There was a victim of rape who recanted her story because she was threatened, so there was no justice. Is there any hope of reopening the case and bringing justice now that there are more victims willing to come forth and more evidences?
Share
Sign Up to our social questions and Answers Engine to ask questions, answer people's questions, and connect with other people.
Lost your password? Please enter your email address. You will receive a link and will create a new password via email.
Please briefly explain why you feel this question should be reported.
Please briefly explain why you feel this answer should be reported.
Please briefly explain why you feel this user should be reported.
There was a victim of rape who recanted her story because she was threatened, so there was no justice. Is there any hope of reopening the case and bringing justice now that there are more victims willing to come forth and more evidences?
It depends on why it was closed, and the investigation resources of the department.
Violent crimes and those of a sexual nature, are often easier to get the authorities to reopen the case if new evidence is discovered. The police have a vested interest in getting those types of offenders off the streets, if possible, and they also don’t have statute of limitations to worry about in many instances, especially with murders. Bring them new evidence, and they are likely to reopen a case. Most other crimes, things are less likely to move forward. The police have limited resources, the suspects may have moved or died; and the case may have been very weak in this first place. This is especially true of most fraud and many thefts. You can bring the police new evidence; however unless it’s clear that they can make an arrest with what you bring them, they might simply thank you and continue to ignore the matter. Your best bet is to contact an attorney and to discuss the matter with him or her. If they believe that the police might be interested, then you should consider approaching them. However if you don’t want to talk with an attorney, there are no guarantees that a busy police department is going to bother with you or your new evidence.
It depends on the kind of crime committed. Some crimes fall under the statute of limitations, and thus even if new evidence is discovered, the case can’t be prosecuted. However, many cases are simply listed as “suspended”. All leads have been exhausted, and no new evidence has been found. After a time, these may be listed as “closed”, but with the discovery of new evidence they can be re-opened.
This is normally the case with homicides, where new forensic techniques allow for the re-examination of old crime-scene evidence.
Or, as is currently in the news, the “geneological” examination of old DNA evidence which has led to the arrests in several notorious cases.