In a rape culture, the man is never to blame

A public official has just been acquitted of sexual assault, and as per usual, the fact that he was acquitted and the reasons why are enough to make your jaw drop. Or at least they would be, if this kind of shit didn’t happen every damn day.

After a jury found Jackson County Commissioner Mike Brown not guilty Wednesday, the woman who accused him of sexual assault cried and leaned her head on a friend as a somber Brown walked slowly past.

“I am glad it is over,” said Brown, 61, who appeared tired and was unwilling to say much.

A jury, after deliberating for about 10 hours over two days, found him not guilty Wednesday of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct, a misdemeanor, and attempted third-degree criminal sexual conduct, a felony.

Defense attorney Alfred Brandt said he was not surprised by the decision. “Ultimately, it comes down to two people in a car. One person has one version. The other person has another version. How do you prove it beyond a reasonable doubt?”

He said Brown is relieved the ordeal is over.

“Hopefully, he goes on with his life and, hopefully, the young lady goes on with her life,” Brandt said.

The verdict had his accuser in tears. “I am shocked, and he even admitted it,” the 24-year-old said, referring to Brown’s testimony that he tried to push her face into his lap.

[. . .]

Brown was accused of fondling the woman and forcing her hand onto him.

He testified he exposed himself to her and tried to push her head into his lap, hoping she would perform a sex act, while the two sat in his car June 17 outside the Middle School at Parkside in Jackson. Brown had given the woman a ride home from Ted’s Firehouse Pub in Jackson.

Now, this doesn’t make any sense, does it? A man is accused of sexual assault and attempted sexual assault, the victim goes through with the case, the perpetrator testified that he did indeed attempt sexual assault . . . and he walks free. How, exactly, does that happen? Well, because people will stop at nothing to believe in a world where the patriarchy is actually all fine and fucking dandy and where committing sexual violence against a woman is just “poor judgment.” Who is to blame? Take your pick among the judge, jury, law and culture.

Jurors said they did not believe Brown exerted the force necessary to qualify his actions as sex crimes. Michigan law says a person is guilty of criminal sexual conduct if “force or coercion is used to accomplish the sexual conduct.”

Juror Rudy Nowles said the jury asked Circuit Judge Thomas Wilson, who presided over the trial, for clarification on the definition of forced sexual conduct.

“And that’s what decided it,” said Nowles, 63, of Jackson.

Nowles said he and other jurors concluded the accuser and Brown “both made big mistakes.”

“They are both stupid,” Nowles said. “There is no law against that.”

Jurors — who began deliberating about 2:25 p.m. Tuesday and reached their verdict about 4 p.m. Wednesday after spending Tuesday night away from the courthouse — were close to being a hung jury, said juror Aimee Mason of Jackson.

Mason and juror Debbi Seelinger of Jackson said they believed the victim’s testimony, but could not find Brown used coercion.

In taped telephone conversations with the victim that were played in court, Brown apologized profusely for his actions, saying he was ashamed and blaming the ordeal on excessive alcohol.

The prosecution argued that the woman, more than once, refused Brown’s advances and, according to a DVD played at the trial, she testified that he had her “terrified.”

Brown’s defense lawyer argued that her behavior while the two hung out at the bar and her mild response to his initial come-ons led Brown to believe she was physically receptive to him.

I’ve been trying to wrap my head around this since yesterday evening. What, exactly, could have been a valid reason for acquittal? They cite the law that defines sexual assault as when “force or coercion is used to accomplish the sexual conduct.” Did they acquit Brown, then, because the sexual assault — at least, the oral rape part of it — was not completed? First assumptions say yes.

But there’s a problem with that. The problem being that one of the charges brought against Brown — the felony charge, in fact — was “attempted third-degree criminal sexual conduct.” As I’ve stated here many times, I’m no lawyer. And I’ve certainly been wrong before on basic interpretations of the law. But it is my understanding that attempted sexual assault is generally classified as different from completed sexual assault, and that by its very nature, attempted sexual assault means that the assault was not completed, but the attempt in and of itself was still a crime.

Which leaves a few options. The first is that the law makes absolutely no fucking sense and has zero regard for the English language or judicial conventions. I find this to be the most unlikely; though sexual assault laws are often very bad, I’ve never come across one that ludicrous. The second is that the judge gave royally bad instructions to the jury. And the third is that the jury based their decision not on the fact that the assault wasn’t completed, but on the assertion that they “could not find Brown used coercion.”

I don’t actually believe that this was the genuine reason for the jury’s decision, though I certainly do believe that they could have presented it as their legal reasoning. They said that they believed the victim’s testimony. Brown admitted to the attempted assault and changed his testimony more than once (trigger warning: that article contains a more detailed description of the assault). If they believe the victim, it doesn’t make sense that they would believe Brown didn’t use force or coercion. She was stuck in a car with him, they both testified that she said no and that he exposed himself and shoved her head into his lap. That, in fact, sounds like both coercion and force.

No, this decision was seemingly based off of something entirely different. And the answer is in juror Nowles’ statement up above. They “both made big mistakes . . . They are both stupid. There is no law against that.”

What, exactly, the victim did that was “stupid” is not explained. In the comments to the original article, you’ll see several people claiming that the stupidity was getting in a car with a man who she knew and who was also a public official. That doesn’t sound “stupid” to me. It sounds like really bad luck that she picked the public official she knew who also turned out to be (at least) an attempted rapist. Also, the last time I checked, a woman being “stupid” isn’t a defense for sexually assaulting her.

But hey, Brown said in his testimony that she was “flirting” and wearing a short skirt. And women don’t get into cars with men when they don’t want those men to attempt to orally rape them, right? Brown is a public official. He is a man, and his victim as a woman who is most likely not a virgin and who has the audacity to go out to a bar. This is really all you need to know.

In the comments, one jackass says “No one was injured and he knew enough to stop.” You see, attempting to orally rape a woman does no damage to anyone. Putting a woman’s hands between your legs without her consent and putting your hands between hers without consent is apparently not sexual assault. And failing to hold a woman down and brandish a knife after attempting to sexually assault her more than once, in our rape apologist culture, is knowing when to stop. And hey, he said that he was sorry — what more do you uppity bitches want?

Brown would have been forced to resign if convicted. Now, he gets to keep his job as County Commissioner. Another (slightly incoherent) comment on the article, paraphrased: Mike Brown has done a lot of good for the community. That doesn’t excuse what he did, except that it totally excuses what he did. He made a mistake, and that shouldn’t be allowed to ruin his life (I can only assume that by now you’ve gotten out your rape apologist bingo cards — I’ve currently got bingo on both diagonals and at least one vertical). And anyway, she made a mistake, too, by daring to be a woman who exists in the public sphere, so what did she expect? He used bad judgment, so he’s not responsible. She used bad judgment, so it’s all her fault.

Wouldn’t want to infringe on the male birth right saying that whatever they do with their penises is not their own responsibility. Wouldn’t want to give the impression that women are people with bodily rights and that men are people who are capable of making or not making the decision to commit or attempt to commit rape. Wouldn’t want to give men that much credit, because infuriatingly, doing so would undermine the patriarchal privilege (of semi-powerful white men, at least) to rape with impunity.

In the end, this statement from the victim is what breaks my heart:

She said she tried to protect other people from Brown.

“You try to protect (others from Brown), and you get screwed,” she said as she embraced her mother outside the courtroom.

“It’s over. You tried, honey,” her mother told her.

I wish that I could tell her that she’s wrong. I wish I could, and I can’t. I wish I could believe it, but I don’t.

And there’s a special place in hell for people who think that this is okay.

via Menstrual Poetry.