Rape assumptions
The criminal justice system appears to be of the view that men are getting away with rape because there aren’t enough prosecutions and convictions. This leads to cogni- tive bias where, if the police become convinced early on that a suspect is guilty, their evaluation of subsequent evidence is prejudiced.
The result is that police cherry-pick evidence and the prosecution services do not investigate with anything like sufficient objectivity and rigour. In the recent failed rape cases, the police had text messages from the “victims” undermining their claims. Yet they didn’t disclose these to the defence, though such disclosure is fundamental to a fair trial.
There has emerged an assumption that all men accused of rape are guilty and the presumption of innocence does not apply to them. Yet at least 10 per cent of all rape allegations are false and New York prosecutors fear this scourge may be as high as 20 per cent. (REV DR) JOHN CAMERON
Howard Place, St Andrews