Question: Can I get convicted of criminal charges based solely on the verbal accusations of one person against me?
Answer: Yes. It happens every day.
People who are accused of crimes are always astounded, amazed and mesmerized that one person can make a simple oral accusation against them and have that form the basis for a criminal conviction. Possible sending them to prison for the rest of their lives.It happens all the time in criminal jury trials across Utah.
Example. Sexual Battery. Complaining witness (alleged victim) 23 years old accuses her date of touching her butt and breasts without consent as the date night ends. She calls the police 10 days later, then eventually she is interviewed with the police another 5 days later. The detective’s record the phone or in-person interview and no confessions were made. The detective forwards the investigative report to the Utah County Attorneys’ Office for criminal prosecution. The county attorneys’ screening team decides to file Sexual Battery, Class A Misdemeanors charges against her date. A criminal summons is issued and so it starts.
Evidence: The only evidence of sexual battery is the verbal accusations against the now criminal defendant. There is no physical bruising or bodily injury evidence. Both people have zero criminal record. There are no emails or Facebook apologies—just what she said, and he said.
A “he-said, she-said” criminal case can be easier to defend then corroborating evidence sexual assault cases, but are nonetheless dangerous. Imagine instead of the one year jail sentence, Sexual Battery, Class A Misdemeanor was charged, it was a Utah Code 76-5-404.1 Sexual abuse of a child — Aggravated sexual abuse of a child. Where you are looking at a mandatory minimum 15 year prison sentence. The mere verbal accusations are super high stakes now.
Credibility of the complaining witness, alleged victim is super crucial in these types of cases. Your attorney’s ability to cross-examine the alleged victim to show that she is not credible is super critical.
Utah Criminal Defense Attorney Jake Gunter. Call/TXT (801) 373-6345.
