Sleepwalking man cleared of rape

[Specop 007]

Originally posted by: Phoenix86
OK, I'll probably get it for this one, but....

I have woken up to having sex...

Me too. Best damned way in the whole world to wake up too IMO. I love it when my wife wakes me up like that.

 

[Midlander]

Originally posted by: Lord Zado

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: blackdogdeek

Originally posted by: Lord Zado
Just out of curiousity, do all of you hate him because you think he is lying or simply because of the action? Granted it's a horrible action and I feel for the girl, but if you knew with absolute certainty that he really was asleep and was not aware of his actions, could you really fault the guy?

at what point is his crime punishable?

what if he committed a homocide instead of a rape? would he only then be removed as a danger to society?

Exactly.

Well to be fair in this instance. The sleepwalking man managed to take off her pants and rape her while she was asleep! I don't know about you, but if someone started to take off my pants while sleeping, I would wake up. And if he truly was sleepwalking, she could've just woke him up or walked away. The whole thing sounds fishy to me.

Agreed. I think they are both lying.

 

[SagaLore]

On an episode of House there was a case of this. This girl was getting sick and House determined she was pregnant. She had sexsomnia and was seeing her ex-boyfriend a floor below her and having sex, then when she was awake he kept calling her saying she was sending mixed signals and she insisted he stop bothering her.

 

[moshquerade]

i wonder if i could get acquitted of murdering someone if i claimed i had Killsomnia?

 

[imported_LoKe]

Originally posted by: SagaLore
On an episode of House there was a case of this. This girl was getting sick and House determined she was pregnant. She had sexsomnia and was seeing her ex-boyfriend a floor below her and having sex, then when she was awake he kept calling her saying she was sending mixed signals and she insisted he stop bothering her.

I saw that one!

 

[Toonces]

automatism is a credible and defensible action in the Canadian criminal system (and I see in the American system as well)

One man managed to sleepwalk into his car, drive to his parents in law's house - kill them with a knife - then drive to a police station and turn himself in. All while sleepwalking.

Since there's no way he could have forseen or prevented these acts from occurring while in a non-conscious state, the man was aquittted. Automatism isn't easy to establish as it requires a history of sleepwalking, plus evidence that it was occurring at the time through eyewitness testimony.

Sexosomnia is a bit of a misnomer, I doubt they'd say "killsomnia" or "sexosomnia" during a regular trial.

 

[bigrash]

wtf

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Originally posted by: blackdogdeek

at what point is his crime punishable?

what if he committed a homocide instead of a rape? would he only then be removed as a danger to society?

Not necessarily.

The thing to keep in mind is that the law (at least the English common law, as interpreted in the US) does not criminalize being a danger, exactly. A prosecutor is required to prove that the accused committed some criminal act, either intentionally or through gross negligence, to get a conviction. The accused's dangerousness is a factor in sentencing, but if he can't be proven to have willfully or recklessly committed a crime, it can never come up.

The bottom line is that if a person is shown not to have had the mental state necessary to commit a crime (in this case, because he is sleeping), he can't be convicted of one.

 

[Ime]

Originally posted by: UNESC0
automatism is a credible and defensible action in the Canadian criminal system (and I see in the American system as well)

One man managed to sleepwalk into his car, drive to his parents in law's house - kill them with a knife - then drive to a police station and turn himself in. All while sleepwalking.

Since there's no way he could have forseen or prevented these acts from occurring while in a non-conscious state, the man was aquittted. Automatism isn't easy to establish as it requires a history of sleepwalking, plus evidence that it was occurring at the time through eyewitness testimony.

Sexosomnia is a bit of a misnomer, I doubt they'd say "killsomnia" or "sexosomnia" during a regular trial.

WTF? That's ****** up! He should have been locked up in a mental ward or something!

 

[MaxDepth]

I had some really horrible sleep walking troubles that happened to me while I was in college. Mostly by sleep deprivation from working in architectual labs.

According to my roommate, I put on a pair of pants and a sweat shirt (but no shoes) and went outside the dorm. He followed me and stopped me when I got halfway across a street. I guess I was lucky that there wasn't much traffic. The other time I picked up the phone and started talking gibberish for awhile unitl I "hung up" and went back to bed. But no sex...

Now I have had the distinct and wonderful pleasure of waking up to sex. Nothing like dreaming of sex with the girlfriend and then waking up to find it wasn't a dream.

 

[imported_Condor]

He was charged with sexual assault but during his trial sleep experts testified that he suffered from sexsomnia - when a person has sex while they are still asleep.

That explains housewives!

The six words that change consenual sex to rape: No, I will not marry you. The two words that change consenual sex to rape: How much!!

 

[40Hands]

I have a history of sleep walking as well. In college I got up in the middle of the night went to the bathroom and when I tried to get back in my room it was locked. (this is what I have pieced together) So I then proceeded to go to this hotties room and tried to get into bed with her. Not for anything sexual, just to sleep. Luckily she was a friend of mine and helped me find my way back to my room.

 

[yhelothar]

Originally posted by: Lord Zado

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: blackdogdeek

Originally posted by: Lord Zado
Just out of curiousity, do all of you hate him because you think he is lying or simply because of the action? Granted it's a horrible action and I feel for the girl, but if you knew with absolute certainty that he really was asleep and was not aware of his actions, could you really fault the guy?

at what point is his crime punishable?

what if he committed a homocide instead of a rape? would he only then be removed as a danger to society?

Exactly.

Well to be fair in this instance. The sleepwalking man managed to take off her pants and rape her while she was asleep! I don't know about you, but if someone started to take off my pants while sleeping, I would wake up. And if he truly was sleepwalking, she could've just woke him up or walked away. The whole thing sounds fishy to me.

That's exactly what was in my mind while I read the article.
It doesn't sound right.