Forced to be witness?

[0505]

i am being forced to be a witness in a rape case i do not beleive the man is guilty but as i was with him that night they are making me go to court, i dont want to help her ruin his life more then she has, i dont want all my personal life dragged up in court with him, when i gave my statment it was done over the phone i did not know it would be used to make me go to court. i dont know what to do they have said if i dont i can be arressted.
i am sorry about my shocking spelling i am very nervous to be writing here.

[0505]

i really wish i could give all the info but by doing this i am sure it would be easy for someone who knew me to know who i am, there is so much more to this. i am not even the one on trial, but i feel i am and i am scared.

[Faith]

Yes, be very careful about posting anything up that may identify you.
Did you sign a statement?

[largactyl1]

Hi there, and welcome.

I don't know the answer to your situation but there will be people along who can advise you on this. I can see you are in a difficult position. As you feel the guy is not guilty of this crime, does your statement not support it, as you must have a reason for feeling this guy is innocent if you see what I mean.

Best wishes
Jen

[0505]

hi Thank you for replying,

i did sign it, what happened was the man was my partner, i got a phone call from my friend and she said her sister said he raped her, i was shocked so went to him to see what he had to say, he was clear it was concensal and was stunned i left him and went to the girls and took them to the police station, acting on shock i think, i said if what your saying is true then you need to tell the police, so i went with them, the next day he went to the police to try to sort it out as he could not understand what was going on. but the police called me at my friends house and me and my friend told them what happened over the phone both at the same time to diffrent people and the next day someone came over and asked us to sign them.

i was only trying to do what was best for everyone, and tell the truth, but they say i have to go court and talk about personal stuff between me and him, nothing i say can help him or her as i was not there,

[0505]

Hi there, and welcome.

I don't know the answer to your situation but there will be people along who can advise you on this. I can see you are in a difficult position. As you feel the guy is not guilty of this crime, does your statement not support it, as you must have a reason for feeling this guy is innocent if you see what I mean.

Best wishes
Jen

my statment does not support either of them, it neither helps or hinders either of them, its cos he was my partner, i was pregnant at the time i am scared they will wanna talk about that as i lost the baby and only buried her 3 weeks ago and so angry with the whole system i feel i am being treated like i done a crime and there has been no thought to what i have gone through during this, i feel i will just tell the whole court what i feel about them all, and prob get nicked.

i know i prob sound selfish talking about myself when he is the one on trial, He never got to see our baby as he is on remand and her funeral was tainted by having him handcuffed to prison guards and 3 guards at the funeral.

[Faith]

What's difficult to understand here, is why the prosecution would want to call you as a witness unless you have said something in your statement that helps them go towards a conviction

All I can really advise is that you tell the truth on the stand. if you make it clear to the CPS that what you will say on the stand will be in defence of the defendant, then they may well want to withdraw you as a witness anyway.

But if this goes against whatever you said in your statement, they may want to know why you have changed it.

[Faith]

Sorry, you have replied as I was typing so some of my post is already irrelevant.
I'm very sorry for your loss. Don't feel selfish...these things affect a great deal of people, all of whom will need support.

[0505]

What's difficult to understand here, is why the prosecution would want to call you as a witness unless you have said something in your statement that helps them go towards a conviction

All I can really advise is that you tell the truth on the stand. if you make it clear to the CPS that what you will say on the stand will be in defence of the defendant, then they may well want to withdraw you as a witness anyway.

But if this goes against whatever you said in your statement, they may want to know why you have changed it.

This is what i dont get, i was truthfull he was with me the night he had a one night stand with her (before he went out) and then he came back to mine. but i would not let him in and he called the police to get his things, so i just said what happened.

[0505]

it feels like he cheated on me with her, she has cried rape and i feel i have lost everything, and being made to feel like i have done something wrong, i dont want to stand there talking about our sex life (i have been told this may happen) where are my rights in this, he has rights she has rights, i feel i have none. i am so scared of being on that stand.

[Faith]

They obviously think they have some information that will benefit their conviction chances...like I say, it might be worth making it clear to them that you will be wanting to speak in favour of him.
Unfortunately, if they are determined that you must take the stand they can argue that you are breaking the law if you don't comply.

[0505]

would i do that in the morning i go to court? i dont even have a time to go (guess 9am) i know some stuff has been left out of my statment which i told them about which i did not notice when i signed it, this is what has been left out

when i took the girl to the police station she was saying she needed to go for a wee, i jokin said go in the carpark, in the middle of the police station she cocked her leg up and in a loud voice said ' naaaa cos everyone will see my c**t and pointed to it, i thought this was strange for a 'victim' coming to tell the police she knew who raped her to be like that.

this whole bit i said has been left out, i am not sure why and its my fault for not thinking it was going to be used in court or i would have made sure it was in there. do you think its worth me mentioning this?

[Faith]

You would need to make it clear as soon as possible. How were you informed that you were being summoned to court. Whoever informed you should be the one you contact.

As for things being left out of your statement, unfortunately, there is little you can do about this as you did sign it.

[0505]

i actually got the summons posted under my door i think someone tried to hand deliver it and my neighbour let them in and they slid it under the door?

yea i guess it is my fault for not checking it propley, i just did not understand everything that was going on, i did not think it was serious as it is, as two witnessess gave a statment in the same room at my friends house on the phone to a officer, i thought if it was serious someone would sit in private with you and you give a statment propley, i have never been involved with something like that before, so i misunderstood.
Thank you for all your advice its kind of you to take the time to try to explain things for me,

[Faith]

I wouldn't say it was your fault, just that maybe your naivety was exploited a bit.
It can happen to the best of people although if you are ever asked to sign anything again, think very carefully. You should have been warned that anything you signed could be used in court.

There should be a contact on the letter.