Arguments 2

Linda Bailey said…

I cannot comment on the efforts of HPD because I have never been involved in that particular process. Although I can say whether or not the police try to collect DNA depends on the type of abuse that occurred, how much time has passed between the abuse and the outcry, and whether or not the victim has taken a bath. You need to understand though that DNA is not required for these cases. I can also say your claim that the accusation changed significantly is definitely wrong and dishonest. That I can speak to, which I will discuss later.

Everyone charged with a crime deserves their day in court. No argument there, and Mr. Coy certainly had his day in court, and he lost. The police did not believe him, the prosecutors did not believe him, the judge did not believe him, and the jury did not believe him. They all believed the child. I believe that should give you some pause.

Allow me to reassure you; it most certainly did. It was my surprise and disappointment at his conviction (years after it happened) that led me to look into the case more deeply. I’m not an SPM super-fan, or regular fan, or any kind of hardcore rap fan. The lack of any concrete, convincing evidence is the basis for my belief in his innocence, not a knee-jerk reaction to a bad thing happening to a person I like. Do you have a solid basis for your beliefs, other than the rubber-stamp of a local court system known for convicting the innocent?

This child never told any crazy stories about being flown to Mexico or seeing witches. Obviously if a child tells a nonsensical or impossible story like that, I would not believe the child. That was not the case with this child though.

I am glad to hear you would not believe such crazy stories, but that does not change the fact that people did, and do. Innocent men and women were sent to prison for years based on exactly those kinds of stories, and no one batted an eyelash about it. The correlation here is that the intuition that you claim helps you infallibly identify victims of abuse is less trustworthy than you imagine, and we know it because of those cases.

You have used a variety of fallacies in your arguments, mainly red herrings and faulty comparisons. You mention these other unrelated cases as if it proves something in regards to Coy’s case. Regardless of the validity of the cases you mentioned, they are irrelevant to the case in question. You are trying to distract attention away from Coy’s case by redirecting the argument to different cases. Very cute, but erroneous and dishonest.

I’m sorry you are not able to comprehend how a thriving culture of convict-at-any-cost could possibly have affected Coy’s trial. Your assertion that he is guilty because the police, prosecutors, judge & jury believed him to be is exactly why it’s necessary to consider the endless parade of cases in which a man was universally believed to be guilty, and yet was innocent. Harris County has a truly atrocious track record of false convictions. This matters precisely because so many people, like yourself, are willing to acquiesce to the judgment of the system without stopping to consider how many times that system has been wrong. 

You again mention something about how the child’s story “fluctuated wildly”. You of course do not provide any examples, but it does not matter because I know personally that your claim is wrong. The child has always maintained that Coy was the attacker. She has always maintained that the attack happened in his house, in his daughter’s room on her bed. She has always maintained what specific sex act Coy did to her. She has always maintained what happened before the assault, such as Coy making her dance, touching her on the bed, etc. She has always maintained what happened after the assault, such as the ride home, him telling her not to tell, him speaking with her family, etc. I read a piece on your blog where Coy states that the victim changed how long the assault lasted. Not that we should believe anything Coy says…

Sorry, I have to interject here; “Not that we should believe anything Coy says?” Why shouldn’t we? In my view his guilt is far from settled, which means that his assertions of innocence may be true.

In regards to your insistence that the child has maintained the same story throughout I would like to point out that in the transcripts we’ve seen on the blog, even the prosecutor mentions the fact that the initial accusation was only touching. Of course you are familiar with this, as you continue to assure me that you are very familiar with the case. The difference there is not insignificant to the justice system, which differentiates between ‘Indecency with a Child’ (2-20 years) and ‘Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child’ (5-99). Because HPD destroyed the initial statement and did not record the first interview properly, we don’t know exactly when that changed to licking, but change it did, and it makes a world of difference.

…but even if that were true, it is insignificant. Due to the passage of time, it is possible the child’s memory has faded in that regard. The fact of the matter is that she still maintains the assault occurred, and that is all that really matters.

So it’s not important for the details of her story to remain consistent, as long as she continues to say that something happened? Oscillating between five minutes of rape, a minute of rape, and a second of rape doesn’t make you even a teeny bit incredulous?

Your comment about the “dream testimony” also demonstrates your ignorance on this case. If you heard the testimony yourself, you would understand the proper context of the dream statement. Coy’s lawyer tried to spin it, but everyone saw through it. Once again, there is a reason why the jury chose to convict him, and it certainly was not because of “malleable testimony”. It was powerful testimony that everyone knew was the truth. I wish you could have seen the doomed expression on Coy’s face when the child was testifying. He knew he was done, as did his lawyer who even complimented the child’s testimony.

If I’m ignorant, enlighten me. What was the proper context?

I see no justifiable reason for you to believe that Coy is innocent.

That does not surprise me; my initial stated assumptions about you, as a sef-identified member of the child abuse system is that you are part of a group of earnest, educated individuals whose zeal to protect children may lead to the (accidental) conviction of innocent men and women, Your first assumptions about me, as you initially stated, are that I am a rape apologist, that I’m a victim-blamer, that I don’t have a fucking clue, and that I should be ashamed of myself. As satisfying as a little reactionary foot stomping can be, perhaps your tendency to stigmatize people who disagree with you is clouding your vision.

I can see this situation from your point of view; I have sympathy for your surprise that someone would defend a man convicted of this type of crime, your concern for victims who may be discouraged by someone questioning their stories, your outrage that someone would question something that you personally and intimately believe to be true. Is it possible for you to see it from my point of view? Can you articulate what my point of view is?

Were you there every day of the trial? Have you read every single page of the transcripts? If your answer is no to those two questions, then your assertion that Coy is innocent is very flimsy at best.

No and no. Should I now shut up and sit down? Shall I refrain from questioning the experts, who have only my best interests in mind? Should I just ignore a case that seems to me to illustrate all the worst aspects of our justice system?