What happens if it's one person's word against the other? - YouTube

what happens if it's one person's word  against the other imagine this you've  

had a consensual sexual encounter with  someone and a week later or a month later  

or several years later they make an accusation  that that encounter was not consensual  

what do you do to prove your innocence what  a scary position it is and i've represented a  

number of people who have been accused of things  that they said they did not do and it becomes  

sometimes he said she said or he said he said  or she said she said but it's one person's word  

against the other sometimes as we know there are  cases where there are witnesses that are involved  

if they see something they become witnesses  and they can testify to what they see  

or hear however there are some cases and some  of those cases even get charged out where it is  

simply one accuser versus someone who's saying  i did not do this this is a false accusation  

and that's a scary situation to be in especially  if an amount of time has passed and you may  

begin to wonder how can i prove my innocence  and if we're dealing with a sexual assault  

claim it can be even more intimidating perhaps  because there's a certain body of the public  

that while they may say prove it in some other  kinds of cases or maybe may be willing to extend  

the presumption of innocence in other types  of cases if it's a theft if it's a homicide  

if it's uh who ran who ran a red light and  crashed in an accident whose fault is it  

someone says i had the green light the  other person said no i had the green light  

people may be willing to extend the presumption  of innocence to whoever's accused in those sorts  

of situations but sometimes uh in a in a climate  that we're in with allegations of sexual assault  

some people aren't willing to extend that  same presumption of innocence and that's  

among other things what jury selection is for so  what happens when it's a he said she said well  

in some instances law enforcement may decide  that they don't have enough to forward charges  

or the prosecutors decide that they don't have  enough probable cause to charge someone with a  

crime but there are many cases where despite it  being one person saying it happened and the other  

person saying no it didn't that law enforcement  or prosecutors will still charge those cases out  

and we've got two different arenas we may be  dealing with here if it's a sexual assault  

allegation one arena is the criminal court  like if you're charged with a crime and  

that's where constitutional protections  apply in the other arena might be a title  

ix arena with colleges and universities the  good news is is after august 14th of 2020  

you get the presumption of innocence if you're  accused both in the criminal case and now in  

title ix cases as well the law has changed so you  are presumed innocent whether it's a criminal case  

or a title nine case but that's where some of  the similarities end if it's a criminal case  

the government has the burden of proof beyond a  reasonable doubt that means that the prosecutors  

have to prove your guilt beyond a reasonable doubt  to a jury or a judge if you decide you want a  

jury you get a jury and if it's a felony charge  you get 12 jurors and all 12 jurors unanimously  

have to find you guilty beyond a reasonable  doubt for you to be convicted and so sometimes  

look the reality is lawyers don't always know if  their client did this or not there are cases where  

we figure it out later but sometimes nobody  knows if it really happened or not besides  

the person that's making the accusation and  the person that's accused because they may have  

been the only two people in the room and that  becomes a really difficult situation but our  

american justice system our constitution values  the idea that we do not want people wrongfully  

convicted and that that is a greater wrong to  imprison someone even for a day that was truly  

innocent than it would be uh to find a not guilty  or find a guilty person not guilty that's where  

our values lie we err on the side of protecting  the accused so that we can try to avoid wrongful  

convictions and so in these cases what comes  down to oftentimes are alleged victim testimony  

and then sometimes you've got a right to remain  silent in a trial if you're accused of something  

and you do not have to testify to defend yourself  and the jury will be instructed that they are not  

to use your silence against you so you don't have  to talk to the police and you don't have to talk  

in in your own trial you don't have to testify  and a jury is required to honor the idea that  

you don't have to testify it doesn't mean  you're guilty there's a lot of reasons why  

someone may decide not to testify in a trial  even if they're fully innocent so you have  

that right and at the end of the day the defense  doesn't have to provide any evidence as well so  

at the end of the day what has to happen is  the jury has to begin their analysis and say  

all right there's an accusation we the jury  are required to presume the defendant innocent  

and it's the prosecution's job to prove that  guilt beyond a reasonable doubt which is the  

highest burden of proof in the land it's the  same burden of proof that there is in a murder  

case now there are some criminal sexual conduct  cases and murder cases and what have you where  

despite that presumption of innocence and despite  the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt  

people can still be found guilty even in a even  in a he said she said scenario that can happen but  

there are also protections built in place so that  hopefully we as a society and the jury in a case  

don't get it wrong because that's a scary thing  and the longer a goal that an allegation was that  

may the harder it may be or you may feel if  you're accused wait a minute they're saying  

three years ago now that we had intercourse but  that that wasn't consensual or that they were  

too drunk to consent or whatever might happen  like that and you might wonder how can i prove  

that i mean i can't even go back anymore and  show cameras that show that we were both uh  

having a great time together when we walked  in the apartment and we were holding hands  

and everything was romantic and now the accusers  are saying that i they that i dragged them into  

their apartment and all these sorts of things and  you can't go back and find some of this evidence  

that would have been helpful to you to show that  perhaps that the story isn't true or the story  

leading up to the active isn't even true which of  course would cast out on the rest of the testimony  

and that's one of the problems in these sorts of  cases but that's why at the end of the day these  

protections are built in so yes you could still  be found guilty even if it's a he said she said or  

one person says it happened and one person didn't  and i'm not i hope i'm not offending anybody by  

using gender pronouns i'm not trying to trying  to do that but usually when we have a situation  

if it's a criminal sexual conduct case more often  than not the female is the accuser and the male  

is accused and that's just kind of normally  how these cases go they're of course upset  

exceptions so i'm just using what is the general  scenario if we moved over to the title nine arena  

there's a different burden of proof right  there more often than not universities even now  

after august 14th to 2020 with the new title ix  revisions univ most universities that i'm aware of  

are using the preponderance of the evidence  standard rather than the clear and convincing  

standard which is a higher standard of proof  meaning universities are usually saying it  

just has to be proven by 51 percent or 50.1  percent just a little more likely than not  

is enough of the burden of proof in university  settings in title ix hearings as opposed to  

criminal cases where the burden of proof is beyond  a reasonable doubt and there are other issues that  

you don't get the same due process protections in  title ix situations that you do in criminal court  

but that's for another video at the end  of the day if you don't testify the jury  

has to look at it and go is it proven because  just because somebody says something happened  

doesn't mean it happened we know there are cases  where a rape has happened whether it's a day ago  

a week ago a month ago 10 years ago and they're  reported now and it doesn't mean they didn't  

happen they can happen but there are also cases  where somebody will make a false accusation  

for a whole bunch of reasons they might have  some motive motives to make a false accusation  

and in those situations you may be feeling  like it's hopeless and that nobody's going  

to believe you but understand you're presumed  innocent it's the government's job to prove  

it beyond a reasonable doubt what you want to do  in these hard times if you're going through that  

lean on your family and friends lean on your  supporters get a lawyer that has experience in  

handling these sorts of situations where they said  you you did it you say you didn't and how do you  

handle that situation if there's really not much  more evidence than that and how do we overcome  

some potential biases that some people may have in  viewing these sorts of reports everybody's humans  

everybody comes into some situations with some  biases how do we deal with that so that you're  

going to get a fair process and that the fact  finder whether that's just a judge or whether  

it's a jury is going to be fair to you and  really uphold that presumption of innocence  

and the burden of proof beyond a reasonable  doubt finally i want to give you a little hope  

this is one wall i have in my office it  says the jury speaks right up at the top  

and each one of these are not guilty verdicts  in the background and i put that up there to  

give you hope because every one of these people  were accused of something that they didn't do  

and they felt when they came in they didn't  know what their world was going to look like  

a month from there six months from there a year  or more from there they potentially risked prison  

they risked losing their jobs they lost some  friends over some accusations sometimes and at the  

end of the day what i remind them is is we have to  keep our eye on the ball which is the end of the  

process it's not going to be an easy process but  you got to know your truth and there are ways that  

you can get through this day by day and there  are lawyers out there who are here to help you  

and if you find that in a situation i just want  to give you peace that at the end of the day  

it's a long process but that justice can come out  it's not a perfect system unfortunately sometimes  

people that are falsely accused are going to  be found guilty i wish i could change that  

for people but that's not how our world works  and that's not how our justice system works  

it is imperfect just as there are guilty  people who are sometimes found not guilty  

again it's a human process so it's never going  to be perfect but the more work we put into it  

i think the better advocacy you have and  the more experience of a lawyer you have  

or you have someone that's really willing to  listen to you and hear your side of the story  

and then understand what it's like to be in  your shoes and and take a look at the case from  

different angles and everything and really do the  work to turn over every stone i think the higher  

likelihood you you have of getting a true verdict  in your case and that's what i'm here to help with  

if you have any questions i'm criminal defense  attorney ryan passiga you can call me at five  

eight four 612-339-5844 you can find me at  arrested mn.com and i've got a support page  

up on facebook for the falsely accused you  can check that out i'll have a link below  

and i hope that you find some good resources  there not only for you if you're falsely accused  

uh but also for any family members  or friends that want to help someone  

that they say i know this person and this isn't  in their character and i don't think they did this  

and i want to be there for them i hope you find  that to be a helpful resource as well thank you