Last week I posted about the newest terrible development in the De Anza College rape case, which was thrown out because of “insufficient evidence”: the physical evidence in the case was never even tested. Cara has a much longer, and really good post about this over at The Curvature.

Yesterday the three women who witnessed the gang-rape but were not called to testify at the grand jury spoke out about this latest insane failure on the part of the Santa Clara district attorney’s office. I really recommend that you read the full editorial, as it’s quite powerful. Excerpt below:

As people closely connected to this case, we were told that a complete and thorough investigation was performed by the offices of the district attorney and attorney general. In the words of Attorney General Jerry Brown, “No stone will be left unturned.” We now know that this was not the case.

It was announced to the public that no charges would be filed due to two issues. The first was whether or not the sex was consensual. We believed then, and still believe, that an unconscious 17-year-old girl, with a blood-alcohol level of .32, did not give consent to have sex on a dirty mattress on a floor in a room full of several boys.

The second issue was the inability to identify the boys who actually had sex with the victim. In the majority of sexual assault cases, there is typically limited evidence that goes beyond “he said, she said.” What happened in the De Anza rape case provided an abundance of evidence. But both the district attorney and the attorney general stated that they could do nothing because the evidence was insufficient.

It wasn’t insufficient — it simply was ignored.

If you’ve been reading this blog for a long time (you’re the best!) you might remember the De Anza rape case. The case in which three women were ready to testify saying that they witnessed a girl being raped at a De Anza college party (and tried in to stop it) but for some reason, the county never asked them to give grand jury testimony and the case was dropped for lack of evidence. Well, apparently it only gets worse, as yesterday’s news reports that:

The Santa Clara County crime lab never tested some physical evidence seized in the De Anza alleged gang-rape case after the district attorney’s office notified the lab that “no further testing was needed,” a crime lab supervisor has testified in an ongoing civil case. That untested evidence, according to a written report submitted by a crime lab examiner, included clothing, a comforter, a vomit-covered paint can, and a sheet from the hospital examination of the alleged victim. In sexual assault cases, such evidence often is tested for DNA that could link the accused perpetrators to the victim.

Last week Feministing published a guest post from three student activists at Wheaton College (MA) who have made some very articulate and appropriate demands from their school in regards to reforming the sexual misconduct policy. Similarly, Wesleyan University students, alumni, and parents have joined forces to demand that the school create a staff position dedicated to sexual violence.

The University of Maryland is starting up a new mandatory sexual assault prevention education program for incoming students next year. There aren’t details on the program but “it will likely be incorporated into freshman orientation and be similar to the university’s online alcohol education program, AlcoholEdu.” Does anyone have any experience with online modules like AlcoholEdu? I haven’t seen one yet, and hope to fix that this summer, but my knee-jerk reaction is that something like sexual assault prevention requires personal interaction. Or maybe I just need to get with the way of the future…?

The De Anza rape case, in which three women witnessed the sexual assault of a 17-year-old girl, will not be moving forward. It sounds like prosecutors botched the case by offering immunity to three of the rapists, in hopes they would testify against their friends. Unsurprisingly, this strategy didn’t work out.

I’m disappointed with the criminal justice system, and would hope that at least De Anza College is taking some sort of action to change the culture of their baseball team, who hosted the party where the assault occurred (and, of course, to remove any of the rapists from campus).

The one bright spot in this is the fact that there are truly amazing people out there. These three women are heroes. They charged past nine men, in a situation that must have been absolutely terrifying, to carry the victim to safety. We need more people like them in the world.

A year later, De Anza College is still waiting to hear whether any of the men who three women prevented from continuing to rape a semi-conscious 17 year old will face criminal charges. The District Attorney refused to prosecute, saying there wasn’t enough proof that a crime had been committed. The Attorney General of California is reviewing the case, and has been for 8 months. The theory seems to be that if they wait long enough, people will have forgotten and their decision won’t cause the firestorm of controversy the first decision not to prosecute did. But seriously people, read the description of what the women saw when they decided to intervene, and tell me that you think that the 17 year old girl freely consented to sex with these men?

These women, by the way, remain huge heroes of mine. They are so brave and so willing to put themselves on the line to help out another person. I hope that faced with a similar situation I would be as forceful and as fearless.

It seems no good deed goes unpunished, while bad ones continue to. The women who took action in this case, and the assaulted woman who continues to want to press charges, are heros. I hope other people will be inspired to step up when they see something wrong.

I think SAFER should set up some annual awards for Best Bystanders, Athletes Making a Difference, Best Prosecutor, Most Proactive Campus Security Team, Best Student Education Campaign, Most Effective Student Movement, etc. Submit your nominations now! Alleged rape victim’s rescuers threatened: Soccer players are called names after intervening at party