Slut shaming in the Buffalo News?

For the record, based on everything that has come out so far and certainly reserving the right to change my mind, I think it is exceedingly more likely than not that the woman thinks that she was raped or possibly raped. She called friends and family right away, reportedly her father. She immediately had a rape kit administered. She was reportedly "traumatized," and left Kane's house immediately with her friend, according to what has been reported. There aren't a lot of red flags in her account.

 

You seemed to have missed my point. Her behavior at the bar is not relevant to whether or not she consented at another time and place, although a defense attorney would try to get those kinds of comments in to improperly plant that seed of doubt that you are grabbing onto, for the very reasons you're grabbing onto them.

 

I understood that that was your point. I think her behavior at the bar is relevant to that point. The question is whether it is probative enough to justify its prejudice - the only time this comes into play, I think, in the criminal justice system - against the victim.

 

Then there's this little nugget from the bar owner:

“I’ve got no skin in this game. I am only telling you what I observed,” Croce said. “(Kane) was acting like a typical young guy his age, out having fun with some of his buddies. A lot of people were coming up to him, asking to have pictures taken with him. He was a gentleman. Pat had a couple of drinks and maybe a couple of shots. He was having a good time, but he wasn’t stumbling or doing anything obnoxious.”

Croce said that, in his opinion, some news media reports make it appear as though Kane is guilty of rape.

That makes it look to me "more likely" that the bar owner may have some ulterior motives and may, in fact, have some skin in the game.

 

There are other times where it comes up, although sexual assault is certainly the area where it is most common. That's why we have rape shield laws.

I dealt with it in a non-sexual assault case where my victim was transgendered and the defense attorney really wanted to get afield of relevancy in an effort that I thought was intended to prejudice the jury against her. You also see it in cases where your victim is an undocumented immigrant.

 

Those make sense. Along the lines of the transgendered case, I could see it in a (non-sexual) assault against a gay person, as well.

 

Ultimately, I think that you can't run the bar owner's quotes as they are, without additional context. Explain their potential legal consequences. Add clarifying quotes from rape experts or advocates discussing what people have said here: that flirting does not equal consent.

 

"The owner of a nearby bar said there's no way to know for sure what happened between Samuel DuBose and the police officer, but he mentioned that DuBose had come into the bar and said the F word a few times before leaving.

The Cincinnati Gazette could not independently confirm that the F-word dropper was DuBose or another black man."

 

Woman tells police that she left with a friend to go to Patrick Kane's house.

Bar owner says he sees woman leaving bar with Patrick Kane and another woman.

It seems pretty likely that this was the same woman.

 

Skin in the game? Kane's private party with the Cup was supposed to be at his bar. Pretty sure we can all do the math on that one.
FWIW, in addition to owning some bars and several price-gouging parking lots in Buffalo, Croce is also an exceedingly well-connected developer. As in, if he doesn't like your bar, you may get a visit from the local cops or fire marshal. If it's not him, maybe those quotes never see print.

Of course, they shouldn't have anyway. Like Brian (the sportsmediaguy link), I have friends inside One News Plaza. All I can say is, I'm glad none of their bylines were on this story.

I wonder if it would've run if Margaret Sullivan was still there?

 

Sounds like some pretty unappealing chicken salad you are making there, Dick.

 

Yeah. If everything you say is true, at least a 50-50 shot that the rape victim was the woman the bar owner thought was being "forward."