Legal loophole? If they're asleep it isn't rape

[Kaos]

Good news for all rapists.  Lawyers determine that if they're asleep and don't remember it, there's no harm. 

Roofie sales in New Orleans will go through the roof (pun). 

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2012/01/lawyers_for_man_accused_of_sex.html

NEW ORLEANS -- Lawyers for an Alabama man accused of committing sexual battery on an unconscious LSU fan after the BCS championship football game say it's mind-boggling that police and prosecutors would give substantial energy and attention to the matter.

Charging Brian Downing, 32, of Smiths Station, Ala., with sexual battery "demeans the real and serious trauma of actual victims of sexual violence," New Orleans attorneys Miles Swanson and Michael Kennedy said in a statement Thursday.

Swanson also said the idea that his client could be charged and face up to 10 years in jail if convicted is "also a little troubling."

"It just doesn't fit," Swanson said late Thursday of the situation.

Downing surrendered to New Orleans police and was booked with sexual battery and obscenity after a video went viral on the Internet, showing him exposing himself and simulating a sex act over the head of an apparently unconscious man in an LSU-purple T-shirt. The incident occurred at a hamburger restaurant on Bourbon Street late Jan. 9, after Alabama defeated the Tigers for the national title.

"The eighteen year old victim was never physically harmed and, in fact, was so intoxicated that he would have had no recollection of the incident, but for a video posted online," the lawyers wrote. "Any 'harm' is entirely post hoc and amplified by media."


Downing, who is free on $10,000 bond, "has already been tried and convicted in the court of public opinion. He has been fired from his job and suffers continual harassment by the public and media," the attorneys wrote.
The Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office has not brought charges in the case.

"As the District Attorney's office screens this matter, we hope that it will keep its priorities in line with addressing real crime in New Orleans," the attorneys said.

[Godfather]

Don't you see Kaos, clearly he is the victim.

[djsimp]

Tea-bagging is not a crime. I do it to passed out drunk people all the time. Its like a fad.

[Townhallsavoy]

They're just trees! 

They're just balls! 

He was just asleep!

[Snaggletiger]

"Lawyers for an Alabama man accused of committing sexual battery on an unconscious LSU fan after the BCS championship football game say it's mind-boggling that police and prosecutors would give substantial energy and attention to the matter.

Charging Brian Downing, 32, of Smiths Station, Ala., with sexual battery "demeans the real and serious trauma of actual victims of sexual violence," New Orleans attorneys Miles Swanson and Michael Kennedy said in a statement Thursday."

Okay, I understand making an argument for your client, but at least try to make one that's not so fucking lame that both you and your client look even more retarded than before.  First off, pulling your nasty ass junk out and humping someone's face and ass, whether they're passed out or not, is a crime.  Second, that "mind-boggling" amount of energy they put into this was a couple of phone calls once they got a tip who this redneck pervert was.  And third, if you are the New Orleans PD and the entire nation is watching a video of this shit going on right there in your fine city...do you expect them to turn their back to it and say, "Awww, it's no big deal really....we've got real crime going on besides this little incident."   

[Buzz Killington]

Great news.  Now I can travel everywhere with my chloroform napkin.

[djsimp]

[djsimp]

[djsimp]

[djsimp]

[JR4AU]

"Lawyers for an Alabama man accused of committing sexual battery on an unconscious LSU fan after the BCS championship football game say it's mind-boggling that police and prosecutors would give substantial energy and attention to the matter.

Charging Brian Downing, 32, of Smiths Station, Ala., with sexual battery "demeans the real and serious trauma of actual victims of sexual violence," New Orleans attorneys Miles Swanson and Michael Kennedy said in a statement Thursday."

Okay, I understand making an argument for your client, but at least try to make one that's not so fucking lame that both you and your client look even more retarded than before.  First off, pulling your nasty ass junk out and humping someone's face and ass, whether they're passed out or not, is a crime.  Second, that "mind-boggling" amount of energy they put into this was a couple of phone calls once they got a tip who this redneck pervert was.  And third, if you are the New Orleans PD and the entire nation is watching a video of this shit going on right there in your fine city...do you expect them to turn their back to it and say, "Awww, it's no big deal really....we've got real crime going on besides this little incident."   

Playing defense lawyer here...but if this had happened in AL, the potential charge would be under this code section.

Section 13A-6-66
Sexual abuse in the first degree.

(a) A person commits the crime of sexual abuse in the first degree if:

(1) He subjects another person to sexual contact by forcible compulsion; or

(2) He subjects another person to sexual contact who is incapable of consent by reason of being physically helpless or mentally incapacitated.

(b) Sexual abuse in the first degree is a Class C felony.
(Acts 1977, No. 607, p. 812, §2320; Act 2006-575, p. 1512, §2.)

The definition of "Sexual Contact" is:

(3) SEXUAL CONTACT. Any touching of the sexual or other intimate parts of a person not married to the actor, done for the purpose of gratifying the sexual desire of either party.

How many of you honestly think the bammer was attempting to gratify a "sexual desire"?

The part about him being asleep, or incapacitated, that's a lame argument, as the LA law reads essentially like ours regarding being physically incapacitated. 

[JR4AU]

Back to my prosecutor hat.   The LA law, as best I can tell, doesn't have any element that it be done for sexual gratification, so IMBLO, their argument fails miserably.

[JR4AU]

What he's charged with in LA:

§43.1.  Sexual battery

A.  Sexual battery is the intentional touching of the anus or genitals of the victim by the offender using any instrumentality or any part of the body of the offender, or the touching of the anus or genitals of the offender by the victim using any instrumentality or any part of the body of the victim, when any of the following occur:

(1)  The offender acts without the consent of the victim.

(2)  The act is consensual but the other person, who is not the spouse of the offender, has not yet attained fifteen years of age and is at least three years younger than the offender.

(3)  The offender is seventeen years of age or older and any of the following exist:

(a)  The act is without consent of the victim, and the victim is prevented from resisting the act because either of the following conditions exist:

(i)  The victim has paraplegia, quadriplegia, or is otherwise physically incapable of preventing the act due to a physical disability.

(ii)  The victim is incapable, through unsoundness of mind, of understanding the nature of the act, and the offender knew or should have known of the victim's incapacity.

(b)  The act is without consent of the victim, and the victim is sixty-five years of age or older.

B.  Lack of knowledge of the victim's age shall not be a defense.  However, normal medical treatment or normal sanitary care shall not be construed as an offense under the provisions of this Section.

C.(1)  Whoever commits the crime of sexual battery shall be punished by imprisonment, with or without hard labor, without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence, for not more than ten years.

(2)  Whoever commits the crime of sexual battery on a victim under the age of thirteen years when the offender is seventeen years of age or older shall be punished by imprisonment at hard labor for not less than twenty-five years nor more than ninety-nine years.  At least twenty-five years of the sentence imposed shall be served without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.

(3)  Whoever commits the crime of sexual battery by violating the provisions of Paragraph (A)(3) of this Section shall be imprisoned at hard labor for not less than twenty-five years nor more than ninety-nine years.  At least twenty-five years of the sentence imposed shall be served without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.

(4)  Upon completion of the term of imprisonment imposed in accordance with Paragraphs (2) and (3) of this Subsection, the offender shall be monitored by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections through the use of electronic monitoring equipment for the remainder of his natural life.

(5)  Unless it is determined by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, pursuant to rules adopted in accordance with the provisions of this Subsection, that a sexual offender is unable to pay all or any portion of such costs, each sexual offender to be electronically monitored shall pay the cost of such monitoring.

(6)  The costs attributable to the electronic monitoring of an offender who has been determined unable to pay shall be borne by the department if, and only to the degree that, sufficient funds are made available for such purpose whether by appropriation of state funds or from any other source.

[Godfather]

Can you check FL law...Snaggle touched my anus.

[JR4AU]

Can you check FL law...Snaggle touched my anus.

Were you asleep?

[djsimp]

Can you check FL law...Snaggle touched my anus.

You know he is wanted in 13 states for use of anal adhesives don't you. He likes to glue your shit together.

[Snaggletiger]

Can you check FL law...Snaggle touched my anus.

It was a proctology exam.  The fact that I'm gay and have no arms makes no difference.

[AU_Tiger_2000]

It was a proctology exam.  The fact that I'm gay and have no arms makes no difference.

Or that you're not a proctologist.

[GH2001]

Sexual battery is the intentional touching of the anus or genitals of the victim by the offender using any instrumentality or any part of the body of the offender, or the touching of the anus or genitals of the offender by the victim using any instrumentality or any part of the body of the victim

So you are saying that is in some deep shit?

[Snaggletiger]

So you are saying that is in some deep shit?

Most of the time