I was just illustrating the problem with the stance “all unwanted touching is assault.” That’s just not how it works in reality.

The idea is to stop her before anyone hears and maybe talk her down before allowing her the opportunity to scream again.

It would be very creepy, but it’s still the kind of thing that happens all the time. Fans are amazingly inconsiderate when it comes to celebrities.

If the presumption of innocence weren’t true for on-the-ground police work then arrests wouldn’t require probable cause. Arrests aren’t convictions, though; so there tends to be a lot of discretion involved.

There is a presumption of veracity, though; that presumption is inherent in the nature of an investigation. If the accused is assumed innocent the accuser is assumed lying or mistaken.

Again, I’m talking about investigation, not arrest. In the process of an investigation the accusation is assumed false.

First, you posted links to definitions of exoneration. If your point wasn’t about false convictions what exactly was your point... That you’re dyslexic?

No idea what point you’re trying to make here. People are on occasion falsely convicted, but that has no bearing on what I’m saying.

No, the point of police investigation is to inform the criminal court proceeding. I’m not talking about making an arrest; I’m talking about the investigation process, and in that process victim testimony is rarely taken at face value. Without forensic evidence or witness confirmation it doesn’t hold much weight.

You don’t assume it’s the victim’s fault, but you do assume the victim is lying. It’s not done to spite the victim; it’s just how you have to approach an investigation. Nothing happened until you can prove it happened.

Fans approaching a celebrity just to talk happens all the time. That’s not unusual. The rest without evidence is just hearsay.

First, someone screaming “rape” at me could get me hurt or killed if a bystander decides to be a hero. Not saying I have the right; just saying my being startled and doing something kind of dumb is understandable.

If I approach some girl to ask for the time and she starts screaming “RAPE!” I might try to stop her from screaming that. It’s jarring; the reaction is understandable. “Unwanted touching of any kind is assault,” isn’t how the law works. If I pat someone on the back while congratulating them they could technically call…

From what I gathered from the article the perps said they only covered her mouth because when they approached her she started screaming and it startled them.

I’m not defending anyone; I’m just criticizing the jump to accusing law enforcement of supporting rape culture, and the dumb assumption that there should be serious punishment to the alleged.

Well, of course the onus is always on the victim. Whether you like it or not you can’t actually punish someone until there’s proof a crime was committed. That means the victim’s claims must ALWAYS face scrutiny.

That’s fine, but it’s misdemeanor assault. Unless these guys are repeat offenders it should result in probation at worst.  What did people think was going to happen? Jail?

She absolutely shouldn’t have to apologize, but it sounds like she wasn’t actually hurt and there weren’t any witnesses. In that case it’s not surprising the alleged attackers were released; her account of what happened isn’t enough to prove an assault was committed.

I’d say the complete lack of warning from Telltale would’ve hit the contract workers the hardest, given their circumstance.  This is Telltales fault in that they gave these people no time to prepare.  

If I don’t survive, tell my wife... hello.