Chris H.

Chris H. had no prior criminal history when he was arrested and accused of forcible rape; rape of an intoxicated person, and sexual battery, two of which are strikes, and all of which are registerable sex offenses.

One Friday night, Chris was out with a friend. He was 22-years old at the time, and he and his friend were drinking and looking for women. Chris had some luck at a bar, but when it closed, the woman left with her friend, promising to call Chris for a later encounter, but never did.

Disappointed, Chris called a friend who was always having a party on the weekends, and his friend invited him over, saying that there was a particular woman there looking for "some guys." Chris and his friend went over to the house. They drank another beer, and the owner of the house took them to a bedroom where this woman was seemingly sleeping. Both Chris and his friend tried to get her attention. However, she told his friend to leave, and both he and Chris left.

Later, Chris returned to the room, and claimed that he found a willing sex partner for the remainder of the night. The next morning, the woman claimed rape.

Chris was in shock for a while. The accusation was one of those bells so difficult to un-ring.

Another lawyer had represented him through the preliminary stages, and Chris was feeling scared about whether that lawyer even cared about him.

Chris hired me, and we began meeting regularly to go over the case, and discuss his story of what happened. We spent a lot of time together. Most people have never testified before a jury, much less as the accused. It is not something someone does without adequate preparation.

So, one of the ways I worked with Chris was to make him tell his story to other women while I asked the questions. They were young women. They were pretty women. They were also lawyers, and not easily mislead.

It was difficult at first, but over time, Chris became more comfortable about telling his story to women he did not know. I had him tell all of the details of what he did with that woman, and how she responded, from foreplay through intercourse.

She was a terrible witness at trial. She never looked at the jury, and it seemed evident that she had reported a rape because she didn't want her friends to "think that I'm a slut." The man who invited Chris over refused to testify about the invitation and what the woman had said--which was clearly a request to bring men over for her to have sex with them--because the prosecutor suggested that if he did so testify, she may have to prosecute him for aiding and abetting the crime, which is equivalent to having committed the crime.

I called his wife instead, and she reported that she was present when a conversation took place, which included the woman soliciting him to bring some of his friends over for sex.

Chris testified about that night, in vivid detail. The prosecutor, a woman, had a lot of attitude toward Chris, but nothing that would make him falter or tell a different story. It was clear that he was telling the truth.

The jury found him not guilty very quickly. Had he been convicted, he would have spent many years in prison, with two strikes when he was released.