A False Report

A False Report

Adult nonfiction
"It had been a week since Marie, an eighteen-year-old girl with
hazel eyes, wavy hair, and braces, had reported being raped by a
stranger with a knife who had broken into her apartment and
blindfolded, bound, and gagged her. In that week Marie had told the
story to police at least five times. She had told them: thin white
man, short as five feet six. Blue jeans. Hoodie--gray, maybe white.
Eyes possibly blue. But her story wasn't always the same in the
telling. And the police had heard from people in Marie's life who had
doubts..."
Marie had spent her childhood in a series of foster homes until
she aged out. She was very proud of her first apartment. She had a
job at Costco offering food samples. In 2008 she had reported rape.
A former foster parent had called the police to express skepticism.
Investigative questioning turned into interrogation. Eventually she
was arrested for making a false police report.
She had done no such thing. She had encountered a monster--a
man who would go on to rape other women, a man extremely skilled in
hiding evidence of his crimes (even DNA evidence) from the police.
The true life narrative of detectives and other law enforcement
personnel banding together to trap a serial rapist is fascinating and
suspenseful.
Running through Ken Armstrong and T. Christian Miller's A False
Report are chilling reminders that through history and even today
rape is treated differently from other crimes. There is still a
questioning of a victim's behavior--what did she do to bring this on
herself--that has a chilling effect on every step from reporting to
conviction.
"These kind of concerns hinder many rape investigations.
Researchers call it 'downstreaming'--the tendency of each person in
the investigative chain to think about how the rape accusation will
look to the next person to examine it. It begins with the victim--her
fears about whether she might be judged by the cops about the length
of her dress, or the number of tequila shots she drank. It next
infects the police who wonder what the prosecuter will think of a case
with no physical evidence, only one person's word against another's.
And finally it extends to the prosecutor who must ponder how a juror
will perceive a woman's testimony. Doubt afflicted every stage of a
rape prosecution."
In a society where an athlete can serve mere months for raping
an unconscious woman A False Report is a very informative feminist read.
On a personal note, the Monday of the last day of Spring Semester
classes Active Minds had a lovely mental health carnival. One of the
tables featured a Polaroid instomatic camera. Anyone who shared
something he/she/they was grateful for could get a free picture. I
said I'm grateful for my life. I asked my friend, Dre, to be in the
picture. When I looked at the picture I was stunned. I always
thought in the looks department I was meh. But I am constantly being
told by others that I'm beautiful. I wanted to see myself the way
they saw me. For the first time I did.
Also they had a make your own trail mix table with most excellent
ingredients. True there are pricey ready mades in stores, but making
your own is much better. You can have it your way. If you're a
parent it's a great way to involve your child(ren) in creating
wholesome snacks. My ideal trail mix involves a trinity of
chocolates, dried fruits and nuts, and salty stuff. Every bite is a
new mix of deliciousness. It goes perfectly [Ignore this if you're
under 21 or pregnant] with a good dark beer.
A great big shout out goes out to the members of Active Minds chapters
all over the country and all others who combat the stigma sadly still
surrounding psycholocical challenges.
jules hathaway



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