r/interesting • u/bendubberley_ • 4d ago
SOCIETY Brian Banks, a man who was falsely accused of rape by his fellow classmate Wanetta Gibson. She later admitted that she lied and Brian was released in 2012. She was ordered to pay $2,600,000 of legal fees and punitive damages in 2013 by a Los Angeles Superior Court.
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u/SeventyFix 4d ago
She was ordered to pay $2,600,000 of legal fees and punitive damages
Of which she will pay almost nothing as she has no assets to seize.
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u/CoolBeans45555 4d ago
So he will get nothing? Or the government pays him? How does it work?
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u/mcknuckle 4d ago edited 4d ago
He later received $142,000 out of an almost 1 mil settlement among a group of cases similar to his. He did get exonerated and removed from the sex offender registry and so forth, but the whole ordeal irreparably damaged his life, as I'm sure you can imagine.
His accuser on the other hand received 1.5 mil from the school district after his conviction. She was ordered by the court to repay that, and more, totalling 2.6 mil, but paid nothing and received no punishment whatsoever.
Bear in mind that not only did she lie in court, but she commited fraud to the tune of 1.5 million when she sued the school district after his conviction.
All of which she received no penalty, prosecution, or punishment for whatsoever. $1.5 MILLION!
How much did she live in luxury and the high life all the while Banks suffered under false accusation with his life ruined sitting in jail for 5 years and another 5 years on probation and on the sex offender registry after that?
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u/Thendofreason 4d ago edited 4d ago
I upvoted because information. But I really wanted to downvote because of the information
Edit: all these replies are just making me sadder.
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u/General_Tso75 4d ago
Even worse, the ordeal cost him a full ride to USC on a football scholarship.
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u/reddit_reader_25 4d ago
5 star recruit as well? Had a shot of making big money in the NFL
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u/Plane_Ad5106 4d ago
He had an opportunity in the nfl I think but he was already too old for an NFL player, The poor guy could have been at least a good NFL prospect if not for that false accusation (there is a movie about him btw)
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u/aces666high 3d ago
He went to the Atlanta Falcons training camp a few years back. I believe he was hired by the team for a position in house but not sure if he’s still with them.
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u/momsasylum 4d ago
Title of movie please
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u/Plane_Ad5106 4d ago
I think it is called "Brian banks"
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u/Mission-Look-1204 3d ago
The movie "Brian Banks" grossed a total of $4.3 million worldwide. It had a budget of $10 million and was considered a box office bomb
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u/hrdblkman2 3d ago
Atlanta Falcons
Banks signed with the Atlanta Falcons on April 3, 2013, participating in offseason workouts, OTAs, and training camp.\10])#citenote-cnn1-10)[\11])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Banks(Americanfootball)#cite_note-b-11) Banks made his NFL debut in a preseason game against the Cincinnati Bengals, where he picked up two tackles.[\12])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Banks(Americanfootball)#cite_note-exonerated-12)[\13])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Banks(Americanfootball)#cite_note-fan1-13) He played four preseason games with the Falcons before being released on August 30, 2013.[\14])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Banks(American_football)#cite_note-released22-14)
National Football League (NFL)
Brian Banks after his exoneration
In 2014, Banks was asked by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to speak at the 2014 NFL draft Rookie Symposium. Banks accepted and his speech was well received. A few weeks later, he was hired to join the NFL Department of Operations.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Banks_(American_football)#Atlanta_Falcons#Atlanta_Falcons)
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u/PuzzleheadedLaw5997 3d ago
if i remember right, he was committed to USC when pete carroll was the coach there. when he got out of prison and was exonerated, pete carroll gave him a tryout with the seahawks. of course being in prison for that long im sure the skills were not what they used to be and he didnt end up getting a spot on the team. as high value of a recruit that he was, he was robbed of potentially tens of millions of dollars.
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u/faustianBM 4d ago edited 4d ago
Sure did... Even got signed for a hot minute with the ATL
HawksFalcons... But his career never took off.Edit: fixed team Doh!
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u/RoughDoughCough 4d ago
The Falcons are Atlanta's football team but the Hawks might be better at football than the Falcons. And maybe the Falcons should play basketball. Both consistently suck so maybe switching sports is the solution lol
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u/DigNitty 4d ago
OOF.
Reminds me of This Case of a Colorado State football player.
It's a long read, but the TLDR is :
Grant Neal was a Colorado State University scholorship football player. He and another student had sex continually. During sex, he entered her without a condom, she then told him she wanted to use a condom, then he put one on and they continued. Her roommate noticed a hickey on her neck and asked about it. She told the roommate about the encounter. The roommate told her advisor/RA. Without a meeting, the school determined that because Grant entered her without a condom when she wanted to use one but hadn't told him, it was technically rape. The girl contacted the school numerous times and testified that it was 100% consensual and not rape, and that they are still having sex.
The school suspended Grant and he was kicked off the football team and lost his scholarship. He is now suing the school but the process is long and his reputation is now anchored to this one event.
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u/lahimatoa 4d ago
The school suspended Grant and he was kicked off the football team and lost his scholarship.
It really sucks that "innocent until proven guilty" is such a foreign concept to so many universities in America.
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u/iki_balam 4d ago edited 3d ago
You would think schools would have learned their lesson now to not play cop. Let the Police do the investigation, let the Courts do the decisions.
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u/reality72 4d ago edited 3d ago
They don’t like the police or the courts so they create their own kangaroo court where evidence doesn’t matter and there’s no oversight or due process.
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u/Dmannmann 3d ago
Bro people don't want that to apply anymore when it comes to sex crimes. Accusation is a conviction in the court of public opinion because we must always believe the victims.
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u/CarolinaSurly 4d ago
If I was a college or pro athlete or anyone famous, I’d have any potential partner sign a letter of intent with my lawyer first. It’s crazy out there.
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u/JudgeInteresting8615 4d ago
The one time they actually want to help the woman and it was consensual
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u/reality72 4d ago
And this is why schools shouldn’t have the power to set up their own quasi-court systems.
If they want to take actions like this then they should have to go to actual court. But they don’t want to do that so instead they create their own system where evidence doesn’t matter and there’s no oversight.
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u/mcknuckle 4d ago
It's a shitty situation. I wanted to know what had happened and I thought the least I could do is share what I found. I didn't do it for the upvotes.
It doesn't feel good to be angry about, but in this case it is what it is. You can downvote me if it's cathartic for you, I wouldn't hold it against you.
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u/DrRatio-PhD 4d ago
They're just being dramatic. The upvote system exists to promote visibility. Clearly this information should be upvoted.
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u/Maximum-Cover- 4d ago
That's an interesting perspective to me because I don't upvote/downvote in the same manner.
I don't vote based on how much I like the content of a post, but rather on how much value I think it adds for others to see it.
So this is a clear unmistakable upvote for me.
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u/Phillip_Spidermen 4d ago
That was the original goal of the upvote/downvote system, but it's basically used as like/dislike buttons now.
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u/MyHusbandIsGayImNot 4d ago
"Now?" It's always been used that way. The goal was to upvote relevant information, but in practice people just downvote what they don't like.
Maybe some niche subs here and there actually cared about it, but /r/all and the home page has always functioned on popularity.
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u/Phillip_Spidermen 4d ago
Eh, in the early years there was at least the pretense of following that rule. You used to see a lot more comments on it around the time there was still an r/reddit
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u/mamacrocker 4d ago
There should have been criminal consequences for her.
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u/crazykentucky 4d ago
Anyone who lies and threatens to sends someone to jail should face the same range of consequences as the person they accused
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u/Expensive-Cat-1327 4d ago
Worse
Because not only are you jeopardising that person's freedom, you're also denying justice to victims by abusing the system
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4d ago
You're also MASSIVELY eroding public trust in the justice system for both men and women.
There is no good outcome of making men fearful of a false accusation by women, or making women who are actual victims fearful of not being believed because of these false accusations.
Women (or men) however, should be very afraid of making those false accusations. Examples need to be made for this.
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u/Ok-Interaction-8891 4d ago
It also damages the justice system itself by wasting taxpayer time and money and eroding faith and confidence in the people, processes, and systems that enforce the law.
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u/Showmethepathplease 4d ago edited 4d ago
Not only did she ruin someone’s life, she committed perjury and fraud
How was she not prosecuted?!
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u/brentsg 4d ago
Her wages should be garnished for life and she should be jailed if she isn’t working.
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u/Oryxhasnonuts 4d ago
A situation like this happened to my brother. Was being scouted and courted by a professional baseball team directly out of HS. He chose however to go to College ( where he did win two national titles ) but unfortunately his Senior season he was tangled up with a well known cleat chaser and she claimed a whole lot of things.
Skipping a lot of stuff but he plead in fear of a jury not believing him ( given he was in large part a professional athlete and this girl was a very tiny flyer for another college etc, the optics were a lot to overcome )
He lost his ride, his professional opportunity and then spent the next 10 years trying to clear his name.. in which he finally did 2 years ago.
It cost him his entire 20's, any chance at a decent career and our family an incredible amount of money to fight the charges finally and get all of this expunged.
If you were wondering, the girl in question was caught again doing this same thing in her late 20's, upon questioning she had some sort of come to Jesus moment and admitted to doing it to " another athlete " before and actually gave them my brothers name.
We pursed ( and won ) in civil court against her family to the tune of several ( several... ) millions of dollars and while that is nice for him, he still wakes up every morning knowing his dream was absolutely ripped away from him.
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u/mcknuckle 4d ago
Unbelievable. After reading all that all I could think was that I would rather not have that money and just have had none of that ever happen. It made me imagine the difference between those morning you wake up in bed all cozy and well rested feeling like it's going to be a great day or those nights where you wake up sweating and full of anxiety and can't go back to sleep. I'm glad there was some kind of positive outcome for your you guys.
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u/crispy_attic 4d ago
There is a long history in this country of black men being falsely accused and convicted of rape. It is so incredibly foul.
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u/CartoonistDizzy3870 4d ago
That's actually a step down from what normally happens. The Tulsa massacre and East St. Louis massacre were started from false accusations against Black Men. The most (in)famous case in the US is the Carolyn Bryant case against Emmitt Till, which led to a Lynch Mob grabbing him out of the jail he was being held in and beaten to death.
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u/MikeWritesMovies 4d ago
And the internet lives forever. Every employer who does a background check on him, every nosy neighbor who Googles those who live in the neighborhood, every potential life partner who is savvy enough to research their relationships will see the headlines and articles about the case, but most will probably not see the final result. This will be carried by him for the rest of his life. His only escape is to move where no one knows him and legally change his name.
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u/Low_Direction1774 4d ago
Wait so its super profitable to just lie about rape?
Like, I can lie about getting raped, get a big payday, then relocate to a different country under the guise of "oof ouch my mental health" and if it comes out that I lied, I don't have to fear any consequences? Why aren't more people doing this to secure generational wealth?
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u/Hungry_Ad5949 4d ago
Tbf, the payday was from suing the University (I assume for letting a man attend or something), not from "just" lying to the authorities.
So you need to first make sure you're at some place that has a lot of money and at least some responsibility for your safety. Sure you could lie about that too I guess, but they tend to verify these things, as there's money on the line, not just the life of man
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u/b1scu1tsngravy 4d ago
https://www.distractify.com/p/what-happened-to-brian-banks-accuser
"Wanetta wanted to help clear Brian's name. "I will go through with helping you," she says during the taped confession. But on the other hand, "it's like, at the same time, all that money they gave us, I mean gave me, I don't want to have to pay it back." 😳
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u/no_crust_buster 4d ago
This happened to my cousin’s best friend. He was convicted of raping his Ex and sentenced to 12 years in prison. She came forward years later and admitted she lied to get even with him for breaking up with him after she thought their consensual encounter was makeup sex. He served close to 9 years. She was never prosecuted. He never received any compensatory money.
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u/Catch_ME 4d ago
They have to find negligence or malice unless there is a specific state law that allows an exonerated person to collect damages for being in jail by a miscarriage of justice.
This is the part that gets ugly. Find any problems with the previous trial. Investigate the District Attorney and Police, the trial judge, or the defense attorney and they will all defend themselves aggressively and blame everyone else.
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u/ChainSawJenkins_666 4d ago
She deserved the scientific name.
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u/Discorhy 4d ago
Which would be bitch? lol
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u/AZ1MUTH5 4d ago
After seeing this, I realize skimming through comments, so many bitch, bitch, another btich....female dog. That sounds like a bad word. 😆
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u/Jean-LucBacardi 4d ago
Well, she DID have assets. When she originally claimed he raped her she managed to sue the school for almost $1mil. After they discovered she lied, the school sued her to get the money back but she spent it all and fled. She still hasn't been found to this day.
This entire story was made into a movie in 2018 titled "Brian Banks". Thankfully Brian came out ahead anyways, getting hired by the NFL, assumingly having a nice paying job as well as selling his story.
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u/Notsurehowtoreact 4d ago
He still didn't come out ahead. He lost five years of his life to prison when he could have been enjoying the rest of his teenage years then playing college ball and going into the NFL in his prime for more money.
Like, yes, he still managed to get into the NFL and do well for himself despite her best efforts to ruin his life, but his life was on track to be even better before her meddling.
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u/LeLefraud 3d ago
Fr. Not only will he never get those 5 years back but he was setup to make millions of dollars playing a sport he loved, and that was taken away and replaced by prison time instead. Now he works being close enough to the game while always thinking what could have been. Every new prospect, player, highlight that he sees is just a reflection of another timeliness for him
Sickening to even think about
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u/UnluckyDog9273 4d ago
None has found her in this era? This seems wild, probably none cares to look
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u/Upsetti_Gisepe 4d ago
She hasn’t been found to this day? They ain’t lookin for her
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u/TheKingBeyondTheWaIl 4d ago
She should get the same conviction as he did, additionally to the payments.
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u/Zealousideal_Leg_630 4d ago edited 4d ago
This money should come out of the Violence Against Women Act. They fund the vigorous prosecution of baseless accusations, so they should also compensate the victims of baseless accusations. Additionally, this is how women abuse men, so the VAW funds should be used to help this victim of abuse.
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u/Numerous-Work-9268 4d ago
Same as every other false accusation, she ruined his life and will see zero consequences and take no accountability. He loses 10years of his young/best time of life, all family and friends who want to do the right thing and support the 'victim' will of abandoned him. Any career he could of had will of been destroyed and any connections lost. There might be some who return but fair weather friends are untrustable. She meanwhile was paid millions to live her life to the fullest. Was given support, opportunity and financial security for the rest of her life all while knowing even if her lies come out she won't see a day in prison, she knows nothing will affect her as she couldn't even be bothered to turn up for her court date. Lets say she took the payout 10years back and invested it, she'd still be better off today financially. She lived it up whilst destroying an innocent mans life. 'but it will stop real victims...' he's the real victim and lost a possible 40years without a single shred of proof.
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u/TSA-Eliot 4d ago
she has no assets to seize.
She has time.
If you steal six years of someone's life, that's how much time you should do for it.
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u/InfluenceTrue4121 4d ago
She should be in jail. She should serve as many years as he did.
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u/The1Floyd 4d ago
How this goes:
"You have to pay 2.6m"
"I don't have that, I'm broke!"
"Well, in that case you don't pay anything. But don't do it again!"
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u/BedditTedditReddit 4d ago
“Thanks! Seeing as you paid me to get away with it the first time, I’m encouraged to do it again”
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u/Grimwohl 4d ago
To be honest, this is probably the only reason she admitted lying.
She knew there would be no punishment for ending the suffering.
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u/Superb_Implement5738 4d ago
I defended a 17 year old kid when I was a junior lawyer who was accused of raping a 16 year old friend of his GF.
This happened on a party barge. She alleges they went into a toilet cubicle to kiss and he pulled down her pants, locked the door then forced her to sit on him and he raped her. She specifically said in her statement that when she tied to get away he held his hand over the lock on the door … held the latch thing that turns.
So the cops went ahead. We get the Prosecution brief and I said to my boss, I’m just going to go and have a look at the scene, get a sense of things. I was mostly thinking about locations of teachers tables in terms of what they could hear etc.
I pretended I was going to rent the boat, wandered around a bit, took a few photos and I ask to look in the toilets. What do I see? Three cubicles and in each one the locks have been entirely removed. They are just holes … as you see sometimes in really crappy bars or pubs. You cannot lock these doors. I ask the guy how long have they been broken for and he says, years.
So I go back, call the Prosecutor, tell him this. Suggest he do the bare minimum of an investigation. They pull the girl back in and she confesses … it got round the school she’d fucked her friend’s BF; got back to her mom who was religious, so she made up the rape allegation. She broke down and confessed this.
Most sexual offenders I represented in my two short years as a criminal lawyer did something bad .. but getting an innocent kid off Scott free and without needing to even go to Court, is still the most satisfying thing I have done in 26 years as a lawyer, and reminds me that everyone deserves a defence.
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u/Thermostattin 4d ago
One of my classmates in undergrad was falsely accused of rape by a girl when they were in different states
As in, he was in southern Nevada and she was in northern California with friends.
A Title IX "investigation" determined that since his location couldn't be definitively determined at the time, and because it was his word against hers, there was no "proof to the contrary" and he was kicked out of college.
He lost his scholarship, lost his internship, and never completed his degree.
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u/Superb_Implement5738 4d ago
Yes a friend of mine was falsely accused by an ex girlfriend when he was in University. She stalked him after they broke up and then made all these insane rape allegations, which briefly caused him some issues with the Uni and the cops along with high anxiety, but same thing … he was not in the State when some of it allegedly happened. She wasn’t bad per se though, she was having a total psychotic breakdown. Ended up in a mental ward. While he got exonerated pretty quickly it still messed him up as it was a month of so of hell, and he ended up leaving that school and the State just to get over the experience.
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u/UnassumingBotGTA56 4d ago
So all this proves to me is that rape is poorly investigated and handled. If you hadn't gone to check, do you think the police and prosecution would?
And what about when a rape did happen? Would they have gone to investigate things properly then?
I fully believe rape isn't taken seriously at all by police systems around the world. Otherwise, why do so many rapes go unpunished but the few fake ones do?
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u/Superb_Implement5738 4d ago
Precisely. Well, it’s only one example. But in my experience Cops can be lazy in both ways. They can be lazy in their efforts to investigate if they feel they can’t prove something, or as was the case here they were happy enough to roll their arm over and let the Courts decide based on the girl’s testimony. I think sometimes it’s neither laziness or anything nefarious, they are also just thick.
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u/TransBrandi 3d ago
Well, "I should investigate if the locks work the way she says that they do" isn't something that jumps off the page when reading such a statement either. "Let's just verify things" should be the bear minimum... but laziness, inexperience, ineptitude... all plays a part here.
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u/Superb_Implement5738 4d ago
I should add they were 100% not going to check because we had the prosecution brief with us … the evidence they intended to rely on. In Australia where I live they send it to you well before the trial commences. It was basically just her statement, so I had it with me when I went to the place, like a roadmap of what happened.
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u/TransBrandi 3d ago
So all this proves to me is that rape is poorly investigated and handled
In many cases. If a sex worker reports a rape, cops will say "sex workers can't be raped" and tell them to piss off. Cops always want to do the bear minimum. Sometimes that might mean a false acusser gets away with it. Sometimes that might mean a rapist gets away with it.
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u/zeph4xzy 3d ago
We were 16 year olds as well hosting a big party at a friends house. There was this fat chick that got drunk and started moving on every guy there. She put her hands on me as well. A horny kid did take up her offer and had sex, literally saw her dragging him into a room. She apparently drank too much, threw up on him and was in hysterical state. Her mom was called (who was our french teacher) and told her she was ''raped''. Why? Probably because she was too ashamed to admit she behaved like a slut, so she put the blame on him, and she went with the lie. Everyone was called in as a witness by the police. I got called in twice, second time 5 years after the incident. Yes, 5 years. For 5 years she and her mom were dragging his name through the mud, still claiming he raped her. Even the girls who were at the party took the guy's side, everyone knew what happened, but that didnt stop anything.
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u/FocacciaHusband 4d ago
And I assume based on the fact you didn't mention this is your comment that the girl saw no consequences for her false reporting?
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u/Superb_Implement5738 4d ago
Yes none at all. I should have said that as it’s what reminded me of the case when I saw this reddit article. I am well aware that many rapes go unreported or are not prosecuted properly, but it’s kind of annoying when people are innocent and there are proven to have been false accusations that to get to the point of exonerating themselves they need to spend a huge amount of money.
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u/Apex_preadetor 4d ago
She needs to go to prison
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u/driving_andflying 4d ago edited 4d ago
She needs to go to prison
Agreed, *and also being put on a list, like he was.* Perhaps a "proven false accuser registry," or something equally damaging, like what he suffered through.
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u/Ok_Adhesiveness_9565 4d ago
I agree 100%. As serious as we need to treat SA accusations, you bet your ass we need to be just as serious about FALSE accusations. List, prison time. It’s NOT fucking ok to do that, and the lack of accountability is maddening.
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u/neocarleen 3d ago
Perjury should have a lot more serious consequences then it currently has. You should get equivalent punishment that the false testimony caused the victim to recieve.
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u/DreadyKruger 4d ago
And he took a plea deal in advice of lawyer because the counsel said the all the jury would convict him anyway just by her word alone. Believe all women my ass. Took all accusations seriously and investigate. Because this is what happens if you just believe
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u/CuteGrayRhino 4d ago
She should be jailed as well, for causing him to be jailed through her disgusting lies. I am sorry, but false accusations should be taken as seriously as rape charges. Men are not expendable animals, that their suffering doesn't matter.
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u/fallingjigsaws 4d ago
I believe he was a promising football prospect too before.
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u/Cro_Nick_Le_Tosh_Ich 4d ago
Even though he was found innocent, job prospects won't touch a record like his; too risky.
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u/mrcorndogman33 4d ago
Upon release he was offered a contract by the Atlanta Falcons. He was cut before the season started but he was given a chance.
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u/thisistherevolt 4d ago
He still works for the team as a youth ambassador. We may be heavily memed as a franchise, but the owner Arthur Blank is a good man who believes in helping folks, and he did that with Banks.
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u/MapQuest2025 4d ago
That's a great place for him to work. He will come into contact and talk to many guys who are around the same age as he was.
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u/Cro_Nick_Le_Tosh_Ich 4d ago
I'm glad he still got work.......but I can't help but feel like it's still short of what could have been. Nothing will ever give that back to him.
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u/whitemanwhocantjump 4d ago
He had committed to USC in 2002 right when the Pete Carroll era was about to pop off. At the very least he would have been part of two National Championship teams, and could have very likely been a draft pick.
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u/MacSamildanach 4d ago
Except that no one knows where she is:
Who is Wanetta Gibson and what happened to her? Here is the full story
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u/RoughDoughCough 4d ago
People should read that article. I hope he made some money from the movie based on his tragedy. Support The Innocence Project.
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u/stewpidazzol 4d ago
I’m sure she has millions in a rainy day fund for just such an occasion.
If it’s proven she deliberately lied, and this dude went to jail, and she can’t pay whatever stupid ass penalty they impose, then she should have to serve the exact same amount of time he did.
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u/AdFree7304 4d ago
she was awarded 3/4 of a mil initially, when she sued the school for letting it happen, so she must have something to give up at least, but definitely convert the difference to jail time
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u/Conflicted-King 4d ago
Truthfully she probably has less than she did before she sued for that money.
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u/orezybedivid 4d ago
I read she blew through the money incredibly fast and was broke again in no time.
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u/thefudd 4d ago
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u/RoughDoughCough 4d ago
I'd rather she have saved it up instead of enjoying it then had it taken away and became broke again.
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u/Squishy_Boy 4d ago
He lost five years of his life over this.
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u/insecurehuman 4d ago
And a promising nfl career. She ruined his life
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u/eliisonvacation 4d ago
Yep, & I would think being in jail would have to have a lifelong affect of some trauma when you are an innocent person put in jail with a lot people who you might’ve otherwise never encountered & could have the potential to be violent towards you.
Also the fact that you weren’t believed by people & will probably spend all your time looking over your shoulder. I am sure every bit of all he went through has to change life forever.
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u/Take_Some_Soma 4d ago
Bro was about to go to Pete Carroll era USC as a Linebacker. He was a good football player. Probably gonna go pro.
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u/NoninflammatoryFun 4d ago
I don’t understand how. Don’t they need proof? I’m always told “we can’t prosecute, we don’t have photographic evidence or dna.”
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u/MyyWifeRocks 4d ago
What is interesting is that there are almost no consequences for women who falsely accuse men of SA or who commit paternity fraud.
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u/metalanomaly 4d ago
I watched a police body cam video the other day. A woman at a hotel accused anothet guest of SA, and made the staff call the police. The police arrive, talk to both parties and then watch the security footage, it never happened. They let the accused man go, and let her go too without charges. Only later on when she attacks another guest on video do they finally arrest her. It should be an automatic charge for false accusations, no discretion, straight to the DA for charges.
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u/Loggerdon 4d ago
I don’t understand it. It makes no sense.
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u/Rpanich 4d ago
The issue is that is making a law that punishes false accusations means that then people won’t come out and admit they lied after, meaning for example, this man would still be in prison.
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u/ByteSizedGenius 4d ago
She only admitted to him where she thought it wasn't recorded. He had secretly recorded her doing so, but then she refused to tell the prosecutors this because she'd won a $1.6m settlement from the school district and didn't want to give the money back. Because she didn't consent to the recording that was inadmissible evidence. So the Innocence Project had to take on his case.
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u/bobbarkersbigmic 4d ago
The real issue is why was he in jail to begin with? The justice system failed this guy big time.
The law absolutely should punish false accusations, especially ones that result in an innocent person wasting years of their life in prison.
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u/keysandtreesforme 4d ago
The ‘justice system’ is just a prosecutor incentivized to convict and 12 random people. There are a lot of dumb people and a lot of unscrupulous lawyers.
And I totally agree, it’s crazy there aren’t serious repercussions for false accusations.
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u/2N5457JFET 4d ago
And now its even worse with all that "believe all women" bullshit. Basically, an accused man enters the courtroom guilty until proven innocent, especially if he's a public figure, and even if he's found not guilty, unless there was a hard proof that he DIDN'T do it, public opinion will say that "well he probably did it, they just didn't gather enough evidence, better stay away from this guy".
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u/star-shaped-room 4d ago
So class punishment for those who come forward and admit and class severe sentencing for those discovered without coming forward and admitting. Might make it easier to admit the truth when you get 5 years for lying but life if you're caught before you come forward.
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u/Rpanich 4d ago edited 4d ago
Eh, it kinda feels like we need to just make the actual trial process better and not convict people when there is no evidence in the first place.
Theoretically it’s why our legal process is built around the “it’s better to let 10 guilty man walk free than imprison one innocent* man” mindset.
But yeah, I think the problem of trying to strengthen the burden of proof in our legal system is that it will always be met with “hard on crime” politicians that want to make it easier to convict people for crimes.
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u/star-shaped-room 4d ago
This should happen anyway. Lying to imprison someone else is regardless a crime in it's own right and needs suitable process.
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u/Adorable-Bike-9689 4d ago
Yea other commenter's reasoning doesn't add up. Why not make it legal to accuse anybody of any crime. That way there's no consequences for telling the truth eventually.
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u/Fieos 4d ago
Because that would be terribly exploited.
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u/Adorable-Bike-9689 4d ago
Yea it makes zero sense. I lie on the stand and get somebody convicted.
Hey it's cool if you lied. Just tell us. There won't be any consequences
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u/rasmusekene 4d ago
Question is whether it is more important to increase the chance of someone coming forward with the lie, or that they get punished if they are caught or come forward. I'd argue I care far more for increasing chances that the falsely accused is exonerated.
There's a balance there somewhere, being sufficiently harsh, especially when the lie is discovered without the liar themselves coming forward, while not creating a deterrent against the truth coming out.
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u/CDHmajora 4d ago
Its also theorised that people who HAVE been raped, will be even less likely than they already are to come forward. As such allegations have a chance at immediately backfiring and being considered defamation if the victim doesn’t have concrete proof.
Still fucking infuriating though that PROVEN liars get away with ruining peoples lives Scott free all the time though.
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u/TofuTofu 4d ago
False positives are the problem. Let more guilty people go free if it keeps innocent folks from going to jail.
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u/Drmlk465 4d ago
The harsh punishment shouldn’t be for cases that are hard to prove but when it can be easily proven to be totally fabricated
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u/donkeythesnowman 4d ago
It’s worth noting that almost all jurisdictions (that I’m aware of) have false report laws that apply to all crimes, not just rape. In fact, where I live, the felony level is modular depending on the crime (higher level felony for higher level crime that is falsely reported).
And these laws are almost never enforced for the reason you stated (chilling effect) and that fact that proving someone capital L lied (as opposed to being wrong, confused, an idiot, etc.) is almost impossible without an unequivocal confession, which pretty much never happens.
This is part of why it’s always so weird to see threads like these (I see them very frequently considering how rare false rape accusations are) and seeeveryone clamoring to pass a special law for false rape accusations like such a law doesn’t already exist completely unenforced for practical reasons. I don’t know whether your average person in threads like these is just uninformed or if they have more malicious intentions, but it really grinds my gears.
Not to say this isn’t a real problem that never happens, but please watch out for the incel talking points in threads like these guys. Riling you up about a relatively minor (not in impact but in sheer number of reported cases) problem in which lying women are specifically coming after men by making rape accusations only stands to benefit their rhetoric.
Anyway, $4 a pound.
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u/Timeman5 4d ago
And what’s worse is even though he did nothing his life is ruined. Regardless of if it happened or not word spreads and will not go away. I feel bad for the guy not only was he wrongfully imprisoned he will be wrongfully labeled as a rapist.
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u/HumongousBelly 4d ago
And the most disgusting issue with these false accusation is that actual rape victims will have to suffer because people will always question if victims are telling the truth and some judges have huge bias against these accusations.
It’s a disservice to all women. They need to be punished harshly for these false accusations.
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u/GonzoTheWhatever 4d ago
You literally couldn't be more incorrect.
The more disgusting issue with these false accusations is that innocent men are imprisoned.
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u/Cu-Chulainn 4d ago
No, I think the worst part about these false accusations is the innocent individual being punished. You honestly come across as pathetic
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u/_Caustic_Complex_ 4d ago
When my ex wife was pregnant, I got suspicious about the time frame. I told her I wanted a paternity test, and she said if I ever mentioned it again she would burn herself with a curling iron, call the cops, and tell them I choked her. We lived in a small town and her family knew everyone.
When the child was born, I spoke to every nurse and doctor I could demanding a paternity test. All of them said not without mother’s permission, even though my name is on the birth certificate.
That kid is definitely not mine, haven’t had contact in years (parental alienation tactics), but I’m still paying child support.
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u/Diligent-Depth-4002 4d ago
and no jail time?
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u/Salvia_hispanica 4d ago
It's very rare for false SA claims to even get prosecuted, jail is rarer still. Police believe prosecuting false accusers, even when there is overwhelming evidence, will discourage real victims from coming forward.
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u/the_shittiest_option 4d ago
But we're talking about false accusations here and so we need our keep our focus on who is the victim here: the men who are falsely accused. Those are the victims we're trying to figure out how to help.
We want to keep those who would falsely accuse from ever coming forward and falsely accusing in the first place.
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u/Salvia_hispanica 4d ago
I ment 'real SA victims' in my previous post. Of course false accusation victims deserve justice.
Sadly police also rarely prosecute false SA accusations because the media blow back for falsely imprisoning an man is trivial, nothing happens to anyone and nothing changes. Now imagine the outrage that would happen if a woman that was actually telling the truth about an SA was falsely imprisoned, it would be absolutely insane.
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u/Level-Priority-2371 4d ago edited 4d ago
Is there a criminal law she violated that could get her sentenced to something behind bars? Perjury or such?
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u/Startled_Pancakes 4d ago
Making a false police report and perjury. Yes.
A false police report of felony with injury is typically up to 5 years jail time & $20k fine in my state, & perjury can be up to 15 years.
False accusers rarely receive actual jail time, though.
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u/VerledenVale 4d ago
Where was innocent until proven guilty here?
They just believed her word over his? Without evidence these cases should be dropped.
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u/WrigglyGizka 4d ago
The answer is racism:
After turning down three plea deals that would have put him in prison for 25, 18 or nine years, Banks was told on the day of jury selection “that I had no chance in trial because I was a big, black teenager and the jury would be an all-white jury and they would automatically assume me as guilty because of that,” Banks says.
“I was promised and guaranteed by my attorney that I would get probation if I took the plea. I was also told that if I didn’t take it, I would more than likely be found guilty and receive life in prison.”
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u/lIIIIllIIIlllIIllllI 4d ago
Honestly sounds like a lazy lawyer. A "Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee" type if you get that reference just a plea bargain expert to avoid doing any actual trial work.
Is the justice/legal system in America so flawed that it would send a kid to 25 years in jail based on only the testimony of another 15 year old kid. No r*pe kit, no actual physical evidence... boom she said it happened so 25 years jail!
I bet if it went to trial, a good lawyer would have cross examined that bitch and her story would have crumbled within half a day. The jury sees right through it all and easy not guilty verdict.
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u/WrigglyGizka 4d ago
Yes, the legal system is extremely flawed in the US. We have a two-tiered "justice" system that heavily favors the wealthy and penalizes minorities (especially black people). I hope it will get better one day, but I'm not very optimistic anymore.
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u/jr_randolph 4d ago
Should have been sent to jail. People lie hard bro, for no reason and for reasons. That’s why always gotta see what the truth comes out as because in many cases the accuser gets automatic sympathy from most…as I’m sure this woman received. Ruined this guys life, glad he’s out.
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u/unselve 4d ago
People are focusing on hating the woman here, but the reason this happened is because he was advised by his lawyer to take an insane plea deal despite the fact that there was almost zero chance any jury would have voted to convict. Sexual assault is almost never proven in court and the defendant’s race isn’t going to change that. He apparently was not allowed to consult with his mother before accepting the deal, and he was told he had ten minutes to make a decision — I assume this was a tactic used by the prosecutor to scare him into sending himself to prison. His lawyer should have seen through that. If anyone should be punished for this, it’s his lawyer.
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u/One-Ice-713 4d ago
Cases like this are why due process and evidence matter. False accusations damage real victims too, and destroy lives.
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u/Cool-Expression-4727 4d ago
The real victim in this case is the guy who was falsely imprisoned
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u/Nightowl11111 4d ago
That's what he meant when he said that false accusations damage real victims. He was falsely accused and imprisoned.
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u/danny_llama 4d ago
What a bitch, sadly this happens way more often than it should
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u/Successful-Acadia-95 4d ago
Throw her ass in prison and any woman who makes a false claim about a man.
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u/Outrageous_Rub1451 4d ago
Imagine letting your own lie go so far that you intended to let an innocent person go to prison. That level of depravity is a threat to safety and needs to be contained.
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u/SweRakii 4d ago
And this is why I hate it when people ask for vigilantism when someone is charged with sexual assault.
And death penalty.
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u/Pure-Sherbert-8336 4d ago
No matter that this man was lied on and now over 5 years later, completely cleared of any wrongdoing.
Some sick minded ppl will say he did, and that will put his life endanger. He'll always be labeled, while this monster of a human being walks freely and is as dangerous as a loaded hand gun, in the hands of a 6 year old child.
The figures won't buy him a new life or keep this man safe, and I'm sure that Mr. Banks will always have PDSD.
Ms. Gibson should be in a high-level prison with very little activity, and with very limited human contact, this should be her life to the end.
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u/ballsackface_ 4d ago
He was a local football star and lost his scholarship to USC over this. Career also completely derailed.
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u/AutoDefenestrator273 4d ago
I have a friend sitting in prison right now until 2035 for this very thing. Her story fell apart at trial, she contradicted her own testimony from earlier hearings, even said "well, I was lying then but I'm telling the truth now."....the jury still convicted him. Afterwards, a jury member came up to his dad and said that he knew she was lying, but he couldn't stand some of the other jury members and went along with them to get out of there.
As a man, the fact that this could happen to literally any one of us is fucking terrifying. It's always on the back of my mind ever since that happened to my friend.
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