Please could someone give me some advice?

[Twinks]

My step-dad has been accused of rape.

I’ll try to keep this concise:

His neighbour came over to his house to borrow something, he asked her in and they had a few drinks (her more than him I think), they ended up having sex and then her (adult) son came knocking on the door, at this point she started crying and the son burst in and dragged her out saying that he was going to phone the police.

My step-dad was arrested and she was taken away in an ambulance, one of the paramedics asked if he had given her drugs, which he hadn’t, he doesn’t take them himself but he doesn’t know whether she does; he said that she looked perfectly sober when she first came over to his house.

He recently attended his bail hearing only to find out that he had been rebailed because the police are waiting for one more piece of evidence to be returned before they make a decision as to whether he is going to be charged.

I am worried whether this is a good or bad thing? Is this the norm in cases like this?
He has already waited six weeks for his bail hearing and now they are telling him that he could be waiting another six. He has moved in with a family member for the time being because the council have been trying to relocate her but she doesn’t seem in any rush to go.

What I would really like to know is if it is forensically possible to tell the difference between sex and rape? I’ve seen it on CSI but I don’t know whether this relates to real life.

The other thing that is worrying me is that he said the son dragged her out of the house and pretty much threw her through her front door, what if she got bruises from this? and how would they tell that my step-dad wasn’t the one who did them?

He’s the only family I have left as both my parents have passed away so any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[LS]

Hi

All I can say is it often takes many months for the cps to make a decision, so don't go on the assumption that it'll be sorted in a matter of days, as you may end up disappointed.

[psychotic]

in the same bout as your step-dad

as one my other friends told me that his brother got in trouble with the law here in canada... for even a drug possession it took the cops here over a year to go to trial... i guess cops everywhere is so slow... and then come up with some "evidence" that... really is subjective?

[Raptorace]

Hi Twinks

Re-bail is perfectly normal and means nothing (except how slow the system is) I've been re-bailed 5 times while they where still waiting for and collecting evidence. Case now dropped so it really means nothing.
I was told after the first three months that they still hadn't received the toxology results back due to a backlog, that's a simple blood test taking three months! That's how slow theywork, hence re-bails.

Good luck

[Twinks]

Thanks for your replies guys.

I don't know an awful lot about how the Law works but I honestly thought that we would know where we stand by the first bail hearing (6 weeks from the date of arrest), after reading some of the posts on here it seems that i might have been a bit delusional!

The upside of trawling through the threads is that i've realised I couldn't have found a better place to come for support, just been able to talk about it (well, write about it) makes me feel a lot less isolated.

The strength that some of you guy's have has made me feel a lot more positive, so thank you for that x

[Saffron]

Glad to have been of some help!

I would also recommend that you spend some time gathering character references - people prepared to stand up in court (or at least make a written statement) that your stepdad is a Good Man. Ideally these should be from professional people - teachers, lawyers, doctors, engineers, architects etc - but they can be just as compelling from ley people.

Let us know how you get on.

[felix]

Took 5 months from arrest to NFA for me - for no apparent reason - two missed bail dates.....