Comment on Met rejects calls to investigate Prince Andrew after release of Epstein files
Devi@kbin.social 8 months ago
Met aren't wrong here, the court documents have been released to the public, but they're not new information. He went to court over the one accusation, and if there was enough weight to the others he'd have gone over them too.
That's not to say any are untrue, just it needs significant evidence to convict someone in court, if that isn't there then there's nothing they can do.
Anticorp@lemmy.world 8 months ago
They need significant evidence to convict someone who rich and powerful in court. They convict people with tenuous evidence all the time if the people don’t have any money.
Devi@kbin.social 8 months ago
Not exactly. It's much easier to convict poor people cause they can't afford a good defence, but even a bottom of the class law student can shoot down no evidence.
That's the issue with sexual assault in general, there's often no evidence just by the nature of the crime.
It's shitty for the victims, but I'm not sure how much it can be helped.
Anticorp@lemmy.world 8 months ago
That’s why they charge you with absolutely everything they can think of, which would result in 20 years in prison for minor offenses, and then offer you a plea bargain where you plead guilty to the original charge without going to court. If they can’t beat you with the evidence, then they’ll try to beat you with intimidation and the risk of fighting them is monumental. People with money can afford attorneys that will get those frivolous additional charges dismissed before the trial even starts. The public defender is too underpaid, too overworked, and too friendly with the judge and prosecution to offer you such aid.