Fred's Case — Sexual Assault — Investigation

Client:  Fred Green
Victim:  Wendy Crawford
Potential Charges:  Sexual Assault

Here Comes Trouble:  The police had left Fred several voicemail messages. They wanted to "speak with" him regarding a sexual assault investigation. Fred was worried. He did have sex with a teenaged girl, and he had heard through the grape vine that she was now saying she was raped. He wasn’t sure what to do. Should he admit everything, deny everything, or just ignore them?

Goals:  Having decided that Fred was about to be arrested for sexual assault, I identified these objectives:  (i) to arrange for Fred’s surrender to avoid a warrant being issued for his arrest, (ii) to prepare Fred for his arrest so that he didn’t incriminate himself, and (iii) to quickly secure his release from custody.

Strategy:  I first contacted the officer to determine his intentions. He told me that he had already decided to charge Fred with sexual assault. He also said that his investigation was continuing, and that he wanted to provide Fred with an opportunity to tell his side of the story. I explained to Fred that there was nothing he could say to change the officer’s mind about charging him. The officer was simply collecting as much evidence against him as possible. I advised Fred that it would be in his best interest to say nothing about the incident. Fred agreed. To make his intentions clear, I prepared an "arrest statement." That written statement informed the officer that Fred wouldn’t be making any statement or providing any evidence. I also arranged with the arresting officer that Fred would not be kept overnight for a bail hearing.

Results:  I walked with Fred into the police station. Fred was arrested, and taken inside for processing. He presented the arrest statement to the arresting officer. The officer then abandoned his attempt to gather evidence from Fred. Fred did not give a statement, nor did he did give any bodily sample for DNA analysis. He was released a few hours later. Fred eventually had a trial before a jury. He was found "not guilty."

READ THE ARREST STATEMENT
READ THE BACKGROUND AND THE JURY ADDRESS
READ THE POLICE REPORT