In recent years, North Carolina has garnered a lot of attention and scrutiny for its sexual assault and rape laws. This has led to a slew of legislative reform pushes that may impact your case.
Closing loopholes in consent laws
Consent – in these cases, the act of agreeing to have sex or perform a sexual act—is a controversial and nuanced conversation. When someone agrees, under what circumstances and the person’s subsequent actions can all change the ways that the law views a sexual relationship. Not every case is a clear-cut rape or assault. Many cases fall into a kind of in-between space for many reasons.
In 2019, North Carolina sexual assault laws came under national fire for a number of different reasons, most notably because of the ways the law treated consent. Legally, a person who gave consent cannot withdraw it mid-act, and a person who is intoxicated from their own willing consumption of drugs or alcohol had reduced legal standing. Similarly, the law did not specifically address rape perpetuated by a person who drugged a person’s drink, often referred to as date rape.
This may change how people treat your case
The legal world is changing, and, while these legal changes play an important role in protecting victims, this can open up a variety of new issues for defendants. Many rape and sexual assault cases depend heavily on the testimony of witnesses, especially the alleged victim and the alleged perpetrator. But anyone can claim that they started to revoke consent. Without any evidence of the incident or alleged revocation, many cases may devolve quickly.
You need to be prepared for your case to change as the state implements these new laws. Ask your attorney how these legislative changes impact you.
