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
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… Read more »
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… Read more »
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.
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… Read more »
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
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
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… Read more »
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.… Read more »
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.
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 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… Read more »
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… Read more »
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.
Sounds like you think she should just walk. 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… Read more »
“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… Read more »
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… Read more »
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.
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… Read more »
“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.
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… Read more »
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.
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 .
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.
This has been an interesting discussion, but I’m puzzled. I’m from the UK, and don’t know much about the US legal system. The impression I’m getting from this thread is that it is almost unheard of for false accusers to be prosecuted and punished. Is this correct? In the UK there’s a similar debate going on constantly, but on a fairly regular basis there are prosecutions. It’s a bit arbitrary, but generally what happens is: If someone makes an accusation that she (or occasionally he, but forgive me if I use the feminine pronoun for simplicity) has been raped by… Read more »
The impression I’m getting from this thread is that it is almost unheard of for false accusers to be prosecuted and punished. Is this correct? Not unheard of but more of pretty rarely. And this is still relatively new ground. If this Brian Banks case happened here, and the proof that she had lied was considered beyond reasonable doubt, that is almost certainly what would happen. The fact she was a juvenile at the time would….. What was the rest of that line going to be? I’m astonished that there isn’t something similar in the US, and I’m also astonished… Read more »
@ HeatherN “I think it might be better to move some of these issues into the civil court system…which has it’s own set of problems, but still. If a person falsely accuses someone or commits perjury, then it’s on record, and you’ll be hard pressed to find anyone willing to take on a case where they’re a witness in the future. Even without punishment, the chances that someone will be able to get by with it a second time are slim…” It could be true for a man, but women in this society could have several different last names at… Read more »
Here is an idea for a compromise, which I think takes into consideration everyone’s arguments and concerns. On one had we have people concerned that prosecution will dissuade people from reporting an actual rape, society is not protected from the individual as the individual will not reoffend, and there is nothing gained by causing the offender to suffer. The other side argues that the victim deserves retribution, the future can’t be foreseen so how do you know that the offender will not reoffend, and society is served through deterrence (even the supports of decriminalizing false rape accusations admit this, but… Read more »
As a woman I am saddened by this tale. Too many women today have no scruples. Having perjured herself, wasted police resources, wasted the court’s time, and caused extreme pain and suffering she ought to be made to pay reparations and damages, as well as repay every cent of the money she gained in civil court. She is clearly a mercenary person, and hitting her where it hurts, in her pockets, will probably hurt more than jail time. Lots of people think she should go to jail, but again as a woman I will admit that I have some misgivings… Read more »
“She is clearly a mercenary person, and hitting her where it hurts, in her pockets, will probably hurt more than jail time.”
And if she has no money?
Where’s the justice then?
What would deter these women from such actions? What is the more likely story in this day n age, a woman falsely testifying, or a bunch of friends giving false aliby’s and character assassinations to a potential rape victim? Whilst the latter could happen I’m unsure if a person could find that many friends to back them up, but then again life does surprise me. I think false accusations with intent should be jailable, if the woma flat out fully believes she was raped and accidentally accuses the wrong man then something else needs to be done, maybe the state… Read more »
@ Archy
“you do realize men have been raped by women who say they will “cry rape”? These men legitimately scared of the very real threat, they end up being raped out of fear if they fight back, deny her, etc that they will goto jail.”
That’s why if MRAs were really the women hating, misogynists that many feminists claim they are, they would support an accusation = guilt standard in rape cases if they were assured of gender neutral application. Imagine all the innocents going to jail because the first one to accuse is telling the truth.
WRT an attacker using the false accusation stuff as a threat to her to keep her from testifying, you do realize men have been raped by women who say they will “cry rape”? These men legitimately scared of the very real threat, they end up being raped out of fear if they fight back, deny her, etc that they will goto jail. Hell if I was faced with that situation I’d probably “give in”, what choice would I have? Try escape and sit there scared as hell that the cops will arrest me for rape? You don’t need strength at… Read more »
So G Drakes: you take something that happens a fair amount , 8 – 10 % of the time by modern stats and try and justify it by claiming that perhaps something might happen.
If your analogy about him getting a bunch of friends to lie, if that were the case, she wouldn’t go to the police anyway, knowing she would be dragged thru the mud.
HeatherN: So I think it might be better to move some of these issues into the civil court system…which has it’s own set of problems, but still. If a person falsely accuses someone or commits perjury, then it’s on record, and you’ll be hard pressed to find anyone willing to take on a case where they’re a witness in the future. Even without punishment, the chances that someone will be able to get by with it a second time are slim…no DA is going to go to trial with nothing but the word of a known perjurer as evidence. So… Read more »
Danny, There is also a powerful problem in our country when we deal with people who are essentially “judgment proof” because they will never be able to pay ANY amount in damages. What happens when the civil trial goes through and the false-accuser just says “sorry, I’m broke!” at the end of it? Where is the justice when you cannot even receive the money you have been awarded because your opponent cannot pay? We need prison to create an effective deterrence. There must be a tangible penalty that can be used to scare off other would-be false accusers. Otherwise anyone… Read more »
The thing that amazes me about this, is Brian’s account of the process. He didn’t contest because doing so would mean facing a jury that had no evidence but his account and her’s and so the verdict would only be a matter of the jury’s guesses about his guilt. This isn’t a legal process it is akin to a witch trial
Well, that’s the problem with rape cases like this. When it’s not the sexual act that is contested but rather whether or not there was consent, oftentimes there are only two witnesses: the accuser and the accused. The question then is which person is more sympathetic to a jury, and I’m not surprised when innocent men accept a plea bargain rather than take their chances with a jury of their peers. As an aside, that is the fundamental flaw with our legal system. Our peers are, on the whole, rather ignorant and often incompetent. In academia we know a lot… Read more »
If there is compelling evidence that a person has committed a crime (including a false accusation) that has destroyed someone else’s life, then ideally there should be charges filed and if found guilty there should be some consequences. Someone who really has consciously falsely accused someone of rape has committed a crime, and in this case the accusation has clearly hurt someone. I want to be consistent here, though. She is innocent until proven guilty by due process. She is currently alleged to have made a false accusation. It is an allegedly fraudulent accusation. I demand the same for alleged… Read more »
How about we just jack up the punishment for perjury, in any type of case or claim? A minimum five-year sentence for lying under oath might discourage opportunism.
The problem with that is a very practical one…resources. We do not have the resources to prosecute everyone who commits perjury or files a false police report. Not to mention the fact that, as I was talking about earlier, making something a crime doesn’t really act as a deterrence…it’s only when someone is 100% sure they will be punished and that the punishment will be extremely severe that making something a crime is preventative. And in the U.S. we’ve got this funny thing about trying really hard to have punishments that fit the crime…and since we’re not in a totalitarian… Read more »
True, but one thing that the DA needs to consider when determining whether to utilize these scarce resources is the effect the crime had on the victim. I don’t see how in this case anyone could argue that the victim has not sustained irreparable, life-altering, harm.
There is little doubt that if the genders were reversed, and a men caused that much harm to women, by some miracle the necessary resources would be identified.
Like the man tha confessed to raping a woman as a part of his addiction treatment and he was convicted and punished for it….20 years after the attack?
The problem with that is a very practical one…resources. We do not have the resources to prosecute everyone who commits perjury or files a false police report. Yes resources are scarce but as John Anderson says there the effect on the victim to consider. I know that some would really like it if a the damages a false rape accusation could just be filed away as being the same as the damages of say a filing a false insurance claim but they are not. That insurance company may be cheated out of money but at least they have a chance… Read more »
“The problem with that is a very practical one…resources. We do not have the resources to prosecute everyone who commits perjury or files a false police report…Not to mention the fact that, as I was talking about earlier, making something a crime doesn’t really act as a deterrence” I have a modest proposal…LEGALIZE RAPE. That eliminates the false rape accusation problem and since as Heather says making something a crime does not act as a deterrence, it doesn’t make rape worse. And while were at it lets legalize sexual harassment and all the other sex crimes too. Every argument for… Read more »
Come on no need for that now.
Now I’ll say at the least Heather does acknowledge that false rape allegations are horrible (and that is more than what you get from a lot of other feminists). But I know how you feel.
Well, that IS her argument. The real test is to apply it to acts that are currently illegal as well – and see how it works out.
Also, arguing that there be positively no penalty for intentionally destroying someone’s life (literally) is in no way consistent wiht acknowledging that it’s horrible. The argument that such persons be able to go on with their lives penalty-free is evidence to the contrary.
Why would there even be a question? Of course she should be charged. Make her pay every cent of that $1.5 million she was awarded, and hand her the same punishment that Banks had to suffer through. On top of that, the prosecutor, judge, and anyone else involved in Bank’s conviction should lose their jobs and be prosecuted for what they did to this man.
If someone made a false robbery or murder accusation, they would be locked up with the quickness and no one would have an issue with it. Why would it be any different here?
Please do keep up.
The settlement was $750,000, not $1,500,000 as was initially reported. Also, it was a plea deal, not a conviction in court.
Okay, correction noted. However, this doesn’t change my opinion. She should still be held accountable for the money regardless of how much it is.
Regardless of the exact amount wasn’t that settlement based on the notion that the school paid her for being somehow responsible for the crime happening? If he’s been exonerated of the crime then I think she should be responsible for giving every dime of it back. In fact she should have to give it to Banks.
With interest.
Well, at least the usual suspect aren’t claiming false accusations are ‘rare’.
The same standard should apply: Presumption of innocence, benefit of the doubt. I’m not sure if a facebook message counts as an admission of guilt, but if there is sufficient evidence that she *knowingly* (there has to be mens rea) falsely accused him then, yes, she should be prosecuted. But if she was a minor when she committed the crime or if the statute of limitations has expired then no, she should be presumed innocent. Sadly even when the above requirements are met false accusers are highly likely to get away with it, and the same standards are not held… Read more »
The facebook message was what kicked it all off. After having been friended by his accuser, Banks and a private investigator met with her and have a recording in which she states that Banks did not rape her. It was on the basis of this statement that his sentence was vacated. In a later interview with prosecutors, she refused to admit to the false allegation.
That’s a bit tricky then, in order to prosecute her the state would presumably have to prove that it was definitely her on the tape. Unless it was video footage that seems unlikely.
Not to mention that the case is pretty prejudiced by now: all the media attention.
Interestingly, the recording was considered evidence enough for him to win exoneration. Why shouldn’t it be evidence enough to open an investigation potentially leading to a prosecution?
Well there you’ve got the system actually working as it’s meant to (well assuming what you all are saying about this is accurate). You require more evidence to convict someone than to exonerate them. That tape created reasonable doubt as to whether he committed the crime he’s accused of, but possibly not enough evidence to prove that she knowingly filed a false police report.
Which, when I say this is all assuming what you’re saying is accurate…I don’t mean to imply you all are lying. I just mean, this is assuming we all have accurate information.
@ HeatherN “Well there you’ve got the system actually working as it’s meant to (well assuming what you all are saying about this is accurate). You require more evidence to convict someone than to exonerate them.” Yes and no. The DA found sufficient evidence to bring charges based on her testimony alone. He has the friending on Facebook, the tape, his testimony and that of the private investigator. It may ultimately prove insufficient to convict her, but if the law worked as it should, she should at least be charged as the DA has more evidence against her than they… Read more »
I was about to say that it might not be strong enough because the standard of proof would be reversed (in her favour rather than his) but actually I think you’re right: At the very least it warrants an investigation.