What is Rape?
When a person says no and the other person(s) keep going. Pretty simple right? Layman's terms, you could say. Well, perhaps too esoteric for soon-to-be-former Municipal Judge Teresa Carr Deni. The DN's Jill Porter first reported on the case on the 12th.
A DEFENDANT accused of forcing a prostitute at gunpoint to have sex with him and three other men got lucky, so to speak, last week.
A Philadelphia judge dropped all sex and assault charges at his preliminary hearing.
Municipal Judge Teresa Carr Deni instead held the defendant on the bizarre charge of armed robbery for – get this – "theft of services."
Unbelievable.
Deni told me she based her decision on the fact that the prostitute consented to have sex with the defendant.
"She consented and she didn't get paid . . . I thought it was a robbery."
And it's been discussed in blogs lots of places and again by the Inky.
Let's see what PA Clean Sweep does specifically in this election. I know that plenty of my friends are pretty outraged over this one.
I have no idea how soon-to-be-former Municipal Judge Deni has ruled in the past, what she has ruled on, where she went to school, who she worked for or what she does with her $148k salary. But I know that this is bonkers and the Philadelphia Bar Association has issued some harsh criticism after reading through the full transcript of the case. The Bar Association previously recommended retaining the judge, but that was before she made her ruling on the case – under association rules, the recommendation cannot be revoked.
Association Chancellor Jane Dalton Issues Statement on Judge Deni's Recent Ruling
It is not often that the Philadelphia Bar Association comments publicly on a judge's ruling in a legal proceeding. Indeed, the Association has, as part of its mission, the preservation of a free and independent judiciary. This issue goes to the marrow of our existence as a free and independent people.
However, an October 4 ruling by Philadelphia Municipal Court Judge Teresa Carr Deni—issued on the heels of ratings released by our nonpartisan Commission on Judicial Selection and Retention of Judge Deni and other judicial candidates in next week's election—represents a confluence of events that compels us to speak out.
Judge Deni's retention of an armed robbery charge for "theft of services" in the case of a defendant accused of forcing a prostitute at gunpoint to have sex with him and three other men—and the related dismissal of all sex and assault charges—belies a basic understanding of what constitutes rape in Pennsylvania.
I have personally reviewed the transcript from the defendant's preliminary hearing in this case. Based on my reading, the transcript clearly reflects that the victim decided she was not going to engage in sex with any of the men present, and that she was forced to do so at gunpoint. No one has denied or contradicted this.
Judge Deni's belief that because the victim had originally intended to have sex for money and decided not to because she didn't get paid posits that a woman cannot change her mind about having sex, or withdraw her consent to do so, regardless of the circumstances. We cannot imagine any circumstances more violent or coercive than being forced to have sex with four men at gunpoint.
Judge Deni's subsequent remarks, as reported, unfortunately point out that her decision in this case was based on a pre-existing bias as to when sex can be consented to, and as to when that consent can be withdrawn, and reflects, in my opinion, a clear disregard of the legal definition of rape and the rule of law in this case.
This matter occurred after the deliberations of the Philadelphia Bar Association's Commission on Judicial Selection and Retention closed. Our Commission made its finding regarding Judge Deni based on its review of her body of work over the past 6 years. Judge Deni's recent decision, however, was rendered after the Commission issued its recommendation.
As Chancellor, a lawyer, and a human being, I am personally offended by this unforgivable miscarriage of justice. The victim has been brutalized twice in this case: first by the assailants, and now by the court.
While this is an egregious case, in the final analysis, it is up to each individual voter, in the privacy of the voting booth, to make his or her own decision as to whether Judge Deni should continue in her present position.
Throw the bums out.
UPDATE
Judge Deni was retained :
"Yes" 75,835 65.9%
"No" 39,177 34.1%
November 7th, 2007 @ 1:47 pm
The part of this story you don’t know is that this was a manipulation of the press by political operatives, who purposely fabricated a twisted version of the facts right before an election, to smear Judge Deni’s reputation for political reasons that have nothing to do with the case they used to launch the campaign against her.
Once they got one paper to print their twisted version of the facts, the other papers piled on, repeating the false facts from the first story.
What you think happened is not what happened, and her political opponents knew they had her over a barrel, because the rules of judicial conduct prevent her from arguing the facts of a pending case in the press.
The operatives accomplished their goal, which was to create a public outrage to fan the flames of a public drum beat to remove Judge Deni from office.
Some people will not find it easy to accept that they were played.
Others who know how politics are played in Philly will acknowledge that what I am saying has a certain familiar ring of truth to it.
I have known Judge Deni for better than 30 years. I am telling you that what you read in the papers, and the firestorm that was created out of it, was a calculated political manipulation that had nothing to do with the truth.
November 7th, 2007 @ 4:30 pm
Kathy,
Are you suggesting that Ms. Gindraw wasn't raped? Do you feel that a robbery cannot occur before/while/after being raped? What are your thoughts on the bar's statement? What is your definition of rape?
November 8th, 2007 @ 8:57 pm
In response to your questions:
I honestly have no factual basis, certainly not a sufficient one, for forming an opiniuon about whether this person was raped or not. I think a person being raped can be robbed, I think a person being robbed can be raped.
Your question about the bar statement, I have two problems with it. One, it was the personal opinion of the Chancellor of the Bar Association, which is fine, but she published it as if it were from the Bar Association, and it was not.
Second, she published it the week before the election, when she knew that Judge Deni was prohibited by the rules of judicial conduct from responding to it.
Rape is the sexual assault on a non-consentual person. As to the facts alleged here, absolutely I think that prostitutes can be raped. What I don't know is what the actual facts were in this particular instance, as presented to the court, and the many other considerations, some technical, some not, that resulted in the charges that were filed.
November 8th, 2007 @ 9:41 pm
Kathy,
You said "What you think happened is not what happened" as if you knew something. It seems that you don't.
The decision came after after the bar's recommendations and they are barred from changing their recommendation. I think you would've been even more pissed off if the entire bar revoted at the last minute, eh?
You said the media "purposely fabricated a twisted version of the facts" now that's close to or is libel.