To be totally baffled (Ched Evans related)

[soapboxqueen]

Just reading in the guardian that Ched Evans has applied to the Criminal Cases Review Commission to review his case. That's fine because it is part of our due process and legal system.

However, in the article it points out that his girlfriend's father is paying for appeal barristers, private detectives and even offering a reward for information in order to help his appeal. Why would you do that? Why would you put up so much money to protect a person who at best (from their perspective at least) cheated on your daughter in a rather deplorable fashion and at worst a rapist? Why would got want your daughter to be with such a person?

I really don't understand.

I'll see if I can get the link to work.

I glad it has been fast tracked,, the sooner this is done with the better.

my understanding is that if his case is not referred by the CCRC this time, he will have exhausted his opportunities to try to appeal

Not true. If there is significant new evidence it may be possible to get the CCRC to have another look even after this. However, once they've looked at it once it becomes harder to come up with anything sufficiently convincing to get them to look again.

Not a legal expert, but I fail to see how this is 'on a par' with Silcott's conviction

I was referring to AnyFucker's post from which I quoted a sentence, not to the Ched Evans case as such. She seemed to be advancing similar arguments for not looking into the possibility of a miscarriage to those advanced in the Silcott case. Indeed, similar arguments are often put forward - essentially, we mustn't investigate a possible miscarriage because of the distress it will cause to the victim/victim's family and anyway the accused is now a convicted murder/rapist or whatever (with apologies to AnyFucker if that wasn't what she meant but it is how her post came across to me).

I hope it is so less attention is drawn to the leak whilst she is made safe again.

I don't think AF meant that, PRH.

It does feel like he's playing the system as much as possible without any real belief from his legal team that there is more evidence. But it's right that there is a review system. perhaps we will see when CRCC decide.

PRH, do you know if CRCC decisions are made public?

In significant cases they usually issue a press release. Having announced they are investigating this one I would expect them to announce the outcome.

And agree that if the information leaked online about the victim's identity is correct the trolls posting this information should have the book thrown at them.

I don't have legal training. I was talking about my feelings on this case. What struck me is how people (his family, his supporters) are still saying he is innocent. He is not. He is a convicted rapist. I am commenting on the use of language and how it influences us all.

If his appeal is upheld and the conviction quashed, then we can legitimately call him "innocent".

His website published the CCTV footage with her face obscured; they had no authority to do this from the police or hotel.

Wankers.

Point taken

I have looked at the Ched Evans website the girlfriend and her father run. I can't see how that doesn't amount to harrasment of the victim and I'm horrified that nothing can be done about it.

If SUFC rehire him, I for one am happy to attend a game, supporting the opposing team, to hold up an enormous banner giving contact information for Rape Crisis. Maybe get a few people together, get one for Victim Support up as well.

I have been following this case since reading about it on MN.

I was quite surprised to see the Tweets and Facebook messages the victim sent days after the rape took place, which were shortly deleted.

It has now made me have doubts as to whether he is guilty or not.

Obviously he has been convicted as a rapist so he should be "treated" as such.

However, not everything is black and white

So how did you manage to see the tweets...are they on a certain website?

given the conviction rates

In terms of cases that get to court rape has one of the highest conviction rates of any major crime. The problem is the small proportion of cases that get to court.

I also don't see how showing that cctv footage doesn't amount to a further breach of her anonymity

The video is also on the Daily Mail website and YouTube. Stills from the video also appear on other websites. Personally I don't think it is a breach of her anonymity as her face is blurred.

Does it, PRH? Isn't it 45% ish for females who are raped and 63% ish for males who are raped, with other violent crimes belng around the 50%ish mark?

(Stats are from memory!!!)

3, well, whatever those things said, I'm sure that the defence would've asked for them to be used in evidence if they were at all relevant to showing the victim had capacity to consent.

In terms of cases that get to court rape has one of the highest conviction rates of any major crime. The problem is the small proportion of cases that get to court.

Yes, so the conviction rate overall is still woeful.

These tweets and Facebook messages - the only thing I have seen about tweets is the 'when I win big' tweets.
A) they tell us nothing - it was five months after the incident, for all we know she was having a twitter conversation with her friends about imaginary lottery wins or something (it happens on here all the time!)
B) they were Apparently unearthed by a New York firefighter who had an interested in the civil liberties case of those being prosecuted for naming her on twitter - WTF?! And given that he was able to hack into her twitter to unearth them, it's not a huge leap to wonder whether he maybe 'tampered' with them a little? Is it? I have no idea as I am clueless about IT, but the victim and the police denied they ever existed?

So the validity of the tweets is questionable?

The relevance of the tweets is questionable!