![]() ![]() Fidell, a military law expert and president of the National Institute of Military Justice, said that Simpson’s sentence, if not “crushing,” “is certainly a very severe sentence. Under a military law doctrine of “constructive force,” victims who do not resist sexual advances can be considered to have been raped if they believed that resistance would risk bodily injury or be futile.Įugene R. The other four said they feared that resistance would be futile or that they feared injury if they resisted. Of the six women who charged that Simpson had raped them, only two said that they physically resisted him. Serial rapists typically are sentenced to between 25 years and life imprisonment, Rothstein said. In civilian courts, rape penalties usually run from several years in jail to a life term, depending on several circumstances, including the amount of force that was used. “Considering all the circumstances, this is not out of line with what he would have gotten in the run of state cases,” said Paul Rothstein, a law professor at Georgetown University. In addition, jurors may have given Simpson some credit for his record as a decorated soldier. They may also have given Simpson some leeway because there were uncertainties about what really happened in crimes where there were no witnesses, the experts said. They said that the court-martial jurors may have accepted defense arguments that the women shared at least some guilt for what happened. Black leaders have protested the prosecution since it came to light that all 12 men who faced charges are black.ĭespite the complaints, several legal experts said that Simpson’s sentence was probably not out of line with civilian sentences. Women’s groups have vowed to closely follow the Army’s prosecutions in hopes of ensuring justice for the victims. The complaints about the sentence reflected the powerful political currents that have whipsawed the Aberdeen cases since they came to light last fall. ![]() Simpson will also be discharged from the Army at a rank of private E-1. ![]() Simpson, who apologized in a pre-sentencing hearing for his failure to follow the “moral values learned in childhood,” hugged his mother and left the courtroom with his wife after the sentence was read. The jury, which convicted Simpson one week ago, took about two hours Tuesday to return its sentence. ![]() Simpson’s attorneys maintained that the women were falsely testifying against Simpson to hide their own guilt-since sex between different ranks is against Army rules-or in hopes of gaining other advantage. In eight days of testimony, the defense contended that the sexual encounters were all consensual. Spinner warned that the message of the sentence was “if you’re black, and an African American drill sergeant in the Army, you’re an endangered species.” Simpson’s attorneys, who for the most part had played down the racial angle in the trial, joined in. “This is going to have a chilling effect on all those people who are still to be tried and on people who are going to enter the service and on the state of race relations in America.” Hilliard (D-Ala.), first vice chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus. “This is cruel and unusual punishment,” said Rep. ![]()
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