by Imagine the following scenario: A pair of men walk into a police station. They have bruises all over, each has a black eye, and they are limping. They limp over to the front desk where a police officer is busy with paperwork.
In earshot of the officer, the one says to the other, “Let’s tell her that we were beaten up by street thugs and that they robbed our cash. I guess we can make up some description — definitely say that they were Black. They’re going to find someone that finds that description and we can maybe get a little money out of it. They don’t need to know that we are the street thugs and got beaten up by someone who we thought we could rob.”
They then proceed to tell the story to the police officer, who stops them short by informing them that she heard everything that they said and that she has to put them in a holding cell while the police figure out what to do with these self-confessed criminals.
While this scenario is hard to imagine happening in reality, it is happening in a way — through information that is sent by text messages on people’s phones.
In what may be the first time an iPhone’s elephantine memory has saved someone accused of a serious crime, deleted data retrieved by a leading surveillance expert appears to have led to the dropping of five rape charges against a Sydney man.
We cannot accept rape in any way and must pursue and punish those that perpetrate this heinous crime, but to falsely accuse someone of rape does not only damage that person, it damages every single rape accusation that follows it. It weakens the cause and brings about uncertainty where there should be none. If you say you have been raped but you have not been, you are doing an injustice to real rape victims everywhere.
Robert wants police to investigate Jessica for causing a false investigation and is considering civil action against the police and the church.
”It’s put huge pressure on my home life and on my business,” he said. ”I had to go through the denigration of being charged and I’ve never been in trouble in my life.”
In our increasingly Panopticonic lives, you cannot hope to make false accusations — the unblinking eye remembers the truth of the matter… even if erased! — and will make you remember it, too.
This is a good lesson, Gordon. We are always who we are — and who we were — everything we do is recorded and remembered. The truth of the lie is always visible somewhere.
So true, David. It’s amazing how these folks try to get away with the most heinous crimes, knowing fully well so many have failed before them.
Good grief, Gordon. Every mistake lasts forever. I want my own erase button.
I hear you, Anne!