give the “morning-after pill” because it was against their beliefs. They didn’t ask her.
Posted 1/31/2007 10:38 PM by RagamuffinKing
Then she would have to get an abortion soon. If she was pregnant….
This is why I’m pro choice. If you get raped, the law won’t help you if abortion is done away with. I mean, sure, they’ll catch whoever raped you if you’re lucky.
Wow…hard to believe.
While I’m sure they were following the rules, this is a situation where I think the rules should’ve been bent due to time constraints. Take her to a hospital for the rape kit & Plan B, get her some counseling & search for the guy, meanwhile, keep her in custody or under surveillance if the crime was that horrible. Otherwise, give her a bit of mending time.
As far as not giving Plan B, I don’t think that anyone should have the right to deny it unless they’re willing to go get someone else who will give it.
that’s absolutely horrible. They’re just showing her that the people that were supposed to help don’t seriously care about what happened to her. If you think that’s okay then you have no compassion at all. They should have waited until her case was settled down. It’s not like she was going anywhere.
well why didnt they resolve this 4 years ago?
stupid idiots, if she ends up pregnant she should sue.
hahaha… pay the due lady.. this isn’t aaww something bad happened to you, so we’re not going to make you pay for your mistake….
please
what a pity card…
(don’t get me wrong, it’s horrible what happened to her, but what does that have to do with the fact that she commited a felony??)
oh don’t worry mr. thief… we’re not going to arrest you because you were beaten as a child…