# Can a rape victim be forced to testify against her rapist?



## wainscottbl (Oct 16, 2015)

Chris rapes Maggie and other women. He is arrested and put on trial. Can Maggie be subpoenaed, thus being in contempt of ?court if she does not testify. She is not the accuser. Another woman is, but the prosecutor believes she is. She will not lie under oath is my character's nature by they way, but she will not answer "Does he rape you?", etc. 

Obviously the accuser must testify because the accused has the right to confront their accuser. But the supposed other victim is not an accuser.


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## Arianna (Oct 16, 2015)

Much depends on the jurisdiction--country and state/province. After that, you have to consider the accused's defense. Is he going to say I never had sex with Maggie? (The presence or lack of evidence will impact whether he would try that defense.) Or would he try to say the sex was consensual? Don't forget the time period. DNA evidence might not have been an option. Small samples that could not be used in the past may be usable now.

If Maggie was raped....
In the USA, Maggie would probably not face contempt of court. The case might not even go to trial. If the prosecutor knows Maggie is unwilling to testify, (s)he may offer the accused a chance to plead guilty to a lower offense with a lesser sentence. It may well be a pretty sweet deal to help get the case adjudicated quickly. If it does go to trial, expect the defense to move to dismiss. The prosecutor will know to expect that. How strong the case is without Maggie's testimony could result in anything from nolle prosequi to the tough battle that your story might need.

If Linda was raped and Maggie knows about it....
If the accused tells his attorney Maggie can clear his name, she can expect trouble if she refuses to testify. If you have her do so anyway, you'll probably want the judge to declare her a hostile witness. If Maggie can testify the rape did happen, much depends on the prosecutor. It may be her testimony isn't that important. If it is important, (s)he may start telling Maggie about obstruction of justice and its penalties. This could make Maggie change her mind. Once in a while a witness is allowed to be deposed out of court and the video admitted into evidence at trial. If Maggie gets all the way to the witness stand and refuses to testify, contempt probably would ensue. You may be able to help her by having both sides and the judge agree to let her testify later. Hearing other witnesses may change her mind.

Why does Maggie not want to testify? You may be able to get her in and out of contempt quickly. In a real life case, a Catholic nun was held in contempt for refusing to testify about a man's theft. The judge said a nun doesn't have a priest-penitent privilege. Once he knew she went to jail for him he told her to go ahead and testify. Something like this might work for your character.


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## Bloggsworth (Oct 17, 2015)

Maggie could only testify if she had witnessed it, had she not, it would be hearsay and impermissible.


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## Arianna (Oct 17, 2015)

I don't know what the OP wants to do, but you could make this a lot more complicated.

Maggie hates Linda and assists the rapist--maybe pays him to do it. Maggie might even want her dead, but he won't go that far. She may be called to testify about her role in the crime even if not the rape itself. Maggie's testimony can be reused in her trial (unless she is tried first), so she really has a reason not to testify. Certainly her attorney will try to keep her off the stand in his trial so she doesn't incriminate herself before her trial starts.

To entangle things even more, let's say the rapist collects his money from Maggie and then rapes her. She might choose not to report it. If she does report it, he may be tried separately for each rape or they may be combined into a single trial. That would affect what Maggie would want to do.

Doing all this would move the story's focus from the crime scene to the courtroom. That may not be the kind of story the OP wants to write. You can take a few more liberties when the courtroom isn't the focus. I've seen sitcoms with some really unrealistic court scenes.


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## aj47 (Oct 17, 2015)

Yes, it depends on the jurisdiction.  If it's a matter of DNA, there's no testimony needed, but if he's saying that Maggie changed her mind, then she may need to testify.  As to the "other women" they'd need to testify, too, if he's being tried for more than one count at once.

Something to investigate -- some jurisdictions allow video testimony as an alternative to live, in-the-same-room-as-the-defendant.  

I am a rape survivor.  I didn't testify because he pleaded to a lesser charge and was sentenced to time served.  So there are a multitude of possibilities.


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## ppsage (Oct 18, 2015)

In most cases in the US, a subpoena will be issued if the attorney makes a decent case that pertinent evidence could be obtained from the witness. The other side might argue about decent case and they might argue about pertinent, and they might block the witness. The witness might find grounds to fight the subpoena and they might win. There could be many hurdles to actually bringing the witness to the stand, including judgments appealed to higher courts, but if they are successful, then the witness could be forced to at least appear. Whether any prosecutor would find examining such a witness sound strategy is a whole nuther question.


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