Women in Minnesota who go out drinking and who then get drunk can expect to be sexually assaulted.
"Minnesota court rules rape charge doesn't apply if the victim got willingly drunk"
https://www.axios.com/minnesota-court-rape-victim-intoxicated-6660c070-9dbb-4c29-aa0f-ef13e1a39650.html
A jury in 2019 convicted Khalil of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. His lawyers appealed the decision saying that the charge was not applicable because that statute applies when the victim took drugs or alcohol without their consent, while the woman in this case had taken five vodka shots herself prior to meeting Khalil. The Minnesota Supreme Court agreed.
The Minnesota Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that a man who had sex with a woman while she was passed out on his couch cannot be found guilty of rape because the victim got herself drunk beforehand.
The big picture: Minnesota is one of the many states that says that for a victim to be too mentally incapacitated to give consent, they must have become intoxicated against their will, such as if a person secretly drugged someone's drink, The Washington Post reports.
Context: Francios Momolu Khalil in 2017 picked up a woman from a Minneapolis bar and took her back to his home. The woman "blacked out" on Khalil's couch and woke up to find him allegedly sexually assaulting her, per The Post.
A jury in 2019 convicted Khalil of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. His lawyers appealed the decision saying that the charge was not applicable because that statute applies when the victim took drugs or alcohol without their consent, while the woman in this case had taken five vodka shots herself prior to meeting Khalil.
If a person is convicted of the third-degree charge, they could face up to 15 years in prison, pay a fine of no more than $30,000, or both.
The state Supreme Court overturned the conviction and gave Khalil a new trial, arguing that the prosecution's explanation of the charge "unreasonably strains and stretches the plain text of the statute," state Justice Paul Thissen wrote, per the Duluth News Tribune.
The court said that Khalil could be charged with fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct, a gross misdemeanor. If convicted, he would face up to one year in prison, a fine of no more than $3,000 or both.
Worth noting: The Minnesota House of Representatives is currently considering a bill that would change the language of the third-degree criminal sexual conduct statute, the Duluth News Tribune reports.
It would make it a crime to have sex with someone who is too incapacitated to give consent, regardless of how they got to that state.
Our thought bubble, via Axios’ Torey Van Oot: Expect lawmakers in the divided Legislature to face growing public pressure to fix the statute before they adjourn in May.
@suzianne saidjudges appointed not based on merit but on party lines
Women in Minnesota who go out drinking and who then get drunk can expect to be sexually assaulted.
"Minnesota court rules rape charge doesn't apply if the victim got willingly drunk"
https://www.axios.com/minnesota-court-rape-victim-intoxicated-6660c070-9dbb-4c29-aa0f-ef13e1a39650.html
[i]A jury in 2019 convicted Khalil of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. His l ...[text shortened]... e divided Legislature to face growing public pressure to fix the statute before they adjourn in May.
i am done being outraged by anything goin on in that country. My blood pressure will be better if i just think of the US as just another Russia or China or something similar.
@suzianne saidI've seen a girl die instantly as she drove home drunk from a dance club, her car scattered across 200 yards of the highway. Years later my friends granddaughter and all her friends got killed by a drunk driver. I've also seen normal people act like very stupid and dangerous donkeyholes when drunk.
Women in Minnesota who go out drinking and who then get drunk can expect to be sexually assaulted.
"Minnesota court rules rape charge doesn't apply if the victim got willingly drunk"
https://www.axios.com/minnesota-court-rape-victim-intoxicated-6660c070-9dbb-4c29-aa0f-ef13e1a39650.html
[i]A jury in 2019 convicted Khalil of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. His l ...[text shortened]... e divided Legislature to face growing public pressure to fix the statute before they adjourn in May.
So in my opinion anyone who chooses to drink alcohol -- all bets are off. They get no rights. Zero. And big warning labels should state that if you drink you'll either kill or be killed.
@bunnyknight saiddrinking is not illegal driving while drunk is and the punishment for that is not rape.
I've seen a girl die instantly as she drove home drunk from a dance club, her car scattered across 200 yards of the highway. Years later my friends granddaughter and all her friends got killed by a drunk driver. I've also seen normal people act like very stupid and dangerous donkeyholes when drunk.
So in my opinion anyone who chooses to drink alcohol -- all bets are ...[text shortened]... ghts. Zero. And big warning labels should state that if you drink you'll either kill or be killed.
a girl drinking deserves to get home unraped and you're a garbage person for saying otherwise.
@suzianne saidRape is sex without consent. He had sex without her consent. Therefore it's rape.
"Minnesota court rules rape charge doesn't apply if the victim got willingly drunk"
https://www.axios.com/minnesota-court-rape-victim-intoxicated-6660c070-9dbb-4c29-aa0f-ef13e1a39650.html
[i]A jury in 2019 convicted Khalil of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. His lawyers appealed the decision saying that the charge was not applicable because that statute applies wh ...[text shortened]... e divided Legislature to face growing public pressure to fix the statute before they adjourn in May.
What the fck.
@suzianne saidWTF!?!?
Women in Minnesota who go out drinking and who then get drunk can expect to be sexually assaulted.
"Minnesota court rules rape charge doesn't apply if the victim got willingly drunk"
https://www.axios.com/minnesota-court-rape-victim-intoxicated-6660c070-9dbb-4c29-aa0f-ef13e1a39650.html
[i]A jury in 2019 convicted Khalil of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. His l ...[text shortened]... e divided Legislature to face growing public pressure to fix the statute before they adjourn in May.
Does it count for a man as well? If he gets willingly drunk and arse-raped?
Seriously. America has serious issues.
@shavixmir saidI wonder, if they are both drunk are they both rapists. Or is it who gets to report it 1st, Just askin.
WTF!?!?
Does it count for a man as well? If he gets willingly drunk and arse-raped?
Seriously. America has serious issues.
@suzianne saidMedia reporting on legal cases is generally terrible and this one is no exception. The defendant is this case was charged with more serious crimes:
Women in Minnesota who go out drinking and who then get drunk can expect to be sexually assaulted.
"Minnesota court rules rape charge doesn't apply if the victim got willingly drunk"
https://www.axios.com/minnesota-court-rape-victim-intoxicated-6660c070-9dbb-4c29-aa0f-ef13e1a39650.html
[i]A jury in 2019 convicted Khalil of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. His l ...[text shortened]... e divided Legislature to face growing public pressure to fix the statute before they adjourn in May.
"The State also charged Khalil with three additional counts arising from the same alleged conduct: first-degree criminal sexual conduct involving personal injury and a
mentally incapacitated or physically helpless complainant in violation of Minn. Stat§ 609.342, subd. 1(e)(ii) (2020); first-degree criminal sexual conduct involving physical
injury and use of force or coercion in violation of Minn. Stat. § 609.342, subd. 1(e)(i); and third-degree criminal sexual conduct involving use of force or coercion in violation of
Minn. Stat. § 609.344, subd. 1(c) (2020). At trial, the jury acquitted Khalil on these three additional counts; only the conviction for third-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a
mentally incapacitated or physically helpless complainant is before us on appeal.
https://www.mncourts.gov/mncourtsgov/media/Appellate/Supreme%20Court/Standard%20Opinions/OPA191281-032421.pdf
In short, the Minnesota Supreme Court did not create any rule saying that voluntarily drinking means you can be raped with impunity as these articles imply. It does say that voluntary consumption of drugs or alcohol doesn't make you "Mentally incapacitated" and if you read the definition under Minnesota law it's hard to argue with the Court's finding:
""Mentally incapacitated" means that a person under the influence of alcohol, a narcotic, anesthetic, or any other substance, administered to that person without the person's agreement, lacks the judgment to give a reasoned consent to sexual contact or sexual penetration."
https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/609.341 subd 7.
The Court ruled that a contrary jury instruction tainted the verdict and the defendant must be retried. I'd expect the DA to rely on the "physically helpless" aspect of the charge this time given the facts of the case and Minnesota law.