Anyone watching Oprah right now?

[zakatak]

She seems to be very one sided.

Hmmmm... Who do you believe?

 

[2bemarried]

can't....the new pre-emted her show. What's todays topic??

 

[Lisa L from MI]

I really am kinda siding with the guys story. She doesn't seem very convincing with her story.....JMHO

 

[zakatak]

http://www.oprah.com/tows/pastshows/200402/tows_past_20040226.jhtml

 

[airhead]

....to save her butt. I believe she's afraid of her daddy

 

[sharbear]

What was interesting was that the girl said that she never thinks about this incident. I thought that was strange. I've never been raped but I guess that I thought that one year later I would not be over it and would still be thinking about it. It sounded like she had just forgot what happened and this boy is in prison for 10 years. Odd.

 

[chell]

Originally posted by 2bemarried
can't....the new pre-emted her show. What's todays topic??

How come they pre-empted it? What's going on? Is it just about the weather?

 

[zakatak]

It seemed to me that she was lying and making this up to cover her butt. Oprah came across as not believing her either. I couldn't believe it when she said she didn't say anything during the incident and she went home and didn't say anything to anyone for two days?

I think it is a shame that he is in jail for another 9 years. Seems like a waste of a perfectly good boy, honor student, athlete, etc...

I don't know... couldn't they use a lie detector? Can't she be charged with falsely charging him with rape?

Karen

 

[2bemarried]

Michelle,
Yah....the news pre-empted just to talk about the weather and do shots from different areas

 

[chell]

Thanks Kristy! My tv died last week and I don't have a clue what's going on unless I can find it on the Internet.

Can't she be charged with falsely charging him with rape?

If they can prove that she did that then yes, she can be charged. It's such a shame that people will do something like that. I'm not saying that's what she did, but you'd think she wouldn't allow herself to do that to him and basically ruin his life.

 

[Disney Doll]

I htink back to that other story where the woman accused the man of rape, he spent like 9 years in jail, and she finally came clean and said he hadn't raped her, but they'd had sex and she was afraid if she ended up pregnant, her parents would disown her, so she concocted the rape story.

My guess is that it would be difficult for a black teenage boy accused of rape to get a really fair shake in a small Southern town. I don't know that stautory rape is really fitting in this case either. It doesn't sound like she was really traumatized by it. It sounds more like 2 kids who had sex, got caught, and the girl was doing a "CYA".

Hopefully the attention the Oprah brings to it will make them re-visit the situation.

 

[Gretel]

I believe the guy

 

[Wishing on a star]

I saw the last half of the show.... After reading the thread on here a few weeks ago, I was interested.

1. That girl is a liar. There was testimony that she had told (bragged) to several of her friends at school that she was sleeping with him.... The Jury immediatley threw out the rape charge. Period. If a young girl is brutally raped, she doesn't just immediately forget about it and go about her life.... Especially when her, her daddy, and her lawyers, are busy putting a boy behind bars for 10 years.

There were even juror(s) from the trial in the audience, and it showed one lady juror openly, by her facial movements and expressions, showing that as a juror, that this whole situation is just wrong. That the jurors never expected this boy to spend 10 years in prison.

2. About the bruises... Another lie. Oprah had read the transcripts of the trial, and she had not noticed any definitive evidence of these bruises. The only 'injury' that came into play in the conviction was her 'loss of virginity...." Then the whole question of 'WHEN' the alleged bruises occured... some said they noticed bruises days before the supposed 'incident'.

3. The Girls lawyer also kept very openly and shamelessly changing the subject with lies and heresay... Hello... If teachers at that school had felt sexually threatened by this boy... Then where were they at that trial???? Also, this kid had a nearly perfect 4.0 average... And this girls lawyer has the audacity to say that school teachers/administrators had 'fudged' on his records to keep him in the football program. Hello, with a freaking 4.0 average, what the heck would need to be fudged??? He also tryed to change the subject, focusing on something completely irrelevent, whether this GA law had ever been applied this way in regards to sex between teenaged high-school students... He said that claim was untrue... When the Georgia District attorney admitted, to the GA supreme court, that to his knowledge this was indeed the only case in his knowledge.

This girls lawyer tried ever fancy sidestep, half-truth, and unsubstantiated charge, that I could ever imagine!!!!! He could back nothing up with credible, admissable evidence. No wonder this poor boy didn't even stand a chance.

 

[damo]

I couldn't believe her either. I didn't see any tears amidst all that crying.

So if someone could have proven that she wasn't a virgin, then he wouldn't have been sentenced?

Did they say that the case was now in the hands of the Supreme Court?

 

[Robinrs]

This has been a big case here locally and I was surprised to see it's gone national on Oprah. I think the statute that keeps him in jail is unbelievable... if this was the case I could point out hundreds of teenagers that need to be in jail.

The law was made to protect children, not to punish horny teenagers. This was a loophole the lawyers used to protect the "honah" of this little liar. It disgusts me.

Hopefully the Supreme Court will give this family some solace. The fact that they said that the fact that this girl's parents were racists was not a point amazes me. I remember being a teenager and working VERY hard to make sure my parents were not informed of my misdeeds, and she was making sure of it! After all, this is the ultimate taboo.....

 

[luvdisney81]

I side with the boy. Oprah did seem to not believe her but she gave her a fair chance. The entire time she was looking away. That is the first sign of lying! You don't look them in the eye, Oprah even leaned into her and she didn't look. And her "crying", not a tear ever. My roommates and I all noticed that, and she was changing her voice to often.

How in the hell does a man keep a girl on the table half way, hold her legs, use his hands to hold her arms, then his knees and elbows to remove her pants? you can't do it. The boy looked at Oprah the whole time. He doesn't deserve this. He made a bad choice yes, so did she. I'm from a small town too in SC, near Rome and we run into these problems occasionally. White cops can't be trusted many times...sorry to say. I'm white and I hate to see them do it but you have to be wary. Cops in general can hide things, those rare bad ones.

Bruising on the inner thigh, she wasn't checked for about 2 days after the event. So whats to say she couldn't cause bruising herself? The inner thigh bruises easily, especially on young, small girls having sex with big football players. He's a big guy! It happens during sex. But just pinching yourself works too.

I hope the GA Supreme Court rules in his favor, this is unjust and his life has been shattered because of it.

 

[Jasminesmommy]

I believe the boy but he's in jail for having sex with a minor. Granted he's still a kid himself but he made abad choice especially with a white racist girl. He said him family taught him to be careful they should have also mentioned sex with a minor also that should be taught in sex classes because kids don't look at exact age.

 

[Cindabella's Mom]

As a matter of fact, one of the jurors that they showed crying, Kathy, is another baseball mom on our team.

One thing I want to say is I feel Rome is being portrayed very unjustly. The town is being portrayed as a podunk little spot on the map where everyone belongs to the KKK and marches on Saturday in front of the courthouse in their robes. THAT IS FAR FROM TRUE. There are two wonderful private colleges located here, Berry College and Shorter College. Rome has one of the highest per capita incomes in the state.

From all accounts, it was a consensual act. She was a virgin, started bleeding, got scared and told a friend. That friend in turn started telling a few other friends and word started getting around her school. She became afraid that her father would find out and started crying rape at that point, several days after the fact.

As far as it being a case of racism, I feel the fire is being fanned because he is black and she is white. There have been other cases in Georgia that have been prosecuted for the same circumstances. There is another case from Dalton where the white girl was 15 and the white boyfriend was 18. She got pregnant, somehow charges were filed and he's in jail. IN the meantime, the couple got married, the baby has been born, and the daddy is in jail serving 10 years and will be listed as a sexual predator, but you're not going to hear about this case as it's not as inflammatory.

Under Georgia law, if anyone (age of the perpetrator is irrelevant) has sex with a minor (under 16) that results in an "any injury", he is guilty of "child molestation". Now if a girl is a virgin when she has sex she always sustains a minor injury.

It wasnt the act of sex alone, it was the act of sex with someone under the age of 16 that resulted in a injury. It didnt matter how slight of injury. Its how the law is worded. This wasn't a race issue until everyone made it one. This was a kid got hung on a techincality that should have been more clear and prosecuters go after anything and everythign that can be used agasint someone in court and they found something that could be used and went for it.

Edited to add: Yes, I think he got a bum deal. I also know the school he attended has been reprimanded for hiding school discipline records in the past including Marcus Dixon's records. At that school, winning is everything especially in football and the football players are gods.

 

[KIRSTIN'S MOMMY]

I also believe the boy. I am from Ga. also, though not near Rome. My nephew is in this situation right now, however. He is 18, his girlfriend is now 16. Her father caught them, and now he wants to press charges. The girl was 15 at the time, and it was consentual as well.

 

[tar heel]

I find this statement offensive: My guess is that it would be difficult for a black teenage boy accused of rape to get a really fair shake in a small Southern town.