Rape of First Degree Sexual Assault
A young man was accused of forcible rape after engaging in what he believed to be consensual sexual intercourse with an underage girl who he understood to be a young adult. Three young men stopped at a convenience store during the early morning hours after spending the evening at a nightclub. The men simply stopped to buy gasoline and some drinks. While inside the store, they randomly encountered three females who were loitering in the area. The two group struck up some conversation and after getting to know each other, agreed to leave together. The girls got into the men’s car and drove off.
They first went to an empty parking lot to drink beer and smoke marijuana. They then went to a hotel and rented one room that contained two double beds. The group of six went into the room and broke off into three couples. One couple occupied one of the double beds and another couple occupied the second bed.
The third couple hung out in the bathroom and in the area of a desk and chair located in the room. The two couples on the beds engaged in sexual intercourse. Everyone was present in the room at this time. As the time passed, the sun eventually came up signifying day break. The girls then expressed their need to return home.
The men drove the girls home. They exchanged numbers upon being dropped off. A day or two later, the men were visited by police who indicated that the girls, who were under the age of 16, claimed that they had been raped. One of the young retained Attorney John L. Calcagni III to represent him against this most serious allegation.
While his client acknowledged to having had intercourse, he maintained his innocence to allegations that he raped or force himself on the female. These facts still placed the man in a difficult position because by law even consensual intercourse with an underage female is barred by law as statutory rape. Attorney Calcagni worked diligently on this case for months. His strategy involved attacking the credibility of the complaining females who apparently lied to the men about their ages and then similarly lied to their parents and police about being raped to explain their whereabouts and why that had spent the night away from home.
Attorney Calcagni simultaneously built up his client’s credibility and mitigation by highlighting his limited criminal history, non-violent disposition, education, employment and strong family ties. After extensive negotiations, Attorney Calcagni successfully persuaded the government to reduce the charged rape or first degree sexual assault, a capital offense punishable by up to life in prison, to felony assault, a non-capital felony that does not involve sex offender registration.
In return for the man’s admission to this less serious, amended charge, Attorney Calcagni convinced both the prosecutor and judge to impose a suspended jail sentence with probation for five years. This was a tremendous victory for the young man whose life was saved by this disposition.