Her story hadn’t hurt anyone - no suspects arrested, or even questioned.
Her lawyer was surprised she had been charged.
#BECAUSE MANUEL WAS SURE HE HAD HEARD THE SAME STRANGE STORY MANY MONTHS AGO TV#
One TV newscast announced, “A Western Washington woman has confessed that she cried wolf when it came to her rape she reported earlier this week.” She had been charged with filing a false report, which is why she was here today, to accept or turn down a plea deal. Then, confronted by police with inconsistencies in her story, she had conceded it might have been a dream. She had reported being raped in her apartment by a man who had bound and gagged her. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Sign up to get ProPublica’s investigations delivered to your inbox. She doubted herself, wondering if there was something in her that needed to be fixed. A friend from 10th grade called to ask: How could you lie about something like that? Marie - that’s her middle name, Marie - didn’t say anything. Each ring of the phone seemed to announce another friendship, lost. It had cost her the newfound independence she was savoring after a life in foster homes. Her case was one of 4,859 filed in 2008 in Lynnwood Municipal Court, a place where the judge says the goal is “to correct behavior - to make Lynnwood a better, safer, healthier place to live, work, shop and visit.”īut her misdemeanor had made the news, and made her an object of curiosity or, worse, scorn. She was 18 years old, charged with a gross misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail. No one came to court with her that day, except her public defender. Sign up for ProPublica’s Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox as soon as they are published. ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power.