MSU Rape Case Update

[Trigger warning for sexual violence.]

Last week, I wrote about a rape case in which two Michigan State University basketball players were accused of taking turns "assaulting an unidentified woman for nearly an hour in their Wonders Hall dormitory room late on Aug. 29 and into Aug. 30," and, despite one of the players' voluntarily corroborating the victim's statement, including the fact that she did not consent, prosecutors had nonetheless declined to pursue the case. (On Friday, I linked to a follow-up on the story here.)

Julie from The American Independent, which has been vigorously following this case, just emailed me with an update, which I'm quoting with her permission:

Hi Melissa,

Just wanted to pass along an update on the MSU sexual assault case. The prosecutor has now released the transcript of the interviews with one of the men as well as the victim (with very little redaction, thus making her identity obvious). Michigan Messenger talked to a number of experts to evaluate what the prosecutor is claiming is an absence of crime vs. what the police report suggests, and that story went up live this morning. Ed Brayton has also been looking at overall prosecution rates for sexual assault in Ingham county as well as nationwide, and will continue following up on the story.

What I find particularly interesting in this case is the prosecutor's contention (pdf) that the player who made a voluntary statement did not actually corroborate the victim's allegation that she was raped, even though the transcript clearly has the player reporting she said, "Stop," at one point, that she then got talked into continuing, that she argued with the other player about his unwillingness to wear a condom, and that she told him she felt as though she couldn't leave because they were physically intimidating.

There is no ambiguity here. At least, there shouldn't be. Compliance is not the same as consent.