Friday, October 23, 2015

911: Allegedly

First, we need to liberally and frequently use alleged and allegedly in our story. Up to now, everything is lleged and nothing has been proven in a court of law. So Andrew Caspinwall is the alleged suspect. Caspinwall allegedly broke into the home. He allegedly wielded a knife. He allegedly raped the victim. We can't really overdose on forms of the word alleged

Second, there is some confusion on what was alleged here.

Is it alleged that the woman was raped? No. She was raped. Someone broke into her house and raped her. That much was clearly established.

What is alleged is who raped her. A man did, obviously. But it's alleged that it was Andrew Caspinwall. That is the issue for courts to consider, and why he is in jail.

So you should say Caspinwall allegedly raped the victim. Or the victim was raped, allegedly by Caspinwall. Or that the girl said a man, alleged to be Caspinwall, did this and that.

Is Caspinwall allegedly charged with rape? No. He is charged with rape. That's the name of the charge he's facing. It's a bit confusing in this exercise because the name of the charge and the action he is alleged to have done are the same: rape.

So, let's imagine instead of allegedly raping the woman, Caspinwall stabbed her to death. Caspinwall would be charged with murder, since that's the name of the charge which he will face in court. He's a murder defendant. The charge of murder came because he allegedly stabbed a woman to death.

The action is alleged. The charge is simply the label of the law which he is alleged to have broken. The things that need the qualification of alleged are the identity and actions of the suspect, not the name of the actual charge they're facing.

I know this is confusing. Does this help?

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