Reference no: EM131208395

For our Unit 3 discussion, choose another court case where the victim was publically handled. Discuss your thoughts on the victims' expectations of the criminal justice system and whether or not the victim in your chosen case was handled appropriately. Was the victim the accuser or the accused? What recommendations would you make to improve how this case handled the victim(s)?

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1) For my discussion I am writing about a High School Freshman basketball player from Ooltewah HS.In Dec 2016 Ooltewah HS attended a basketball tournament in Gatlinburg, TN, leading up to this tournament and while there four freshman players were subjected to hazing, bulling, and sexual harassment by the upperclassmen, four of them were held underwater by two seniors, the seniors would also use a pool sick to probe their anus. (Rainwater, 2016) Some of the players later testified that this type of behavior was common and that they would even be struck by the seniors so hard in the locker room with the lights off that they almost wanted to fight. On 22 Dec, 2015 while at the cabin in Gatlinburg one of the freshman players was brutally raped by three other players, two of which were 16 and one who was 17, he was raped with a cue stick so bad and so many times that he required emergency surgery and hospitalization after the attack. (Rainwater, 2016) The next morning after the rape the two coaches did not notify any of the freshman parents even though they were now aware of the hazing, physical abuse and intimidation to include sexual harassment, they continued business as usual, in fact the principal of the high school allowed the team to continue in the tournament, this was a message to the rest of the school that the rape was not as important as the tournament. Before the parents of the players and the school raised an issue about the coaches, they continued to coach. (Rainwater, 2016) By not cancelling the tournament they victimized the victim again saying his attack was not important. I also feel that the players should not have been able to play, the police should have had all players, coaches and administrators locked down for questioning. The lead detective in the case not only failed to notify DHS, but he lied on the witness stand saying there was no screams or cry for help even though the other players told him they could hear him cry out. The detective was charged with aggravated perjury. (McCarthy, 2016) DHS should have been notified as soon as the rape was discovered along with all the parents, the games should have been canceled if for nothing else out of respect for the victim

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2) At my department we have over 1300 sworn officers. With that many employees' people will make mistakes. At my department like all over the country anything that involves a police officer there is a rush to judgement. Back in March of this year Officer Perez was arrested for stalking for having a relationship that ended badly with another officer. During this time the victim another officer made allegations against Officer Perez some true and some false. Officer Perez was quick to be decommissioned and arrested for stalking (staff, 2016). In my person opinion the same evidence and charges would not have warranted an arrest to an everyday citizen but since Perez was a police officer it was allowed for the victim's safety. The victim a well-trained police officer who is armed twenty four seven felt that since there was so many phone calls and text she was endangered. The case went to court and in a hearing I was present at the victim who had been coached by someone was caught several time lying on the stand. Most proble cause hearings last fifteen to thirty minutes, not this one it lasted for two hours with the victim on the stand. There were so many inconstancies and obvious false statements that it appeared that the case would be dismissed. To everyone surprise the judge stated that he would reluctantly bound the case over to a grand jury for further litigation. In this case it was a he said she said. The victim's allegations were given more weight by the police and district attorneys officer than the explanation from the suspect. We will never know the truth because this case did not make it to a trial because Officer Perez committed suicide the day after his court hearing (staff, 2016).

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