Greenwich Sexual Assault Defense Strategies

Consent means that someone has reached a certain age and has the mental capacity to understand what they are doing, and that they are voluntarily engaging in sexual intercourse or any kinds of sexual acts, and that they are capable of saying yes. The age of consent in Greenwich is 16 years old. In sexual assault cases, consent can be an important element of proving sexual assault. However, a determined and experienced sexual assault attorney could incorporate consent into a defense strategy. If an individual has been charged with sexual assault, they should speak with a top sexual assault lawyer  that could examine the facts of their case and determine which Greenwich sexual assault defense strategies work best for them.

Role of Verbal Consent When Defending Statutory Charges

Verbal consent plays a role when defending statutory charges. With statutory charges, that means that even though the person is saying yes, if they are 15 or younger, legally they cannot give consent.

For example, if they are a student and the other person is their teacher or they are a patient and the other person is their doctor, meaning that even though they are of age, they again cannot legally consent. Verbal consent is irrelevant to those prosecutions.

Legal Consent as a Defense Strategy

In certain situations, a criminal defense attorney can use legal consent as one of their Greenwich sexual assault defense strategies . Again, if it is an age difference issue where the other person is 15 or younger, then it is not relevant because they are statutory crimes. However, if it is where someone is alleging force or anything like that, then it absolutely can be a defense strategy. A lot of times, an experienced attorney will look to show past encounters with the person and past communication where clearly the alleged victim is okay with the situation to show that it was not forced or anything like that.

How Intoxication Can Impact One’s Ability to Consent

Drugs and/or alcohol can disable an individual from giving consent if the person is under the influence to the point where they are physically incapacitated. They would not be legally able to give consent because they would not be able to be aware of what is going on and what they are doing.

To establish the level of intoxication at the moment of the incident, if the person is injured and going to the hospital, they can have their blood drawn there to determine their blood alcohol content. In other cases, they could be based on other people’s observations of the individual and/or their inability to remember what happened on the night in question.

Disability  in Sexual Assault Cases

An individual’s ability to legally consent can be impaired by a mental illness or disability. If they are mentally incapacitated where they do not understand what they are doing or are physically incapacitated where they are physically helpless and cannot physically stop someone, both of these are instances where they cannot legally consent. If someone is diagnosed with some mental illness and cannot understand what is happening, then typically the judge will find that they were not able to legally consent to any sexual contact.

If both the alleged victim and the alleged attacker were under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, that will make it harder to prosecute because first of all, they are both under the influence and neither might remember exactly what happened. Second, if an alleged attacker was under the influence to the point they did not know what they were doing, it will be very difficult to prove that they had the intent necessary to commit a crime.

How an Attorney Builds a Defense

Experienced criminal defense lawyers build defenses by showing for example, knowledge on the part of the accused especially in cases where the alleged victim has not been truthful about their age or there is a case of mistaken identity. Technically, the person would still be guilty because it is strict liability statutory kind of crime. However, that can be used as leverage when defending the person.

Defense Strategies in Sexual Assault in Spouse Cohabiting Relationship Cases

A lot of times, in a cohabiting relationship, those Greenwich sexual assault defense strategies center on the fact that it was consensual. If there is a pending divorce, or a pending custody dispute, or anything else that could show why this person is potentially making false allegations as it is in some cases, the defense attorney can use that in order to build a case and effectively defend the defendant.

Mitigating Factors in a Sexual Assault Case in Greenwich

The Greenwich sexual assault defense strategies an attorney may use include showing any helpful evidence that can counteract any of the evidence the state is claiming to have. Other things are to have the accused evaluated by someone who specializes in the evaluation treatment of sex offenders in order to show the prosecutor that they are not a risk or a habitual offender. A persistent attorney could work tirelessly to mitigate the penalties that a person may face. If an individual has been charged with a sexual assault offense, they should speak with a capable attorney that could fight for them.

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