B. Mendy found not guilty

[ScottishCanuck]

I imagine under Scot’s Law this would have been given a not proven verdict, rather than not guilty.

A not guilty verdict is far from the same thing as ‘innocent’. It could mean that the prosecution just hasn’t been able to meet the necessary burden of proof to return a guilty verdict. Therefore it also doesn’t mean that the women were lying - I’ve seen a lot of claims of that already today, which is sad. I find it very difficult to believe there’s nothing in this given the number of claims involved.

 

[Evilo]

Just found out it was unanimous decision.

 

[Wee Baby Seamus]

Just found out it was unanimous decision.

In North America all jury verdicts are unanimous, they have to be - is that not the case in France?

The 67 hours they spent deliberating indicates to me that there was a lot of disagreement within the jury.

 

[Jussi]

Might want to add "of some charges" to the thread title to accurately reflect the situation.

 

[S E P H]

Found not guilty does not equal proven innocent. The burden of proof to deprive someone of their freedom is extremely high and for good reason, because sending innocent people to prison is considered worse than not being able to convict some people who committed the acts. Sexual assault cases are especially very difficult to convict people on, it's been a known issue for a long time. The burden of proof in civil cases such as employment is far lower, so you can't equate criminal consequences with civil consequences.

That's because a lot of rape and sexual assaults happen when both parties are under the influence of substances such as drugs or alcohol. These are harder to prove because the woman shares some responsibility for putting herself in a position of getting taken advantage of by a vile person. Nonetheless, I agree with others that seven charges against you do not look good for your image. One charge and you're found not guilty, then you can say she/he was making things up as you see in the Duke's Lacrosse case, but seven different women coming forward seems like there is too much smoke and increases the probability that something happened.

 

[hatterson]

In North America all jury verdicts are unanimous, they have to be - is that not the case in France?

The 67 hours they spent deliberating indicates to me that there was a lot of disagreement within the jury.

I saw an article that said on the two counts that got recycled the judge had apparently given them the option of accepting an 10-1 vote instead of 11-0 because it was taking so long to deliberate.

They had the 6 counts as not guilty and couldn't agree on the other 2, the judge said they can skip unanimous and go down to 1 dissent from the verdict and they still couldn't reach decision so they effectively ended with a hung jury on those and the charges can be re-tried.

Edit: Yea here's one

Benjamin Mendy found not guilty of six counts of rape

The Manchester City footballer faces a retrial on two counts the jury could not reach verdicts on.

www.bbc.com

The unanimous not guilty verdicts were delivered on Wednesday by the seven men and four women on the jury, one juror having been discharged earlier for medical reasons.
The verdicts could not be reported until jurors concluded considering the remaining two counts, after they were given a majority direction by Judge Steven Everett, meaning he would accept a 10-1 majority on any verdict.

Apparently a majority direction means either 11-1, 10-2, 10-1, or 9-1 could be accepted.

 

[luiginb]

I wonder if anyone takes a punt on signing this guy.....

I mean Partey is still playing every game.

 

[gary69]

I completely agree that players are targets. They of course are. But, that's also part of the downside they face in getting to live a life none of us will ever come close to. He basically admitted it himself, saying that he felt it was easy to get women, because of who he was as a footballer.

It's a double edged sword. There are women out there who are looking to use wealthy people, but there are also many men who take advantage of the power they have in these situations.

One issue I have with much of this situation, and others like it, is there's really not the education and support system to help some of the players who are coming from basically nothing to make better decisions. It does not excuse being a slime ball, but footballers aren't given tools to make better choices either. It's become some of the program of some of the young academies, but not all, and not as extensive in all likelihood.

From what I read (can't judge how true it is) Mendy and several other footballers/celebrities were basically offered women to take home in exchange for money at every night out at certain establishment. And that establishment quite openly advertised that opportunity for women. And how Mendy and his entourage used this arrangement dozens if not hundreds of times. Not sure how that isn't pimping and more.

Of course that doesn't excuse any possible rapes, but just by the sheer number of such encounters over the years, the number of accusers isn't that big or surprising in itself.

 

[Evilo]

In North America all jury verdicts are unanimous, they have to be - is that not the case in France?

The 67 hours they spent deliberating indicates to me that there was a lot of disagreement within the jury.

No I thought it was majority.

 

[John Pedro]

Mendy could still get a job with some Ligue 2 team, but he was heading into downfall before this court mess

 

[Corto]

Found not guilty does not equal proven innocent.

That's not how it works. You have to prove guilt, not innocence.

Even though Mendy, at the very very best, is a POS human, and at worst a rapist.... He has to be proven guilty, not the other way around.

 

[Blender]

That's not how it works. You have to prove guilt, not innocence.

Even though Mendy, at the very very best, is a POS human, and at worst a rapist.... He has to be proven guilty, not the other way around.

You don't seem to understand how the legal system works, a finding of "not guilty" is not "proven innocent". The burden is "guilty beyond a reasonable doubt" to convict someone and you are presumed innocent until the legal burden is met, but again that does not mean the court rules you as innocent. Specific terminology matters.

 

[phisherman]

You don't seem to understand how the legal system works, a finding of "not guilty" is not "proven innocent". The burden is "guilty beyond a reasonable doubt" to convict someone and you are presumed innocent until the legal burden is met, but again that does not mean the court rules you as innocent. Specific terminology matters.

Innocent until proven guilty. Verdict = not guilty. Therefore you're not innocent but not guilty?

 

[Blender]

Innocent until proven guilty. Verdict = not guilty. Therefore you're not innocent but not guilty?

You're innocent from criminal penalties enforced by the government. That doesn't mean you didn't actually commit the crime and the courts are not ruling that you didn't. It's very difficult to convict people criminally, and for very good reason.

 

[les Habs]

You can commit a crime and still be found innocent of said crime. Just because you‘re found innocent doesn’t mean you didn’t commit the crime. I’m not saying this about Mendy, I don’t know enough about it, but based on the general discussion where some to believe that just because someone is found not guilty it therefore means they didn’t commit the crime.

 

[Jack Straw]

You don't seem to understand how the legal system works, a finding of "not guilty" is not "proven innocent". The burden is "guilty beyond a reasonable doubt" to convict someone and you are presumed innocent until the legal burden is met, but again that does not mean the court rules you as innocent. Specific terminology matters.

At least in the US, courts never rule a defendant "innocent". They only rule "guilty" or "not guilty".

 

[BMann]

Just look up Babacar Sarr another seedy individual.

 

[Chimaera]

Can always go play in Russia…