Cornelius Walker asserts that the woman who falsely accused Long Beach football star Brian Banks of rape should pay for her crime.
False allegations of rape, such as this story, don’t readily appear so cut and dry. Is it the case of two people disagreeing about what was consensual? Is it a disturbed child using the system to hurt a relative? Perhaps a scorned lover retaliating against an ex? From the outside, the decision to prosecute a rape case seems to be a simple question of whether there appears to be enough evidence to put before a jury. What is less clear is when to prosecute an accusation of rape as having been falsely made. What of someone who truly believes she was raped, even though the evidence indicates she probably consented? Do we lock up a woman for the poor decisions of her 11 year old self? What if she was simply betrayed by her memory and police procedure, as in the case of Ronald Cotton?
This story out of Long Beach does not suffer from a lack of clarity. Brian Banks’s promising life was taken away from him when Wanetta Gibson accused him of raping her, an accusation she knew to be false at the time. Upon release from jail, having been “friended” on Facebook by his accuser, he recorded an admission that her allegation was false. While Banks has been exonerated, the question now is what prosecutors should do, with Gibson refusing to confess to the false allegation. I think the answer is clear. Banks’s mother sold her home and car to pay for her son’s defense; the $750,000 settlement Gibson received from the Long Beach school district should be more than enough to pay for hers.
What do you think? Should Wanetta Gibson go to jail for this crime?
Would charging Wanetta Gibson discourage other false accusers from recanting their accusations and therefore keep more innocent men in jail?
Or would charging Gibson discourage other young women (Gibson was a minor at the time of the accusation) from making false accusations?
Photo: AP/California Western School of Law
About Cornelius Walker
Thanks Danny. I know all about the Duke’s Lacrosse case, but hadn’t realized it’s standard for there to be no charges against false accusers.
She should get the same amount of time in prison, as he did. This will set an example to the rest of the losers.
She should do more than serve prison time (though I do agree she should get the same sentence he received). She and her family should have to make a full restitution with interest of the 1.5 M settlement they received
In this case women is the villan, She should go to prison and pay .
as a true rape victim i believe yes, she should be imprisoned for falsely accusing an innocent man and taking 10 years of his life away.10 years of lost opportunity, 10 years of having a record as a rapist and further charged . false accusation of rape and imprisonment and as a hindrance to true rape victims . disgusting . she took away his opportunity’s and expects him to take her back? what a loser. obviously being 28 their is a reason why she still single. no one wants to be with drama. why wasn’t she charged? . that is what i want to know. . ..she should be the one paying back his mother too for the lost car and house plus . $750,000 settlement to the school and pay back all the est wages he lost. although i do not agree with some of the written parts.11 years old’s can not legally consent. . hopefully there is justice. if not on earth in heaven but karma always comes through.
The decision the 11 yr old made was to lie, nothing to do with consential sex…
Yes it should be charged with fraud and sentenced to 10 years in prison, and lose the money it fraudulently obtained.
The exoneration of Mr. Brian Banks proves that U.S. criminal justice system is sham, at least in cases of sex crimes. Brian Banks had to spend precious years of his youth behind the bars due to false rape accusation made by Wanetta Gibson. In my opinion, Gibson is not the only guilty party, the investigators, prosecutors and jury are equally responsible for the injustice. U.S. criminal justice system is in the hands of incompetent person. Each party who contributed to this injustice should be brought to book. In the matters of sex crimes, the principle “guilty till proven innocent” holds good. The prosecution assumes what it is trying to prove and proves what it has already assumed. As for the feminists, they do not want to punish criminals, they just want to punish men, any men. Criminal justice system needs to be cured of its feminist leaning tendency
“As for the feminists, they do not want to punish criminals, they just want to punish men, any men. Criminal justice system needs to be cured of its feminist leaning tendency.”
That is a huge, sweeping generalization, Rapses.
Unfortunately, it’s also a correct one.
While an overly broad generalization, there are some who certainly do, and some others who have drank the Kool-Aid to the point of genuinely believing things like “no woman ever lies about rape.” Note that the Brian Banks case hasn’t seen much play on the larger feminist blogs (has it on any of them?), because it is something they don’t want to have to discuss, because it runs counter to their preconceptions.
verry vrrry true. We live in a female centric society that is quick to take HER side before they hear the story.
just found out, not only is she broke, on welfare, but two of her children are in the system, she owes child support but claimed lack of funds (men get thrown in jail everyday for missing one payment…yet she gets to plea no funds?)the true amount, the school paid her 2.5 million, the mothers losses 75000 plus far more, all the lost opportunities , scholorships ,recruiters, grants gone, 10 years. 5 years in prison, 5 years with an ankle moniter, 10 years since the age of 17 being a falsely accused rapist, 10 years of his life snatched, his freedom taken away, scared , ….heinous , this witch needs to pay back everyone, the school, the students at the school who lost out on programs that would have been funded by the money given to her and her mother, the mother of mr.banks losses (insurance for the car and house, moving into a tiny apartment when she had a house, how much did she pay for all that to sell it at a pittance ) she should also be charged by true rape victims. yet no one is going to prosecute her and her mother, they are free, spent all that money on god knows what, penny less and nothing to show for it, welfare….where is the justice? this gives all false accusers the free card, to gain on an innocent because the pay out is huge…..terrible.
That money is gone gone gone and putting her away is only going to cost the taxpayers in California more money, all so we can feel good about her being in prison. Yay, revenge.
Under California law, Banks may receive his own settlement from the fine taxpayers of California – $100 for every day in jail he spent. Should he prove successful, let’s hope he doesn’t burn through it like Gibson and her mother, Wanda Rhodes, appear to have done.
Cornelius, I think you just answered the key question you posed at the end of the original post. Sounds like you think she should just walk.
And sounds like you think $180k to Banks, if California even pays it (often States refuse to pay these claims), is plenty of recompense.
Thanks for sharing.
Really?
“Just walk” implies there should be no punishment at all, that she should suffer no consequences for her actions. On the contrary, if you read some of my other responses, I’m quite clear that I don’t think that should be the case. Rather, my flippant comment is about the state of our “justice” system on the whole. What does putting her away for a few years actually net us as a society? We spend a bunch of money to punish another perp without actually solving any problems.
I only recently found out about the money to Banks. Indeed, the more I read the more depressing the story becomes. They have her on video saying he didn’t rape her, but she refused to speak with prosecutors and is now saying she only said that because Banks promised to pay her $10,000. Her mother, Wanda Rhodes, is being portrayed as rather unsavory character and there are accusations afloat that she engineered the entire thing. Perhaps Gibson isn’t the true villain of the story, but a pawn in a twisted scheme to work the system.
FYI, the title, subhead, and questions at the end are generally chosen by the editors, if one of those is the “key question” to which you are referring. If it’s the question of what prosecutors should do, I can’t imagine how you surmised that I think she should just walk when I stated the $750k should be enough to pay for her own defense. I must say I find it to be an extraordinarily uncharitable reading of what I wrote – to the point of being fallacious even.
“That money is gone gone gone and putting her away is only going to cost the taxpayers in California more money, all so we can feel good about her being in prison. Yay, revenge.”
That is the last thing you said.
In making the latter statement, you effectively withdrew your initial comment that the $750k should be used to pay for her defense. Now that you know the money is “gone, gone, gone” you state that “putting her away is only going to cost the taxpayers in California more money.”
And now, on yet further reflection, you want to go back to your initial comment.
Do you see how a simple reader might be mightily confused by such contradictory statements? If not, I suggest you consider a future in elective politics.
If perhaps I expected the readers of this site to have the reading comprehension of my 8 year old, then yes, I could see how they would be confused. I plead guilty to assuming the readers of this site are more intelligent than that.
There is no contradiction. I’ve said from the outset that the money was gone – look at my very first comment in response to (R)Evoluzione. In the original post I was using a rhetorical device to suggest what I thought should happen – that prosecutors should charge her – and I’ve repeated that throughout all of my comments. I’ve disagreed with other commenters about what the sentence should be, but not as to whether there should be one. I have never once stated that she shouldn’t be charged and I find it striking that anyone who has read the initial post or the comments that followed would get that impression.
As I said, uncharitable and fallacious.
Deterrent to other people committing the same crime, rehabilitation in prison (I’d hope that happens…), restore faith in that man and others who are falsely accused and especially those who are falsely imprisoned based off those accusations. There are good reasons for putting her in jail, even just sending the message alone. It’s not all about revenge and i wish people would quit focusing on that aspect alone.
I disagree with those saying those years of his life were merely “lost.” He was in prison. A cage. He had his freedom taken away from him. He was placed in a terrible place where all the freedoms of normal life that we take for granted are gone. He couldn’t see his family, couldn’t date, go out with friends, eat something other than what was given to him, or the junk he could buy from the prison commissary. Not only that, he was imprisoned as a rapist, a sex offender. I hope his size was enough to prevent any other inmates from attacking him, which is common enough without being part of a particularly despised group. And the whole time he knew he was in there because of a lie.
He wasn’t supposed to be there. He had a scholarship to a great university to play the game he loved that had the potential to result in a very lucrative and fulfilling career. Every day he had to deal with that, dwell on that, with no place to go, stuck within those same walls.
When people discuss what happened to this man, and whether the woman who lied should be prosecuted, reconsider whether those years were merely “lost.” This man wasn’t wandering in the woods, he wasn’t on the moon, he wasn’t in a coma, he was in prison. Brian Banks went through a terrible ordeal that lasted years and permanently altered his life.
This case is just one example of many of what the legal repercussions can result from passing laws & to be more particular Act’s through the Congress in which we diminish or ignore men’s constitutional & civil rights on the premises of women’s rights, the sad thing about it if any one complains or suggesit anything against any of it then he or she is a misogynist.
I think the problem here is not that the system has some sort of “feminist bias”, but that it’s focused on getting cases through as quickly and cheaply as possible, and thereby putting defendants in the horrendous position of bargaining their freedom away. I talk about it more here – http://showmethehegemony.wordpress.com/2012/06/03/legislating-for-innocence-the-kid-who-cried-wolf-and-the-system-that-should-know-the-difference/
There are problems with plea bargaining in a system with limited resources but you did not really refute any claims of feminist bias. If the system is concerned with getting cases through quickly and cheaply, then it would make sense to spend as little resources on those cases that are the least viable for trial. If there is “feminist bias,” it could make cases such as these less viable for trial and make plea bargaining a more attractive offer.
Although it may be wrong, she shouldnt be charged. The rational is that you dont want people who wrongly accuse someone to be afraid of going to prison if they come out and tell the truth. It makes sense even though it just doesnt seem right.
There’s not “seem” about it. With the way the system is now we have basically given false rape accusers a get out of jail free card.
“I’ll admit that I lied and ruined his life, but only if you don’t punish me for what I did.”
I’m no fan of vigilante justice (karma is too slow in my book) but the vengeance streak in me wouldn’t blame someone for taking up that cause in cases like this. Its not like its unclear if they did it or not. They admitted to telling lies that damaged a person’s life.
Of course vigilante justice has its problems too. But at the same time the very fact that this could happen is a problem too.
Are you serious? What if the reverse were true? If somebody had truly raped her, and after 10 years, they finally found the rapist, would we say, “Well, 10 years has gone by. Let’s let bygones be bygones.” She and her family conspired to commit a crime and ruined a man’s life for financial gain. Perjury and fraud are the least of her crimes, IMO.
I guarantee you if the woman were white, we’d have Al Sharpton and other publicity-seeking, race-baiters baying for her blood.
She should be going to jail along with her parents, no ifs, ands, or buts. I don’t give a rat’s you know what about the impact to other women coming forward about rape. Women should not be granted the license to act with impunity for falsely accusing a man.
if she is not made to pay for her crime what does that say to other people who are considering the same kind of behavior for. and what protection are we providing for people who find themselves in Mr. Banks situation
The judges must make a thorough investigation, and if the witness proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against a fellow Israelite, then do to the false witness as that witness intended to do to the other party. You must purge the evil from among you. The rest of the people will hear of this and be afraid, and never again will such an evil thing be done among you. Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. — Deuteronomy 19:18-21
She was 11.. she did a dumb thing as dumb, poorly parented children will..
She needs to be punished. Fine.. However, I think her family attorney and parents should be held responsible for their minor’s decisions. You know that an 11 year old girl didn’t drive this through the justice system… Family houses, cars, jewels from Walmart.. sold… crime and punishment.. and then, Wanetta should wear the new anklet issued to those who lie and ruin the lives of their “friends”..
Sorry if I confused you by linking to two different stories. The first story of the 11 year old, Cassandra Kennedy, was one I wrote about earlier that I thought was truly problematic. She was young, obviously troubled, came forward voluntarily, and admitted to the false accusation to the prosecutor.
Wanetta Gibson, who was 15 or 16 at the time (I’ve read both ages being mentioned – perhaps she was 15 at the time of accusation, and 16 at the time of the trial?), did not come forward voluntarily, and has now changed her story to say she recanted only for the promise of $10,000 from Mr. Banks. A number of neighbors (former and present) interviewed by the media have suggested that the mother is the mastermind behind all of this. All the same, I don’t find this story nearly as problematic. I think she should be charged.
Whether or not Wanetta Gibson should be charged is a real issue, but I think there’s a much larger issue that needs to be dealt with: the underlying social issues that allowed this to happen in the first place. There is a social stereotype towards men of them being uncontrollable sexual machines. That prejudice is made even worse when you include racial prejudices and even prejudices towards large people, especially athletes. Had this happened to a smaller, white boy, the lawyer could easily have fought and won the case. What’s worse, it’s almost impossible for a prosecutor to make sex charges stick against a woman, even when there is solid evidence.
Another social stereotype we’re stuck in which contributed to this is the idea of men being almost automatic aggressors and women being almost automatic victims. Society has a very difficult time taking it seriously when a man is the victim or the woman is the aggressor and that’s problematic. I’m a woman and I resent the social stereotype that tells me I’m always a victim.
And, yes, feminism does need to own up to this. I’ve had many discussions with feminists over the need for a real discussion about men’s issues and I either get told “feminists talk about men’s issues” or “men’s issues are just another word for misogyny!” Guess what? I searched and searched and I could only find one single feminist blog that mentioned the Brian Banks case, and even that one chose to ignore the gender issues and just blamed the legal system. As much as I agree that the prison-industrial complex played a part in this, it’s a grievous oversight when feminist blogs all over the internet talk about issues when women are victimized, but rarely mention a clear cut case of a woman victimizing a man. This is especially problematic because feminism generally seems to place such great importance on dealing with the underlying social issues that facilitate crimes like this. I’m not saying feminism is bad, but it is incomplete and a men’s movement needs to compliment it, not compete with it.
Thank-you for this post! Although I doubt a white boy’s lawyer would get him off on this charge, there are plenty of young white men on the sex offender registry and I’d hazard a guess many had lawyers.
I have an idea to take care of all of this and all other crimes once and for all. We already have lie detectors that work fairly well. Well i say lets put the worlds best scientists to work to improve it and in less than five years we have the ultimate lie detector that cant be beat. And just for all the nay sayers we run everyone through five times and murder cases 10 times. All the courts and laywers just vanish and by the way would you want any jury picking out what you wear for a day or what you eat for lunch? But have them decide your innosence or guilt? NOW WAY!!! Cmon people get on board with me on this. You know it makes sence!