MN Supreme Court reverses rape conviction because woman wasn't forced to get drunk

[iemanja]

The Minnesota Supreme Court has ordered a new trial for a man convicted of raping a woman who was drunk. The justices ruled that the state's definition of "mentally incapacitated" does not include voluntarily inebriated victims.

Hennepin County prosecutors say that in May of 2017, Francois Khalil encountered a woman outside a Dinkytown bar who’d just consumed five shots of vodka and a prescription narcotic. Khalil invited her and a friend to a party.

Court documents say Khalil and two other men drove them to a house in Minneapolis, where there was no party. The woman, identified only by her initials, testified that she blacked out on the couch and later woke up to find Khalil raping her.

In 2019, a jury in Hennepin County convicted Khalil of third-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a victim who was impaired.

But Wednesday, the Minnesota Supreme Court overturned his conviction, ruling that the state’s legal definition of “mentally incapacitated” only applies if a victim was given drugs or alcohol against their will — not if they consumed the substances voluntarily.

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2021/03/25/mn-supreme-court-reverses-rape-conviction-because-woman-wasnt-forced-to-get-drunk?utm_campaign=npr&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_term=nprnews&fbclid=IwAR1XqMnUlpFGBiqIqZXVpY6ttjzxUn-IAZd4llsuAHvQY7PcqFVUSsmBqxg

This, ladies and gentlemen, is rape culture.

[elias7]

1. Sounds like a legal issue that MN legislature needs to fix

Rape culture: legislators have no impetus to fix a large loophole that has been known about and problematic for years.

[iemanja]

2. Since the GOP controls the State Senate

It's very hard to get out of the dark ages. This is a cop out on the court's part.

[joshcryer]

4. Justice is supposed to be "blind" and try to interpret laws that way.

The law, as written, allows you to rape women who are drunk, it's that simple. The law needs fixing and the GOP who wrote the law should be ashamed and this case should be plastered all over the names of every GOPer who voted for it.

[joshcryer]

3. This is GOP legislatures intentionally writing shitty laws...

This law is so spouses can rape their wives with impunity, so frat boys can get their rocks off without getting in trouble. They know what they're doing.

https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/609.341

Subd. 7.Mentally incapacitated.

"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.

Drunk sex is a slippery slope which is why you don't participate in it without full consent before hand. These fucking asshole guys taking advantage of women who were out to have a good time are the epitome of rape mentality.

Here's the ruling: https://www.mncourts.gov/mncourtsgov/media/Appellate/Supreme%20Court/Standard%20Opinions/OPA191281-032421.pdf

They are scathing against the guy tho, they know that this was an egregious rape act. But he gets to walk because GOPers wrote one sentence wrong.

[kcr]

7. Yep, that is indeed how the law is written

I hope they can change that because it's awful.

[Solly Mack]

5. K&R

[Scrivener7]

6. Oh my God. Women's rights are going backward so fast. I worry so much for my girls.

PS: But I DO love your new name.

[MineralMan]

8. Shocking ruling! Unconscious people cannot consent.

That is a fundamental thing.

Frankly, any man who would have sex with a passed-out person is no man at all, in my opinion.

Throw a blanket over that person and go somewhere else, dude!