**bleep** victim could have 'closed her legs', Lawyer tells Court

[grandmoon]

A young Wellington woman raped by a bouncer in an alleyway could have "closed her legs" if she didn't want sex, the man's lawyer told a jury.

Keith Jefferies was addressing the Wellington District Court in defence of George Jason Pule, who was found guilty of **bleep** the drunk 20-year-old after telling her he could help get her into a club to see her friends.

His comments were condemned after the verdict as "disgusting" and "disrespectful" by Wellington **bleep** Crisis manager Natalie Gousmett.

They come in the wake of the Roast Busters scandal, in which a group of young Auckland men boasted online of having sex with drunken girls as young as 13.

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Jefferies told the jury that the complainant and Pule, 34, a bouncer at The Establishment bar, had walked down Courtenay Place holding hands before having consensual sex in the early hours of October 22, 2011.

He claimed the woman made a false complaint to police six days later because she regretted the sex. There was no struggle or any threats, nor was there violence, Jefferies said in his closing arguments yesterday.

"All she would have had to do was to close her legs . . . it's as simple as that," he told the jury. "Why didn't she do that? . . . The reason she didn't do that was because the sex was consensual, as easy as that."

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/**bleep**-victim-could-have-closed-her-legs-lawyer-tells-court-20131114-...

[grandmoon]

Jefferies told the jury that the complainant and Pule, 34, a bouncer at The Establishment bar, had walked down Courtenay Place holding hands before having consensual sex in the early hours of October 22, 2011.

He claimed the woman made a false complaint to police six days later because she regretted the sex. There was no struggle or any threats, nor was there violence, Jefferies said in his closing arguments yesterday.

"All she would have had to do was to close her legs . . . it's as simple as that," he told the jury. "Why didn't she do that? . . . The reason she didn't do that was because the sex was consensual, as easy as that."

Gousmett said Jefferies' remarks were unacceptable. "It's disgusting, but also unnecessary, to use that kind of victim-blaming rhetoric."

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/**bleep**-victim-could-have-closed-her-legs-lawyer-tells-court-20131114-...

[azureline**]

Lawyers say many things in defence of their clients! I wonder why this is so newsworthy?

[cspotrunning]

who are the bigger fools?

the lawyers who think like that?

or the women who dress in next to nothing, get drunk, go in a dark alley and think there safe?

[lionrose.7]

cspo it is your way of thinking that lawyers say things like that.

This was someone daughter.

I have signed a petition on the roast busters thing it is shocking, cant believe that some males in our society still think like that.

[kennedia_nigricans]

---

@cspotrunning wrote:

who are the bigger fools?

the lawyers who think like that?

or the women who dress in next to nothing, get drunk, go in a dark alley and think there safe?

---

so she was fair game eh?

most rapists can NOT remember what they victim was wearing at the time. just for information.

[cherry*135]

Didn't the lawyer say he doesn't personally think like that? He said it as part of the defence for his client?

[cherry*135]

Jefferies said after the verdict that his comments were made as part of the defence, and were not his personal view.

"This is the defence of a criminal charge. The Crown and the judge didn't complain about it."

The case revolved around whether sex was consensual, which made the complainant's position important, he said.

"The accused was of the view there was an element of willingness from the accuser, and that she was a willing partner. What I say to the jury doesn't represent my personal view. It merely represents the defence."

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/9397528/**bleep**-victim-could-have-closed-legs-says-lawyer

[cspotrunning]

here we go, the no accountable for the stupid things i do crowd.

how i think?

i have watched mtv, perhaps you should - it sends a loud message that women are simply there for mens pleasure.

you don't think that guys dont think from between there legs?

perhaps women need to start thinking for themselves?

and not put themselves into positions were they can be harmed.

a lot of men are pigs and a lot of women are fools.

[spotweldersfriend]

There's currently a petition going on change.org re Roast Busters.I've already signed.