Denver DA’s ‘Start By Believing’ — Say What?
by Danny Foster, Esq.
the managing partner of the law firm Foster, Graham, Milstein & Calisher, LLP
Recently the Denver District Attorney’s office, along with the city of Denver, unveiled their decision to participate in a public relations program sweeping the nation called “Start by Believing.” For those of you who are unfamiliar with the program, let me explain. “Start by Believing” is a campaign designed to encourage everyone (civilians, politicians, police, prosecutors, jurors, everyone) to immediately believe any person who claims to be a victim of a sexual assault as soon as they tell you they have been victimized. It doesn’t say “Start by Listening” or “Start by Supporting” it says “Start by Believing” them.
Yes, you read that correctly. The city of Denver and the Denver DA have decided that it is more important to believe any person alleging sexual abuse than to provide an alleged suspect the presumption of innocence. The concept of believing an alleged victim without any investigation specifically means that we must NOT believe the person accused of committing this act and presume them guilty. You can’t have it both ways. What a frightening concept. I am cynical by nature so it’s not a huge surprise that prosecutors’ offices across the country would embrace this notion. It makes it easier to secure convictions if there is an overwhelming PR campaign to bolster the credibility of victims. But when the city of Denver itself gets behind this concept and spends city funds on this issue to promote this unconstitutional concept, it causes me and many of those in the legal community great concern.
I want to stress that there are many real victims of sexual abuse. And, for those poor individuals who have been victimized, it is essential that we support them, help them and be there for them during the healing process. I have no doubt that many victims stay silent for fear of being blamed or not being believed. But this “Start by Believing” campaign is not the appropriate remedy to handle this problem. All too often we deal with cases where a “victim” says she was victimized only later to discover she lied for any myriad reasons, but by that time the damage has been done to the person who was charged with the crime. Once you are accused of being a sex offender you can never remove that label. That’s the term that sticks, even if acquitted of any wrong doing. That’s what happens when we “Start by Believing.” In my mind, there is only one type of person lower than the sexual offender, and that is the person who lies about being sexually assaulted and completely ruins an innocent person’s life. If you don’t think that happens, then all you need to do is look at the catastrophe on the University of Virginia campus this past year where a salacious allegation of sexual assault was levied against several members of a fraternity house. If it wasn’t for damn good legal investigation (NOT the investigation by Rolling Stone magazine) the “victim” would have gotten away with her lies and many young mens’ lives would have been ruined. These poor young men were eviscerated in the press, on campus and scared to death they could end up in prison for life. Frightening things happen when we “Start by Believing.”
Should the police and University have started this criminal investigation by “believing” the alleged perpetrators? Of course they should have. The Constitution demands that all people be considered innocent until proven guilty. Did the University of Virginia investigators start by “believing” the alleged victim instead? Of course they did. Why? Because it’s politically unpopular to ever question anyone who alleges being the victim of sexual assault. I get it, I understand the need for politicians and TV commentators and university officials to look tough on sex offenders. But this type of action CANNOT happen at the expense of violating suspects’ Constitutional rights.
Our office recently sponsored a free seminar to help prepare young men who are graduating high school in the spring and starting college in the fall. While a lot of the discussion revolved around the dangers of drugs/alcohol, the bigger concern was about how dangerous the climate is for young men on campuses across the country where even the slightest ambiguity regarding consensual sexual contact can equate to expulsion and criminal prosecution. I cannot sit idly by and watch more good kids get prosecuted and expelled for false sexual assault allegations. My colleagues and I believe this is absolutely our duty as lawyers to warn these boys about what could happen to them and how to avoid many of the pitfalls we have seen in the past. We have had to defend too many good people from outrageous allegations. While it would be nice if our seminar guaranteed they will avoid trouble, unfortunately it doesn’t work that way. All we can do is arm them with some useful information that we hope will give them an advantage. If you are a male, or have a son or grandson, BE FOREWARNED, men (and more specifically younger college age men) are in the crosshairs of an aggressive campaign led by victims’ advocate groups, prosecutors and the pandering politicians, to prosecute anyone who is even alleged to have committed a sexual crime. In Colorado that can equate to a life sentence in prison. And for those of you who don’t practice law, you should know that Colorado has a law called the Rape Shield statute. It prohibits an accused from mentioning anything to a jury about the alleged victim’s sexual past, even if the alleged victim has made false rape accusations in the past! The time has come to repeal this very dangerous statute.
Our firm has recently filed a lawsuit against a “victim” of sexual assault on the Boulder campus. Our investigation not only proved my client’s innocence, but the Boulder DA filed false information charges against the woman who lied to the police. She was convicted and now she can defend her actions in a civil lawsuit. She never even apologized to my client for what she put him through. No matter how much money we obtain from her, I don’t think it will ever even out the damage she caused by her accusations. Thankfully the Boulder DA didn’t “Start by Believing.” He started by doing what he is supposed to do, he started by investigating.
So, “Start by Believing?” How about “Start by Supporting” people who allege being victimized. “Start by Listening” to those who allege sexual assault. “Start by Loving” your kids and being there for them. And “Start by Investigating” the allegations of those who claim to be victims. But only Believe them when the weight of evidence points to guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, just like the Constitution requires.
Danny is a managing partner of Foster, Graham, Milstein & Calisher (FGMC). His practice focuses on personal injury. The law firm of FGMC, located in Cherry Creek, is a full service law firm focusing on: criminal defense, personal injury, real estate, litigation, liquor licensing, construction law, tax/estate planning, bankruptcy and zoning. This article does not create an attorney-client relationship and is for informational use only (what do you expect from an attorney!)
