Rape and Pittsburgh Police

[Keevan_Colton]

G

Sara Reedy remembers clearly the start of her ordeal, and how surprisingly painful it was to have a gun jammed to her temple. Then her attacker demanded oral sex, saying he would shoot her if she refused. She was shaking, gagging.

"I had images of my family finding me dead," she told the Observer. "I closed my eyes and just tried to get it over with."

Reedy was 19 when the man entered the petrol station near Pittsburgh where she was working to pay her way through college and pulled a gun. He emptied the till of its $606.73 takings, assaulted her and fled into the night. But the detective who interviewed Reedy in hospital didn't believe her, and accused her of stealing the money herself and inventing the story as a cover-up. Although another local woman was attacked not long after in similar fashion, the police didn't join the dots.

Following further inquiries, Reedy was arrested for theft and false reporting and, pregnant with her first child (by her now ex-husband), thrown in jail. She was subsequently released on bail, but lost her job. More than a year after attacking Reedy, the man struck again, but this time he was caught and confessed to the earlier crime.

When the charges against her were dropped, Reedy sued the police and has now won a marathon legal battle and a $1.5m (£1m) settlement against the detective who turned her from victim into accused. The payment was agreed earlier this year, but can be revealed only now because of a non-disclosure clause that was part of the settlement.

Now 27, Reedy talked exclusively to the Observer to announce the settlement and speak out about how she hopes her vindication will change the way the police investigate rape. "I'm relieved that people will be able to see now that I was telling the truth," she said. "Although mine is an extreme case, I'm not the first – and I won't be the last."

Reedy's story is dramatic, but it comes against a backdrop of problems across the US, with accounts of police ignoring or neglecting rape reports, while bullying victims and scrutinising their behaviour rather than the suspect's.

"There is a national crisis," said Carol Tracy, of the Women's Law Project, an advocacy group in Philadelphia. "We're witnessing the chronic and systemic failure of law enforcement to properly investigate crimes of sexual violence."

Reedy said the police officer who took her to hospital from the petrol station in Cranberry Township, about 20 miles from Pittsburgh, in July 2004 was nice. But once there she was interviewed by Detective Frank Evanson. "I told him what happened. His next question was how often did I use dope. I thought he meant heroin – there is a problem with it in the area – but I told him I didn't use it. I told him I smoked marijuana occasionally, though not for a week. Then he asked me where the money was." Talking to me in the living room of her home in the small town of Butler, near Cranberry, Reedy shook her head incredulously. In the hospital, she had become angry with Evanson, and then a nurse and a doctor also questioned her account.

Joanne Archambault, a retired police sergeant who now trains officers in handling what she calls "one of the most difficult crimes to investigate", said this can be a common reaction. "When women don't act like the classic 'perfect, innocent victim' they can be seen as less credible. But trauma can have unexpected effects on how victims come across."

Reedy aroused further suspicion when she declined the offer of a victim's advocate. "The assault made me feel worthless, then I was degraded at the hospital for hours," she said. "I had to give intimate details again and again. I was afraid of being belittled even further." Reedy was swabbed for forensic evidence, but the material was never tested. This was despite the fact that it contained a fingernail that could have yielded DNA from her attacker.

After that night, Evanson continued to accuse Reedy, despite the other similar attack in the area, which he also investigated. Eventually she was arrested and the court refused bail. She remembers her sister screaming as Reedy was taken away in a police car: "I was terrified. I realised if I got the max I'd be in prison for seven years and not see my baby. I was so tense I couldn't eat."

Upon being bailed, she was turned away from a local victim help centre, and old school friends spread rumours about her. Even her parents expressed doubts about their daughter's veracity after talking to Evanson. But a month before Reedy's trial, Wilbur Brown, 44, was arrested after raping a woman in a convenience store several miles away. He admitted attacking Reedy too, and in 2006 she was in court to see him plead guilty to assaulting 10 women. He is now serving life in prison.

Reedy was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. "Major trust issues" left her unable to return to college or take a job. Her case against the Pennsylvania police department was initially dismissed in district court in 2009. With help from Archambault, the Women's Law Project and similar groups, and lawyer David Weicht of Pittsburgh firm Leech Tishman, she appealed.

In a precedent-setting decision against the police, the appeal judges ruled in 2010 that Evanson wasn't reasonable and lacked probable cause when he arrested Sara, and that the case could go to trial. The police finally settled before trial on behalf of Evanson, who is still in his job.

Reedy's victory has gone down in legal history. During her battle she testified in Congress, and this helped persuade the federal government this year to change the definition of rape to include forced oral sex and the rape of men.

"I had a sense of pride at that," said Reedy. Recently engaged to a local man whom she described as honest and hardworking, and considering starting work for her parents' trucking firm, she said she was relieved at her vindication: "If my story can bring about change, I owe it to people to tell it."

[Lagmonster]

This, especially just following the incident with the judge in California saying that women can magically prevent penises from coming near them, isn't going to do a hell of a lot of good at building trust among victims with the authorities who are supposed to help them.

[Sidewinder]

Detective Evanson should've been fired and blacklisted from all police work, for what he did to this woman. Letting this incompetent asshole keep his job, does NOT raise confidence in the Pittsburg PD.

[Terralthra]

Sadly, this is far less specific than the Pittsburgh PD. This is what happens everywhere, at least in the US.

[PeZook]

Why was she denied bail? Is she such a TERRIFYING CRIMINAL that there was a serious risk of her intimidating witnesses or jurors?

[White Haven]

She was subsequently released on bail, but lost her job.

While many things about this case are fucked-up, at least that's not one of them.

[PeZook]

After that night, Evanson continued to accuse Reedy, despite the other similar attack in the area, which he also investigated. Eventually she was arrested and the court refused bail. She remembers her sister screaming as Reedy was taken away in a police car: "I was terrified. I realised if I got the max I'd be in prison for seven years and not see my baby. I was so tense I couldn't eat."

Methinks the journo who wrote that has a little problem...

[White Haven]

After that night, Evanson continued to accuse Reedy, despite the other similar attack in the area, which he also investigated. Eventually she was arrested and the court refused bail. She remembers her sister screaming as Reedy was taken away in a police car: "I was terrified. I realised if I got the max I'd be in prison for seven years and not see my baby. I was so tense I couldn't eat."

Upon being bailed, she was turned away from a local victim help centre, and old school friends spread rumours about her. Even her parents expressed doubts about their daughter's veracity after talking to Evanson. But a month before Reedy's trial, Wilbur Brown, 44, was arrested after raping a woman in a convenience store several miles away. He admitted attacking Reedy too, and in 2006 she was in court to see him plead guilty to assaulting 10 women. He is now serving life in prison.

So not denied, terrible wording aside but delayed by an unspecified duration. Fucked up, but not as much so as total lockdown.

[Stofsk]

You can be refused bail upon initially being arrested, and make an application for bail at a later date, circumstances permitting. As for why she was denied bail upon being arrested, it may have had something to do with being a flight risk more than protecting the community Pawel, I don't know - the article doesn't really go into this. (generally speaking bail is refused for either being a flight risk or for being a danger to people, but the latter is usually used against violent offenders while the flight risk angle is a catch-all that could apply to anyone charged with a crime)

[Haruko]

I wish Evanson was fired, blacklisted, the whole enchilada, because detectives need to know that they cannot determine guilt by some undisclosed ability to peer into people's souls with their "experience" (i.e., years in the service). Unfortunately, this behavior is all too common, numerous examples of which have been given by crime shows like 48 Hours.

For instance, a man was put into prison after a detective was convinced from the start he killed his parents (based on his behavior, which just "didn't seem right"; probably had to do with him looking like a recovering drug addict) while ignoring all the evidence pointing to the likely suspect. The likely suspect who, after committing suicide when a private detective was hot on his trail, had his father telling that detective, Thank God he's dead; he can't hurt anyone anymore. And a likely suspect who, despite being a lazy ass with no job, started flaunting tens of thousands of dollars, checking into a hotel, and having the detective tell him during interrogation that he is full of shit, but "knows" he's not guilty and so lets him go. Even so, that detective was not only untouched even after immense resources and months were spent getting the LAPD to stop shielding him, he retired with full honors and before riding off into the sunset got to tell reporters to go fuck themselves.

[Haruko]

Also, from the end of the article, where the interesting statistics are (emphasis mine):

SEXUAL ASSAULT: AMERICA'S RECORD

■ According to FBI statistics, police in many cities drop a high proportion of rape cases on the grounds that they are "unfounded". Pittsburgh shelves 34% of cases in this way; San Bernardino, 34%; Atlanta, 24%; Jersey City, 18%; and Dallas, 13%. The national average is 6%.

■ New Orleans police are under federal review for shelving 50% of sex attack cases as "non-criminal complaints".

■ Some cities are ploughing through backlogs of untested forensic medical evidence (rape kits) found in 2009. Houston had 6,600; Detroit, Los Angeles and San Antonio more than 11,000 each.

■ In Cleveland, Ohio, police were shamed last year by serial rapist and murderer Anthony Sowell, who killed 11 women, six of them after a rape kit had been disregarded.

Gotta love how my city excels at all the wrong things. Glad I live next to Highland, at least.

[Sidewinder]

[cynicism]I'm amazed those police departments kept those "blame the victim" detectives on their payroll after these incidents. Wouldn't it be more politically expedient to fire and blacklist them? Claim the fuckups are the result of a few bad apples among the department, and that with this culling, the rest are now cleared of wrongdoing?

Because keeping these "bad apples" in the police force (instead of using them as scapegoats) casts doubt on the whole damn department's competence.[/cynicism]

[Kamakazie Sith]

[cynicism]I'm amazed those police departments kept those "blame the victim" detectives on their payroll after these incidents. Wouldn't it be more politically expedient to fire and blacklist them? Claim the fuckups are the result of a few bad apples among the department, and that with this culling, the rest are now cleared of wrongdoing?

Because keeping these "bad apples" in the police force (instead of using them as scapegoats) casts doubt on the whole damn department's competence.[/cynicism]

Unions have a lot of power in PA which means the Pittsburgh PD and its officers are likely represented by a union lawyer. I believe the Fraternal Order of Police has a Pittsburgh lodge which means the officers have access to the resources of a nationwide union. Which as you may or may not know the presence of a union can greatly complicate matters such as this.

It is shameful though that the detective would focus on just under $700 without any evidence that she took the money and then the department fails to examine the evidence collected from the rape kit. At the very least they should have ruled that part out which they failed to do.

[Kamakazie Sith]

Also, from the end of the article, where the interesting statistics are (emphasis mine):

SEXUAL ASSAULT: AMERICA'S RECORD

■ According to FBI statistics, police in many cities drop a high proportion of rape cases on the grounds that they are "unfounded". Pittsburgh shelves 34% of cases in this way; San Bernardino, 34%; Atlanta, 24%; Jersey City, 18%; and Dallas, 13%. The national average is 6%.

■ New Orleans police are under federal review for shelving 50% of sex attack cases as "non-criminal complaints".

■ Some cities are ploughing through backlogs of untested forensic medical evidence (rape kits) found in 2009. Houston had 6,600; Detroit, Los Angeles and San Antonio more than 11,000 each.

■ In Cleveland, Ohio, police were shamed last year by serial rapist and murderer Anthony Sowell, who killed 11 women, six of them after a rape kit had been disregarded.

Gotta love how my city excels at all the wrong things. Glad I live next to Highland, at least.

The statistics paint a malicious picture. In many departments that don't use clearance codes properly a sexual assault case can be closed as "unfounded" when the victim isn't cooperating, can't be found, victim changes the story several times, victim recants her statement, or the suspect can't be identified. When these situations exist the case should be cleared with an administrative clearance and not unfounded. However, due to confusing procedures they are cleared as unfounded. When NYPD reformed their reporting procedures and provided proper training their unfounded sexual assault percentage went from 15 to 2.

Don't misunderstand me though. I'm not saying in anyway that there isn't malicious action coming from some departments and their officers just that the statistics don't provide an accurate picture.

[Haruko]

I get you. Also, very interesting information you shared. Thanks.

Just being pessimistic in assuming that the statistic is close, since I am thinking of it alongside several articles showing similarly dreary performance by San Bernardino, such as Purvis, Tommy. "Starving For Attention." Inland Empire Weekly 6.32 (2011), which shows the city to be the second poorest after Detroit. Also, Reid, Tim, Cezary Podkul, and Ryan McNeill. "Special Report: How A Vicious Circle of Self-Interest Sank A California City." Reuters.com. Reuters. 13 November, 2012, which alludes to history Professor Edward Gomez's point about San Bernardino leading in everything from infant mortality to foreclosure to corruption to gangs.

In other words, definitely not shocked if the statistic is off, but think it may still be useful in showing a small piece of the real portrait of San Bernardino.

[Gil Hamilton]

Unions have a lot of power in PA which means the Pittsburgh PD and its officers are likely represented by a union lawyer. I believe the Fraternal Order of Police has a Pittsburgh lodge which means the officers have access to the resources of a nationwide union. Which as you may or may not know the presence of a union can greatly complicate matters such as this.

It is shameful though that the detective would focus on just under $700 without any evidence that she took the money and then the department fails to examine the evidence collected from the rape kit. At the very least they should have ruled that part out which they failed to do.

The PPD does have a Fraternal Order of Police lodge. In fact, the Fraternal Order of Police was founded in Pittsburgh.

However, this has been local news in Pittsburgh for a while and has been no small source of outrage. That's what I think happened here. No one disputes that the detective in question, the police, or the court initially dropped the ball royally, not even the police itself, which is why they settled out of court. However, my impression is the police somewhat closed ranks around the detective in question because people have been calling for his blood, and while the police admit that he messed up badly, they also don't want to sacrifice him professionally to placate an angry mob, so to speak.

[dragon]

I know that some times a woman will claim rape when it didn't happen and that's it's hard to find the truth some times.
A friend of mine was seduced by a coworker, after a few months he realized what she did and dumped her, and what did she do. She claimed he forced her into the relationship with threats of violence. Whats sad is a dozens of us new what happened yet the police believed her over us. Truth finally came out in middle of trial and she was let off. No charge for filing a false report. My friend didn't even get a we're sorry from the police department.

Even worse a year later there was a rape in his neighborhood and guess what yup the police harassed him saying he had a record despite the charges being dropped. So he sued the police department for harassment and false arrest from the first offense. Sued her for defamation. He didn't ask for any money just an apology and review into the police and they faught tooth and nail against t claiming they did no wrong.

However I doubt 34% of Pittsburgh filled a false report.