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Advice on steps you should take if you are falsely accused. (Based on my own experience)

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  • Advice on steps you should take if you are falsely accused. (Based on my own experience)

    Hello users,

    I recently posted that after 2 years I have been acquitted of 2 sexual assaults. I'd like to share some steps I took that ultimately helped secured my aquittal.

    Some background info on me:

    In 2014 I was arrested at university. I was arrested at 6 am in my halls by two officers of suspicion of 2 sexual assaults. I was bailed to my home address and had the difficult task of explaining to family what had happened. 12 months later I was charged and 7 months later I was put on trial. After 5 days the jury unanimously found me not guilty in under 90 minutes.

    The following points are based on my last 2 years dealing with the police, cps, courts.

    DISCLAIMER: this is not legal advice. It is advice based on personal experience. Always seek out legal advice first.

    1. Say nothing to any police officer outside of the interview room. Stay silent and only answer questions from the custody sgt. From the moment you are arrested the game is on and they want to catch you out.

    2. If possible organise representation by ringing a loved one who can contact a local solicitor. I know the police will supply free legal advice but the solicitor who I was given told me to admit everything or face going to prison for 15 years and was very friendly with the DC on my case. Therefore if you can pick your legal help you can safeguard against the bad apples.

    3. If you are bailed have your solicitor fight your corner on the conditions as to minimise the impact of it.

    4. As soon as you are bailed the first thing you must do is to gather close family and friends around yourself. Create a support network as the process that follows is long and hard. Be transparent with them.

    5. Next, now knowing the accusations being thrown at you, write your version of events out, include every minute detail. Collect all possibly relevant evidence from your electronic devices as well as all social media accounts. Take pictures of any bruises of physical marks that relate to your case. The collection of this kind of evidence is something the police won't do unless is suits their case.

    6. Now is the time (once you have collected everything you can find) to take the evidence and your version of evidence to your chosen solicitor and discuss everything thoroughly. Ask them any questions about the process and the do's and don't's.

    7. Keep an eye out on all social media platforms for any incriminating behaviour by the accusers.

    8. Expect to be waiting a long time. The CPS is useless, in my case the caseworker on my file went on holiday the week before the trial without finishing the paperwork for the prosecuting barrister!

    9. Routinely have your solicitor ring the DC in charge of your case. It's your right to know the progress of the case. I usually rang every 3/4 weeks.

    10. The hardest point will be waiting. Its horrendous not being to move forward with your life and just relax. It will be hard and it will take its toll. But by this point you need to realise that you are effectively at war with the police and cps. Never back down, find support from your family and other pursuits (education and work).

    11. If and once you are charged you will receive the case file for the prosecution's case on you. It is your right to read this. READ EVERYTHING. It will be hard and daunting but in order to defend yourself you need to know your side of the story and their side.

    12. Once you have read all of the witness statements you should write down every point of the witness statements that you think is wrong and write down why. This forces to you to think through the case and also helps the barrister that represents you understand the case more.

    13. If you are on legal aid you CAN choose your own barrister. DO YOUR OWN research on barristers and also ask your solicitor for advice. Most work on legal aid. Write a list of 5 that you are interested in and then get your solicitor to see if they are interested.

    14. If possible, once you have a barrister,set up a conference with them ASAP. Go to this meeting prepared as it will be one of the few in depth meetings you have with them. Take all evidence you have and your own typed up version of events and challenges on the witness statements. You need to do everything you can to make sure your barrister has everything possible to defend you.

    15.You will have 2/3 visits to court before your trial. Don't fear them,use them to scout out the prosecutor hired to take you on. Get their name and research them afterwards. Take in your environment and try to not be overwhelmed.

    16. The day of the trial will arrive eventually. Make sure you are dressed well, have your hair cut smartly and come across as decent member of society. The jury are there to judge you and the first thing they do is look you up and down when you are in the dock.

    17. Make sure you understand the process of the trial so that nothing shocks you.

    18. REMEMBER the jury and judge will always keep an eye on your reactions. React to nothing,do not smile or be upset. Keep your self control and show nothing.

    19.Bring your support network! The jury will see that you're being supported which will paint a more positive picture of you in their minds.

    20. When you are giving evidence make sure you are prepared. Revise your version of events. Reread until its second nature.

    21. When giving evidence show your defence and prosecution respect. Address them appropriately and clearly. Try your best not to get angry or go off on a tangent. Stay on topic. Break up your passages of talking with sips of water to allow you to think briefly before you speak.

    22. If you acquitted then make sure your solicitor contacts local news papers to inform them of the verdict. If you have been reported on before the trial this is your moment to make sure everyone knows you did nothing wrong!

    All I can say to finish is keep your head up, don't back down to the gravity of the situation. If you aren't happy make it known, if you don't understand then question!

    I hope this helps in some way. Regardless,

    Good luck!!!
    Last edited by Casehardened; 20 May 2016, 03:00 PM.

  • #2
    [For further information please click on this link]

    http://www.daftmoo.org.uk/mooforum/f...ul-Information
    Last edited by Casehardened; 1 June 2016, 05:29 AM.

    Comment


    • #3
      Thanks for taking the time to write this up (and on your mobile!!!!.....I once had to write up a one-liner for the forum on mine and vowed never to do this again!)
      Last edited by Casehardened; 1 June 2016, 05:31 AM.
      'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger'

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      • #4
        Hi
        I would say that is a very good summing up,of the process and mirrors OHs experience.
        Well done for getting through the horrendous ordeal of a false accusation. Life will never be the same again I dont think but hopefully for you will be better as if you can get through this I dont think anything will faze you again. Put it behind you now and enjoy your life x

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        • #5
          Excellent Itsnotallbad,

          One thing I really regret after my sons acquital was that we didn't have a fuller prepared comment for the press to criticise the fact that son ended up in court on nothing more than accusers word and behaviours from her during his bail time that reduced her credibility to way below zero.

          In retrospect after discovering in court she had made a false allegation against another person shortly before trial that she retracted, and the CPS keeps cases under constant review, how the hell was sons case not abandoned on the first day? She even claimed in court she " could not be sure son had raped her".

          I wish we had been able to make a statement that son and us as his family were the real victims and how that had been for us for 15 months. I would have wanted to say that the CPS should prosecute accuser as there was way more evidence that she had lied than there ever was that son had raped her. I suppose such a statement would need to be checked over by barrister in case anything was not legally allowed.

          Wish you well in your recovery Itsnotallbad .

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by carrot tops View Post
            Excellent Itsnotallbad,

            One thing I really regret after my sons acquital was that we didn't have a fuller prepared comment for the press to criticise the fact that son ended up in court on nothing more than accusers word and behaviours from her during his bail time that reduced her credibility to way below zero.

            In retrospect after discovering in court she had made a false allegation against another person shortly before trial that she retracted, and the CPS keeps cases under constant review, how the hell was sons case not abandoned on the first day? She even claimed in court she " could not be sure son had raped her".

            I wish we had been able to make a statement that son and us as his family were the real victims and how that had been for us for 15 months. I would have wanted to say that the CPS should prosecute accuser as there was way more evidence that she had lied than there ever was that son had raped her. I suppose such a statement would need to be checked over by barrister in case anything was not legally allowed.

            Wish you well in your recovery Itsnotallbad .
            Hello Carrot tops,

            You were in the position my mum was in and it's a pretty helpless one at that. All you want to do is protect your own but don't have the power too.

            In terms of prosecution of the complainants, there's very little scope. Unless you have a message or video evidence showing the complainants admitting their lies then the CPS won't go after them. In my case the complainant refused to hand over clothing for forensic testing (this would of proven or disproved her case). In stead she hid the clothing and then washed it to get out of handing it over. Now to me that is Perverting the course of justice, but sexual crimes are the only crimes that can be prosecuted with not physical evidence! So nothing happened!

            With news paper reports, the only things that can be put in a report are the facts spoken in court. Mine just consisted of MR so and so was found not guilty of said crimes in under 90 minutes. He denied all wrong doing etc.
            Its difficult ground so checking with your solicitor is key.

            Well done for getting through it,I'll rebuild me life and so will your son as there is nothing else we can do!

            all the best!

            Comment


            • #7
              Thanks for taking the time to write this down. it should be published!

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              • #8
                Well done

                That's a great account of how to handle this horrendous experience ..... It brought back so many memories of my sons case .

                Worst year of our families life and police hid evidence that proved no rape until uncovered during trial. Our son behaved very similar (from the sound of it) to you and was also found not guilty within 15 minutes of jury bring out, in December 15. Nearly 6 months on and he's trying to get his life back on track but we're still having to fight. E.g. To get crb cleared (as he wants to work in US) plus industry he works in use them. And I want transcripts of trial to use in complaints process and have been told I'll have to pay for it & cost is around £5k. We went private & used bulk if our pension .... So this is just another slap in the face for an innocent person !

                Whereas the girl who cried rape cos her boyfriend and family found out she cheated on him .... Is still anon & not a care in the World. As for the OIC who ignored and hid evidence e.g her phone records .... Well he's been promoted !

                I'm trying very hard to not get bitter : but it's hard when even proven innocent , there's no recompense or justice.

                I hope you are able to put your case well behind you & live life to the full ! We intend to ; it's the only way to not let them win
                Innocentson

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                • #9
                  Hi- I also have a son innocent of the accusation - we're still at the bail stage - I'm trying to be very hopeful. Part of what's getting my son through this are his plans to prove her the liar she is - in court. I haven't the heart to tell him that that just isn't possible. What are the laws about contacting one's accuser, or their family directly, after the case has been dropped - asking for fair recompense ? Stating an intention of taking them to court for defamation etc ? Just a little of the pressure back at them - or is all that not allowed.

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                  • #10
                    Found not guilty within 15 minutes !!! I thought we did well getting not guilty in a hour!

                    Surely the barristers between them are realising before trial that there just isn't enough evidence for a conviction. I was given the impression that a case can be dropped at any stage, and of course clung on to that hope rather than face a public trial.

                    I wonder if it could be a case that judges, barristers etc would not get paid so much if the cases were dropped before trial ? Or is it some sort of warped mentality that if lots of cases were dropped after charge but before trial the police, CPS and barristers would look like a bunch of numpties ? Because the CPS and police don't look like a bunch of numpties already ?

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                    • #11
                      It's all to desperately maintain the false but PC notion that women never lie about rape - even though they do.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        It's all target driven I suspect

                        Originally posted by carrot tops View Post
                        Found not guilty within 15 minutes !!! I thought we did well getting not guilty in a hour!

                        Surely the barristers between them are realising before trial that there just isn't enough evidence for a conviction. I was given the impression that a case can be dropped at any stage, and of course clung on to that hope rather than face a public trial.

                        I wonder if it could be a case that judges, barristers etc would not get paid so much if the cases were dropped before trial ? Or is it some sort of warped mentality that if lots of cases were dropped after charge but before trial the police, CPS and barristers would look like a bunch of numpties ? Because the CPS and police don't look like a bunch of numpties already ?

                        To be honest we were very scared the jury could follow what was going on cos it got so complicated with the volume of previously unknown hidden evidence and the OIC was recalled to the dock for questioning a number of times over the days , to explain himself in not listing evidence in the file (eg her phone records that proved she was constantly on the phone during what was supposed to be a rape .....). Why he hadn't spoken to officers in charge at the time (eg 9 years ago) why he hadn't revealed the cctv was lost .... But that there was a document in the file of someone viewing said cctv 9 years ago & no evidence of rape .... Fa was seen calmly chatting to 2 other men ..... Shortly after it was all supposed to have happened .... Why he contacted the girl via her family, re-opening a closed case of 9 years ago, knowing she had retracted her allegations 5 days after making it & specifically asking that her family are not informed..... Basically he was made out & strongly implied within the court as being incompetent by our barrister.... My personal feeling is he was corrupt and after a target eg conviction at any price. Fortunately the jury saw through it and the judge seemed very fair ; impressing on them how our son was of very good character (even reading out more than 10 character references at length) & no history ever ..... He was a 20 year old student at the time and knew nothing until 9 years later that an allegation had even been made.

                        Unfortunately yorkshire in particular seem to have police OIC's on a mission or target driven in the wake of the Seville fiasco I suspect. They are all numpties ! The police cos they just don't investigate or care how many lives are ruined and the cps similarly but more alarmingly : they shoukd be pre testing the strength of each case before wasting huge amounts of tax payers money . So "numpties" is one of the kinder labels I'd use tbh ..... Ignorant hippocritical corrupt b.......s is my label of preference ; but then I'm a tad bitter ;-(. My apologies I don't usually swear but I make an exception when I think of this pc ...
                        Innocentson

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          I know our solicitor had had problems with the OIC of sons case. I think there had been a problem in a previous case where she had tried to order the solicitor out of an interview with another person.

                          Our daughter had made false allegations against our son but despite claiming panic attacks frequently walked past our house while son was on bail. I fed this information back to OIC ( dates, times, what she was wearing) .A few months later daughter rings me out of the blue, angry that I was causing trouble for her. She was not on the phone long and I didn't want to engage in case she twisted it that I was intimidating her. I can only speculate that the OIC had spoken to her about going past our house, maybe suggesting it was strange behaviour?

                          I don't know whether that was presented to the jury as our barrister was very keen to keep it all simple. It surely at the very least was making her case even less credible. The two prosecution witnesses who were never called said they didn't believe daughter.

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                          • #14
                            It's great to see such a good response from forum members!

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                            • #15
                              Unfortunately here too

                              Guys I have been reading this thread and it has gave me hope and feeling of havin others who my understand me. I am new so can't seem to post my experience yet but I too have been falsely accused of rape and on bail without charge as my wife but until I can post I just wanted to say thank you all it helps me keep my chin up during this emotional nightmare. Keep up the good work and I will try and stay sane

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