Being convicted of sexual assault can completely change the course of your life and ruin your reptuation. In Texas, the penalties for sexual assault offenders are severe. For this reason, you may need to retain a sex crime lawyer in Dallas to assist in your defense.
But you may be wondering how you’ll defend yourself in the “he said, she said” culture involving sex crimes. Continue reading to learn more about some of the most common defenses used in criminal sexual assault cases so you can better prepare for what’s to come for your trial.
Claiming your innocence is a common defense in sexual assault cases. But it isn’t enough to simply argue that it wasn’t you who sexually assaulted the victim. For this to be a successful defense, you’ll likely need to be able to prove your innocence, despite the fact that the U.S. criminal justice system technically requires the prosecutor to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you are guilty.
Some ways you can prove your innocence include providing an alibi and arguing that the victim misidentified you as their assailant. If you can provide an alibi through witnesses you might have been with at the time of the attack, receipts if you were out shopping, or even video surveillance footage from wherever you were at the time of the attack, you can clear your name and possibly avoid even being charged with sexual assault.
Misidentification is, unfortunately, common. Victims who have been assaulted may not have seen their attacker clearly or been so traumatized that their memory fails them when it’s time to identify potential assailants. Offering DNA evidence to prove your innocence could be the best way to avoid being found guilty of sexual assault.
Most crimes of a sexual nature, including sexual assault, can only be a crime if the victim in question did not or could not give their consent to participate in the sexual experience.
This can be quite difficult to prove in some cases. For victims who were unable to give their consent due to being under the legal age of consent or due to mental incapacitation at the time of the attack, as two examples, this defense is highly unlikely to be a success.
But if the victim was coherent and of sound mind and is claiming a sexual assault occurred, but the accused states that it was a consensual encounter, proving otherwise may be a challenge for the prosecutor.
Also known as being mentally incapacitated, the insanity defense could be applied when an individual who has been charged with sexual assault (or their defense attorney) can prove that they had no understanding of the crimes they were committing.
Maybe they don’t understand the difference between right and wrong, or perhaps they have no way of understanding that the act in question was a violation of the victim. In any case, in cases of mental incapacitation, the defendant could be acquitted or be required to submit to the medical care they need to no longer be a threat to potential victims in the future.
If you’re facing charges of sexual assault, you’re going to need someone in your corner to help you fight these allegations. Call 214-522-9404 to reach a defense lawyer at Chris Lewis & Associates P.C., or visit our website for additional info about what we offer for cases like yours.
