There are several cases going through the criminal justice system where a couple had consensual sex and the female died during it.
These cases involve rough play or in some cases choking to create a high.
The female is dead so she can't testify.
Is "she liked rough sex" a viable defense?
I'm not a legal expert but anyone that strangles their partner to death during sex should be investigated
There is also the question...If one participant is deceased how can we be certain any of it was consensual?
It brings to mind that 'Preppy Killer' guy that killed a girl in a drunken sexual encounter in a NYC park 3 decades ago
If the accused can have some sort of text evidence or anything that would imply the rough sex
Definitely should be investigated, I agree with that.
I can see both sides of this argument.
#1 it could be true, that S+M play where a partner was accidentally choked out or had a heart attack during rough play.
or
The male simply got overly aggressive and this defense was just a cover for a physically abusive boyfriend/husband.
If you BAN this defense (which they are thinking about doing) you do two things-
#1 the baning removes the cover for wife beaters and/or aggressive men that got carried away and killed a woman during sex.
Now that is a good thing.
However....
it also removes a legitimate defense for a man of what could have actually occurred, possibly condeming a innocent man to decades in prison for a accident.
Well, just don't play rough sex.
shareIt’s a defense but the so-called Fifty shades defense has not been successful. The charge is usually involuntary manslaughter in these cases where the accused is held responsible for reckless or criminally negligent behavior toward the victim. The argument is he should have known the limits and seen signs of distress. Comparable cases involve giving too much of a drug or serving too much alcohol to someone who is noticeably already wasted or drunk.
shareThe counter argument is that the male is in such a state of sexual arousal that clear thinking may be difficult.
A bartender is clear headed, not so for a person in the throes of passion.
I can see where convincing a jury would be difficult.
Excellent post!
There was a case back in the 80s that I vaguely remember involving a rich college age guy who killed a young woman and claimed that she liked sex really rough and he strangled her to death accidentally. His family was able to hire a really top lawyer and in his case I believe it worked. I would think that'd be a tough defense to pull off in most cases though. Even if your partner was into that hard core BDSM shit, you should know not to take it to a point where it's life threatening.
shareIt probably all comes down to evidence. Many who employ this as a defense often provide very faulty accounts of events that can't be backed up or can actually be debunked by the evidence. For example, look at the recent case of Wesley Street, who was just convicted of the rape and murder of his friend, Keeley Bunker. When questioned, he maintained a lie about his innocence, but police already had evidence against him, which is when he turned to this defense (thankfully, it didn't work).
However, I can see this lie working when the evidence isn't so stacked against someone. But it seems like it isn't used to completely exonerate someone; it's more of a sentence lightener, I think.
Legally, it's a defense that might get a charge reduced from premeditated murder to manslaughter, no more. It's not legal to kill anyone during extreme sex, even if they want it to happen and helped plan the death, and there have actually been cases!
I know the defense has been successfully used, and I can't imagine that any jury would buy it unless the victim had a documented history of liking it rough. But I've heard that in rape trials you can't bring in the victim's previous sexual behavior as a defense, because even if a person is out there fucking whole football teams every time they have a free weekend, they still have the right to say "no" at any time, and juries shouldn't be prejudiced by earlier behavior. So legal question: If there's a suggestion of consensual choking gone wrong during sex rather than deliberate murder, is it legal to bring in previous lovers to testify that the dead person really did like to be choked?
Why don't you try it out
share