SANE nurses, opinion on UK cellphone handover requirement by rape victims?

Daisy4RN · Apr 29, 2019

I don't see a problem with this per se, it is evidence in a crime. That said, it should not take 2 years to get someone's (the victim's) phone back to them. Also, can't they get the same records from the cell provider so there would be no need to take the phone, or at least not for a extended period of time.

Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN · Apr 30, 2019

How is the phone evidence of a crime? I’m not in the UK, but here in the US our constitution has a little thing called the 4th Amendment. Law enforcement wants my phone? Convince a judge they need it and produce for me the warrant.

kp2016 · Apr 30, 2019

3 hours ago, Here.I.Stand said:
How is the phone evidence of a crime? I’m not in the UK, but here in the US our constitution has a little thing called the 4th Amendment. Law enforcement wants my phone? Convince a judge they need it and produce for me the warrant.

There were some highly publicized cases in Britain last year where accused persons were named and very publicly vilified only to have defense attorneys subpoena text messages or photos from phones which clearly showed the charges were false and retaliation for dumping the “victim” after a one night stand....when the case finally went to trial.

No attempt was made to investigate the accused claims that the charges were untrue or that the “victims” phone held evidence that would prove this. In one case it was scores of text messages talking about the great time she had had and how she couldn’t wait to see the accused again.

Sadly even in rape cases the accusations need to be investigated and in 2019 the evidence could easily involve people’s phones, text messages and social media.

Daisy4RN · Apr 30, 2019

9 hours ago, kp2016 said:
There were some highly publicized cases in Britain last year where accused persons were named and very publicly vilified only to have defense attorneys subpoena text messages or photos from phones which clearly showed the charges were false and retaliation for dumping the “victim” after a one night stand....when the case finally went to trial.
No attempt was made to investigate the accused claims that the charges were untrue or that the “victims” phone held evidence that would prove this. In one case it was scores of text messages talking about the great time she had had and how she couldn’t wait to see the accused again.
Sadly even in rape cases the accusations need to be investigated and in 2019 the evidence could easily involve people’s phones, text messages and social media.

Yes, and there were also cases in the US that were later verified to be false claims/charges also. I can see how a victim would not want to give up their phone but this would cut down on false charges being made in the first place and/or helping the police to clear or indict the accused.

TriciaJ, RN · Apr 30, 2019

If there were no false accusations, then genuine survivors would be put through a lot less additional trauma.

Editorial Team / Moderator · Apr 30, 2019

I think this is awful. It basically tells the victim that law enforcement is putting the onus on the victim to prove that it wasn't a false claim.

kp2016 · May 1, 2019

On 5/1/2019 at 3:46 AM, Pixie.RN said:
I think this is awful. It basically tells the victim that law enforcement is putting the onus on the victim to prove that it wasn't a false claim.

I disagree. I think the point is that the police need to investigate the allegation. It is completely unjust that one persons compliant is accepted as fact without any investigation of the accused version of events.

Editorial Team / Moderator · May 1, 2019

1 minute ago, kp2016 said:
I disagree. I think the point is that the police need to investigate the allegation. It is completely unjust that one persons compliant is accepted as fact without any investigation of the accused version of events.

Of course they need to fully investigate the allegation, phone or no phone. I saw some debatable stuff when I was a SANE. I am just not sure why keeping someone's phone for two years is warranted. They can get the same info from the cell provider anyway — texts and whatnot. Just my opinion.

**canoehead, BSN, RN** · May 3, 2019

I'm sure we have the technology to download every bit of information off the cellphone, and then give it back within an hour. They just need to find it and use it. Hoarding a phone for TWO YEARS is ridiculous.

Jory, MSN, APRN, CNM · May 12, 2019

This may sound terrible, but I do agree with at least going through the cell phone. I know that rape victims aren't always believed and that is tragic.

As the mother of a son, I think it's equally tragic if a couple actually has sex, the girl sends the guy messages telling him what an "amazing time she had" and then the next day, screams rape if she finds out...for example, he cheated on her, etc.

Kooky Korky, BSN, RN · Jul 3, 2019

On 4/29/2019 at 10:50 AM, Emergent said:
Rape victims among those to be asked to hand phones to police
I don't do sexual assault cases, but I do know that not every claim is true. In UK they now require the victim to hand over their cell phone if they want the case to go forward. This is to prevent the police wasting their time and to protect the accused of false accusations.
In the article, some victims felt revictimized, saying the police didn't return the phone for lengthy periods of time and that it was and invasion of privacy. The article also cites an example of a false accusation.
Opinions?

What is your opinion?