THE TRUTH MATTERS TO ME, I WOULD HOPE IT MATTERS TO ALL.

THE TRUTH MATTERS TO ME

Remember the famous case in the 1980's involving Tawana Brawley & the circus that ensued?...fast forward to recent events that have gripped our country.

We are supposed to be afforded the presumption of innocence until proven guilty.

We as a society must ALWAYS be extremely sympathetic to all victims, and never EVER purposefully compromise them or their identity without their permission

Being a victim does not make every accused attacker of another guilty, especially when the person (s) stating guilt is stating opinion as fact because if one was not in the room, or does not know the victim or does not know the accused attacker, and has formed an opinion then are stating it as fact and what is stated is then restated by others, but is not based on any actual facts as we know them to be. This is dangerous to all parties.

The FACTS, the witnesses named by the victim, the person that drove the victim home, the victims friends that consoled the victim the next day, and the day after and consoled that victim in the weeks, months & years to come, all would be able to substantiate what occurred as factual, but that did not occur.

This DOES NOT mean there was not an attack, it just makes what is being said questionable, and not credible from a legal standpoint. It is possible the attacker identified was possibly not the actual attacker as all facts support the accused and no facts support the victims claims. That is how innocent people are sometimes sent to jail, or publically vilified, in the court of public opinion.

Sometimes facts are just ignored, until they cannot be ignored any longer, case in point:

Tawana Brawley is found covered with feces and wrapped in garbage bags outside the Pavilion Condominiums in Wappingers Falls, New York. Brawley appeared to have undergone an extremely traumatic experience: parts of her hair were cut off, her pants were slightly burned, and there was a racial slur scrawled on her body. Brawley told authorities that for four days she had been held against her will and repeatedly raped by a gang of white men, one of whom she claimed had a police badge.

The Brawley case became a ’cause celebre’ when controversial attorney C. Vernon Mason, Alton Maddox, and community activist Al Sharpton declared their support for Brawley and alleged that there was a cover-up in the investigation.

Unfortunately, Brawley’s story did not hold up to the close scrutiny that followed.

Although she claimed to have been abducted and held for four days, nobody had filed a missing person’s report for the teenager during that time. In fact, there was little concrete evidence that Brawley had been attacked and increasing suspicion that her story was fabricated.

According to several witnesses, Brawley had attended a party while she was supposedly missing, and fiber evidence showed that Brawley had likely written the racial slurs on herself.

In the face of mounting criticism, Brawley’s advisers began making wild, unfounded accusations, charging that Assistant District Attorney Stephen Pagones had participated in the alleged rape and that Special Prosecutor Robert Abrams was masturbating to the evidentiary photos.

While the controversy surrounding the case became a media circus, Brawley and her family refused to testify or cooperate with the investigation. They did, however, accept financial contributions.

In October 1988, a Grand Jury dismissed the entire matter.

Attorneys Mason and Maddox faced disciplinary proceedings from the New York State Bar for their conduct during the investigation and Pagones filed a libel suit against Mason, Maddox, and Sharpton, which he won in 1998.

I am not suggesting in a recent case that has been under a microscope that the victim is not a victim.

But when no one named by the victim as a witness remembers the party, the attack, or any of the facts as stated including ones lifelong friend who was stated as being there, and this "witness" states herself under penalty of prosecution that she never met the accused attacker, or the person said to be in the room when and where the attack occurred, and also states under penalty of prosecution he was not there, and NO ONE ELSE COMES FORWARD - NO ONE -NOT 1 PERSON, despite a media blitz that literally one would have to live in a cave to not know of the need for someone to come forward to support the victim.

After All if you were a witness to this occurring or had any knowledge of it occurring of course you would come forward, wouldn't you??? Of course you would, but no one did, no one, not 1 person??

It seems to me that the trauma the victim has faced is real, but somehow the facts as the victim recalls are distorted as all FACTS as proven without exception support the accused. So very sadly no facts support the victim. The victim cannot remember 1 fact except she is 100% certain she only had 1 beer. In the court of public opinion, the accused is said to be 100% guilty. So many have lost sight of that FACTS do matter especially when accusing one of a violent sexual crime.

To make matters worse others without conscience this victim was sacrificed and subjected to hell to further a political agenda, without regard to the victim or the accused.

This victims identity should NEVER have been compromised. Not only that but there was an offer to interview her privately, confidentially, behind closed doors in California where she resides & those behind her, "supporting" her never relayed that to her as an option. WHY NOT??

VERY DISTURBING TO SAY THE LEAST THAT THE VICTIM WAS PURPOSEFULLY EXPLOITED when all could have been properly investigated 45 days earlier keeping the victims identity a secret as was agreed upon.

Respectfully submitted,

Mike