rape accusation by ex partner

[samuel]

my ex girlfriend has told a family member of mine that she has reported me to the police for a rape she says took place three years ago. That she made the report 4 months ago and that a female officer is coming out to see her next week. She claims that I made her take her prescribed sleeping pills and then had sex with her while she was asleep.

This is not true - during our last year together she had serious mental health issues ( borderline personality disorder / schizophrenic ?) and was treated as an in patient , at this time she also made sexual allegations (against a member of her family ) which were discounted . I understand that she seemed ill again when talking to my family member i.e. slurring her words and crying so this may be connected with the allegation/

Can you please confirm :

1. Should I have been interviewed by now ?

2. I now live some distance away so where would I be interviewed if this happens i.e. where I live or where she reported ( I want to lo look up solicitors )?

3. Would evidence of her mental health state be admissible in court ?

4. There cant be any evidence except her word against mine so am I likely to be charged

[myhome]

Hi and welcome to our forum but sorry to see another new member here....I will try to answer questions as best I can but they are not definitive answers as all cases are different, as are all police forces and cps groups. The one thing these 2 organisations do have in common though is that they have conviction targets to meet and the police are not your friends.

1. Should I have been interviewed by now ?

Unfortunately it is not possible to say. Some people are interviewed straight away and others aren't depending on circumstances of the allegation. If it is recent, then a person is more likely to be interviewed as soon as possible to preserve any forensic evidence. If the allegation is historical then there is not that urgency.

2. I now live some distance away so where would I be interviewed if this happens i.e. where I live or where she reported ( I want to lo look up solicitors )?

Again this depends on the circumstances and the individual police force. If she made the allegation in county X where it was supposed to have happened, then it is the responsibility if X's police force what to do. They could ask you to go to that county to be interviewed; they could send a couple of officers to where you now live - county Y and interview you at a police station there; or they could ask officers from County Y police force to interview you on their behalf. Have a look at this thread for recommended solicitors and those to avoid. http://www.daftmoo.org.uk/mooforum/s...ist-solicitors

3. Would evidence of her mental health state be admissible in court ?

Quite possibly especially if it helped the prosecution. If was to help your defence then prosecution would possibly try to disallow it. (I'm no expert here but some of our members are and can give a clearer answer).

4. There cant be any evidence except her word against mine so am I likely to be charged

The fact that there is no other evidence doesn't have bearing on whether you are charged or not. Some people are and some people aren't. Member billykickass was charged on word against word (found NG); I haven't been - mine's historical. What makes the decision for the CPS to charge is that they have to be 51% certain of getting a conviction. If they think there is then they will charge. But that's a long way off so don't start panicking.

If/when you are interviewed, you MUST have a solicitor with you who MUST take notes of the interview on your behalf. Only answer the questions the police ask. Don't volunteer extra information - especially if you think it will help prove your innocence. The police will either 'lose' this, deny ever knowing it or tell it to your FA'er and allow her to change her story to render that info useless. They and she are allowed to do this. The police are not your friends and have conviction targets to meet.

Sorry I can't be as positive as you would like, but it is not a straightforward issue for anyone. Keep posting and we'll help all we can.

[Casehardened]

That she made the report 4 months ago and that a female officer is coming out to see her next week.

Hi Samuel & welcome to the forum,

If she made the report directly to the police rather than via an agency this seems to be rather a long time to start investigations; wonder if she actually made a report or whether this is part of her strategy for revenge! Obviously if she contacted Rape Crisis or something similar it may have taken this time to get through the system.

To answer your other points, if the police take the allegation seriously i.e. they think it may have occurred, an interview of both the accuser and accused will take place fairly quickly especially if it is current (and I realise yours is historic so may be dealt with by a voluntary interview)

If the interview happens it will be dealt with by the force in whose area the alleged offence occurred.

I believe if the matter goes to court the defence barrister will have to apply to introduce medical records and the judge will make a ruling on this.

Finally I am sorry to say that in these sort of cases the accusers word is deemed to be sufficient evidence to investigate the matter (this is of course not the same as being sufficient for a conviction!)

EDIT to add Myhome produced a much better and more comprehensive reply whilst I was laboriously typing mine out; however as they are broadly corroborative I'll leave mine up!

[myhome]

EDIT to add Myhome produced a much better and more comprehensive reply whilst I was laboriously typing mine out; however as they are broadly corroborative I'll leave mine up!

[lawlessone2009]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Best you find us now.

To make the solicitor searching a little easier:

http://www.daftmoo.org.uk/mooforum/s...ist-solicitors


As for the Police and CPS and time... Yeah... You could potentially be looking at having your life upset for years!

Being called in for an interview is not necessarily an instantaneous thing. They 'could' contact you and request you attend for a 'voluntary' interview, DO NOT ATTEND THIS WITHOUT A SOLICITOR. They may arrest you at work or at home...

If there has been a previous allegation made then it is a potential avenue that the Police will explore when considering the credibility of her complaint. They may still wish to question you though. If you are invited in for a 'voluntary' interview and take your solicitor make sure and explain that you were given a 'heads up' with regards what the allegation is likely to be as you don't want to appear unnecessarily guilty.