Malone V O’Reilly
Forward: 42% of reported rapes involve a pair of drunks.
Mike O’Reilly wandered into the bar for happy hour. His eyes immediately locked onto a knockout red-head that he had never seen before. He worked his way over to her. She was standoffish but eventually agreed to sit and chat with him. Her name was Molly Malone. She was a legal assistant at a nearby law firm. Mike said he was a writer and semi-pro baseball player who supported himself by teaching at a junior college.
The conversation continued through background topics and into politics. They moved to a restaurant for dinner. After dinner, they walked to another bar and began solving the world’s problems. They talked, drank and shut the bar down.
Mike suggested they get cabs for the ride home. “Not at this time of night,” Molly said. “It isn’t safe. Can you give me a ride to my apartment?”
“I don’t think that I should be driving.”
“You’re fine. You’re not slurring your words and I bet you can walk a straight line with your eyes shut.”
“I don’t know,” Mike said. “It’s not a good idea.”
“Please.” Molly had the most beautiful green eyes and a smile that would melt a heart of stone.
They walked to Mike’s car and drove to Molly’s apartment. Mike stopped in front of the apartment building and asked “Can you make it from here?”
Her head jerked around. Her eyes were wide in disbelief. “It’s not safe. People can easily get in and hide on the stairs. Besides you look like you could use a cup of coffee. Why don’t you come up with me?”
#############
Consciousness failed somewhere between the car and the apartment. Molly woke with a start. Sunlight was streaming through her bedroom window. She was lying naked on her bed. Something was very wrong. She sat up and looked around. His pants and shoes were on the floor next to her bed. The bastard she was with last night had fucked her. The son-of-a-bitch must still be in the apartment.
She pulled on a robe, picked up his clothes and headed out to find him. He was naked on the couch sleeping like a baby. She threw his pants and shoes in his face. He jumped up. “Get out of my apartment, you bastard,” she screamed.
He pulled on his pants and shoes and raced out the door. As he was leaving, Molly yelled, “You raped me, you bastard.”
Late that afternoon, the police confronted Mike at the community college where he worked. They had been able to track him down from information on the receipt at the restaurant where he had bought dinner for Molly and himself. They had also been able to get details of the couple’s bar crawl and statements from the servers. They took him down town and charged him with rape.
Mike called his older brother Patrick, who was a lawyer. In his statement Mike said he could not remember much. He had wanted to call a cab but Molly had insisted that he drive her to her apartment. Mike said the last thing he remembered was Molly dragging him up to her apartment. She was going to get him a cup of coffee before he drove home. He did not recall having sex of any kind with the woman.
Patrick O’Reilly filed a sexual assault complaint against Ms Molly Malone on behalf of his client. The complaint stated that Ms Malone and lured Mr. O’Reilly into her apartment and taken advantage of him while he was incapacitated from a night of drinking.
News services picked up on the story and put it out under variations of the headline: “College professor accused of raping local woman.”
Mike was quickly convicted of Fourth Degree rape based on testimony that Ms Malone had left the last bar obviously impaired and in the company of Mr. O’Reilly around 2 a.m. Sometime later he engaged in non-consensual sex with Ms. Malone and had therefore raped her.
Patrick filed an appeal of Mike’s conviction on the grounds that his client’s constitutional rights were being violated. Mike was being denied equal protection because of a gender bias in the law he allegedly violated. The appeals court agreed to hear the case. Mike’s sentencing hearing was postponed until after completion of the appeals process. He was to remain free until after the sentencing hearing. But the college had already placed him on suspension and urged him to find another place of employment because of the bad press.
Judge Maria Juarez read the appeals court decision. The consent law was unconstitutional because it had a serious gender bias and it failed to address the case where both parties were impaired and neither party was capable of consenting to sex. Mr. O’Reilly’s conviction was therefore tossed. But he could be tried again if Ms. Malone wished to pursue the case.
Ms Molly Malone had her lawyer, Katherine Jones, file new assault charges against Mr. O’Reilly. She alleged that he had forced his way into her apartment and bullied her into accepting his advances. At the trial, Patrick O’Reilly demanded that the charges against his client be dismissed. There was no evidence that Mr. O’Reilly had forced himself on Ms Malone or otherwise acted violently. When the police arrived on the scene they had concluded that there was no sign of a struggle. Ms Malone’s clothes were in a heap with Mr. O’Reilly’s shirt next to the couch and there was a cold cup of coffee in the coffee maker.
Ms Jones insisted that the clothes proved her client’s contentions. Mr. O’Reilly had forced her to disrobe in the living room and forced her into her bedroom. He took off the remainder of his clothes and assaulted her on her bed, where traces of his semen were found.
Patrick O’Reilly introduced shocking new forensic evidence. An independent lab had examined his client’s clothes and found traces of Ms Malone’s vaginal fluids on Mr. O’Reilly’s boxer briefs. The results implied that the couple had engaged in sex before Mr. O’Reilly had removed his clothes in the bedroom. It was just as likely that Ms. Malone had initiated sex before the couple repaired to her bed.
Ms Jones requested a fifteen minute break to consider the new evidence. When court resumed, Ms Jones announced that her client was prepared to undergo hypnosis to help her recall exactly what had happened that night. Judge Dan Fielding agreed as long as certain conditions were agreed to by both parties. The court would receive a full transcript of the session and that transcript would be entered into evidence as a deposition. The judge would appoint an independent prosecutor and a court stenographer as its representatives. Ms. Malone’s lawyer, Mr. O’Reilly and his attorney could observe on a non-interfering basis. None of the observers would be allowed to ask questions.
After the hypnotist confirmed that Molly was under, the court appointed attorney began questioning her. “Molly, I want you to go back to the night you met Mike O’Reilly.”
“Okay”
“Is Mike driving you to your apartment?”
“Yes”
“But he’s drunk.”
“No. I don’t think he’s drunk. He’s talking okay.”
“Molly, I want you to move forward in time. Mike has just parked his car in front of your apartment building.”
“The car is not in front of my building.”
“Where is it?”
“Around the corner.”
“Why?”
“That’s the only parking spot we can find.”
“Molly, move forward to the point in time when you reach the door of your apartment.”
“Okay.”
“What happens now?”
“I dig through my purse to find my keys.”
“Then what?”
“I unlock the door.”
“Then what?”
“I kiss him. He’s a good kisser. He starts to leave. I grab his hand and tell him to come in for a cup of coffee.”
“So he comes in with you?”
“Yes.”
“Then what?”
“I go out to the kitchen to make coffee. He flops on the couch.”
“Then what?”
“He’s asleep. I have to wake him up. He can’t stay in my apartment. I sit next to him to wake him up. We start making out. He opens my blouse and pushes my bra off. He likes my boobs. I have a nice pair.”
“Then what?”
“I open his shirt and his pants. Oh shit.”
“What’s the matter?”
“Limp dick. That’s okay. I can fix it.”
Molly reaches out to grab something. She starts pumping her fist.
“What is happening, Molly?”
“He has flopped on his back. But it’s okay. He has a nice hard on.”
“Do you engage in sex, Molly?”
“Yes. Cowgirl style. It feels good. Oh shit. He came. But he’s awake. I’m taking him with me to the bedroom.”
“Move forward until you are in the bedroom.”
“Okay.”
“What’s going on?”
“I’m on the bed.”
“Where is Mike?”
“Beside me. He’s taking his pants off. What a goddam cock.”
“Then what?”
“He crawls on top of me. He’s inside. Oh God that feels good. It’s so good. Keep going – I’m almost there. Fuck. Oh wow. Oh shit. That was good.”
“Then what?”
“I’m falling asleep in his arms. He’s pumped. Can’t relax. He’s getting out of bed. I’m so sleepy.”
“Molly, I want you to move forward to the moment you wake up.”
“Okay.”
“What’s happening?”
“The sun is shining. I’m naked. The bastard fucked me. His clothes are on the floor. He’s still here. I’m going to find him and let him have a piece of my mind.”
The court appointed attorney turned and gave the hypnotist a sign to end the session. The hypnotist said, “Molly, I am going to count to five. When I reach three, you will forget all about this session. When I reach five and snap my fingers you will wake up feeling relaxed and refreshed. You will only be able to recall or think about this session if I give you the command, ‘Remember what a great night you had.’”
The hypnotist took Molly’s hands in his. “One. You are beginning to wake up. Two. Three. You can no longer recall this session. Four. Five.” He snapped his fingers and Molly’s eyes popped open. She looked around at the others in the room and immediately sensed that she had said something wrong.
The court’s attorney said, “You did fine, Molly. I will get the transcript to Judge Fielding. He will decide how to proceed and let everyone know what he wants to do.”
Molly, her lawyer, Mike and his lawyer were back in court facing Judge Fielding. The judge called them back into his chambers. “The issue before me is whether Mr. O’Reilly did or did not rape Ms Malone. Everyone agreed that her testimony under hypnosis would be admitted as a deposition. Based on the transcript of that testimony, I find Mr. O’Reilly not guilty. The sexual acts as described appear to be mutually consensual. It appears that Ms Malone made false accusations. She appears to have acted out of an erroneous assessment of the situation. Nonetheless, her accusations and other actions did cause harm to Mr. O’Reilly. It will not be easy to repair the damage. I will notify his employer that the accusations were false and without merit. Unfortunately that will neither fix his reputation nor restore his position in the community.”