Texas Rape Victim Was Jailed for Fear She Would Not Testify, Lawsuit Says

[Judi Lynn]

Source: New York Times

Texas Rape Victim Was Jailed for Fear She Would Not Testify, Lawsuit Says
The New York Times
By DANIEL VICTOR
7 hrs ago

A rape victim who was jailed in Texas for nearly a month because prosecutors feared she would not return to testify after having a mental breakdown on the stand has sued the Harris County district attorney’s office, county officials and jail employees.

The woman, identified as Jane Doe in the lawsuit, was held in the general population at the county jail — the same place where the rape suspect, Keith Hendricks, was housed. There, the suit says, she was misclassified as the perpetrator of a sexual assault — not as a victim — attacked by an inmate, denied medication and punched in the face by a guard.

Jane Doe’s treatment amounted to “an absolute deprivation of her personal integrity,” her lawyer, Sean Buckley, said in an interview Thursday. “As a rape victim, the psychological trauma she experienced was an overwhelming sense of hopelessness and helplessness.”

“And if you take out the sexual violation itself and you look at the underlying psychological trauma,” he added, “this is exactly what these defendants did to her again while she was still in recovery for her rape.”


Read more: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/texas-rape-victim-was-jailed-for-fear-she-would-not-testify-lawsuit-says/ar-BBuEM2W?li=BBnb4R7

[forest444]

1. What is it with Republicans and rape?

Legitimate apes, these people.

[harrose]

21. They support it.

Especially when they think they can get away with it.

[forest444]

22. You said it - it's all about getting away with wrongdoing with these people.

A very childish fixation, really.

[jonno99]

2. Absolutely horrific, a complete breakdown of the court system! Why is this

not headline news?!

[lark]

3. I hope she ends up a rich woman.

She'll need a lot of $$ for long term therapy and treatment. This really burns me up, just adds more depth to the I hate the state of TX feeling I have. I don't hate all the folks, I'm sure there are good people there as well as stupid asshats like those that put her in jail.

[scscholar]

4. Why blame Texas?

I think every state has laws against not finishing your testimony once you start.

[lark]

6. They misidentified her as the rapist

They left her in jail, in the prison with her rapist, for a full month. That's why I blame the state of TX. The rape was against her, if she chooses not to testify, her right. They were out of control. Rape needs extra sensitivity and they went the total opposite direction. I've never heard of this happening before like this, it's outrageous.

[Igel]

10. She wasn't prosecuting the case.

The attorney's office was. It's not Jane Doe v Rapist. It's State v Rapist.

Not just a rapist, but a "serial rapist." He'd done this before and probably would do it again. He got two life sentences as a result of this trial. Life for rape is a bit harsh, even for Texas. Usually they don't want victims who don't want to testify testifying. Bad for the prosecution. You can't be forced to testify against yourself. Rights otherwise flourish wherever all over the place. Sounds like she agreed to testify, and mid-trial suggested perhaps she'd just bail.

The county screwed up, or perhaps the judge on whose authority the bench warrant was issued. Not the first time. Won't be the last. It's a large county, over 4.3 million people. If Harris County was a state it would be the 26th or 27th most populous (ahead of Oregon, for sure, perhaps Kentucky). Something's missing in that "mistake" line, though. For a month she was in jail as a suspect, but nobody asked or checked and she said nothing? I don't get it, and I don't fall for fundamental attribution errors for the most part. Perhaps it goes to the reason she was remanded to the hospital for 10 days? Dunno. Maybe she did speak up and nobody paid attention--like suspects don't say they're in jail by mistake. Strikes me as more than a simple error, but an error that had multiple chances to be rectified and remained unrectified. That needs to be checked and fixed and those guilty punished.

Also don't get the "apt. in Longview" versus "homeless" discrepancy Note that Longview is a couple hundred miles away. I imagine the DA and judge discussed how to keep her present for the trial. I also suspect that if she was cut loose as a witness after her breakdown on the stand that she'd have been left to find her own way home. Instead of being hospitalized for over a week at county expense. Some of this smells like the lawyer's wanting a settlement more than trial.

As an aside, that jail she was housed in with her rapist holds over 9,400 inmates and is usually stuffed to the gills. She was likely in the women's section.

[ret5hd]

11. So you're pro-jail for something you might do in the future.

Gotcha.

[cannabis_flower]

20. What they could have done is..

put her up in a hotel or a women's shelter and if they we're afraid she'd leave they could have put an ankle monitor on her. Maybe some people will say she shouldn't have an ankle monitor but it's better than being in jail.

[cstanleytech]

7. And thats fine but she shouldnt have been put into jail herself unless

she was already serving a sentence for another crime.

[olddad56]

9. Yeah, why blame Texas, nothing barbaric ever happens in Texas

except maybe on a daily basis.

[niyad]

12. reading comprehension is your friend.

[awoke_in_2003]

14. So you lock the VICTIM up in Gen Pop?

You've got to be fucking kidding me.

[niyad]

18. I wish that were the case.

[yeoman6987]

5. A month????????????

Outrageous. I was thinking overnight and I was going to ask why not a hotel with security BUT she could come and go for food and whatever else. This story is bull crap. Heads should roll.

[uawchild]

8. Let me echo your disbelief and outrage...

A month????????????

[niyad]

13. I hope she comes away frm this rich

[rocktivity]

15. Something similar happened to a homeless witness after a Chicago gang murder

Though in her case, the alternative was being charged as an accomplice:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-material-witness-detained-murder-trial-met-20160303-story.html

The perps were convicted and sentenced from 45 to life.


rocktivity

[niyad]

16. and people wonder why rape victims stay silent. why would they risk

this kind of additional horror?

[niyad]

17. she had a mental breakdown on the stand and the assholes put her in JAIL?

what the F*** is wrong with these assholes?

[localroger]

19. It's not about justice, it's about WINNING

The prosecutor wanted to WIN. He needed the witness' testimony to WIN. He was worried that without her testimony he wouldn't WIN so since he had the power to compel so he used it to make sure he would WIN. Her dignity was not as important as WINNING. Her safety, comfort, and mental health were not as important as WINNING.

There is, of course, a class of people for whom WINNING is the only form of pleasure that is real: Sociopaths.