Being accused of sexual battery or sexual assault can turn your entire world upside down. You may face significant penalties like fines or jail time, not to mention reputation loss that has the potential to impact community respect and job prospects.
Hiring a sex crime defense attorney is one of the most critical steps to take when you’ve been charged with such crimes. You can then discuss these common sex crime defense strategies with them:
Your Innocence
After working through the differences in charges and penalties of sexual battery vs. sexual assault with your chosen lawyer, you may start talking about your innocence as a defense strategy.
Sadly, even being innocent doesn’t mean you’ll be found innocent. As a result, you must work hard to prove it. This can involve having a solid alibi that proves you weren’t where you were believed to be, doing what someone alleges you were doing.
You also must be able to prove that you didn’t have sexual contact with the alleged victim. Physical evidence, text messages, emails, and even receipts may be helpful for using your innocence as a defense strategy.
Dishonesty
Being accused of sexual battery or sexual assault doesn’t mean you’re guilty of those crimes. If the alleged victim is dishonest, you may be able to use dishonesty as your preferred defense.
Alleged victims can sometimes make up allegations about sexual assault or sexual battery when they want to ruin the defendant’s reputation and cause them great harm. To use dishonesty as a defense, you may need to prove that the alleged victim wanted to hurt you in some way.
You may have ended a relationship with them, and they want to seek revenge. Alternatively, you might have fought with them, and they want to cause you pain and suffering. The more proof you have to back up these claims, the stronger your case may be.
Mistaken Identity
There’s sometimes no denying that an alleged victim has been the victim of sexual assault or sexual battery. However, that doesn’t mean you were involved. If you’ve listened to any podcasts or read articles of mistaken identity, victims don’t always correctly identify their attackers.
If you’re adamant that you weren’t involved in a crime, you may be able to use mistaken identity as your defense. Alongside a strong alibi, DNA evidence like blood, semen, and hair may rule you out as the person responsible.
Consent
Proving consent in a sexual assault or sexual battery case isn’t always easy. Even phone conversations or text messages about consent may only prove that the alleged victim consented at the time. They are within their rights to change their mind.
You may also not use consent as a defense if the courts state that some people can’t provide consent, such as those who have mental disabilities, are incapacitated, or are minors. The age of consent varies from state to state, with most states having minimum ages ranging from 16 to 18. The minimum age of a defendant in order to prosecute also varies.
Being charged with sexual battery or sexual assault can be overwhelming, especially when it may change the course of your life. Talk to your chosen attorney about these forms of defense above. You may then be able to put together a strong case to reduce your charges or even have them dropped.