KANSAS CITY, Mo. — If you are raped in Jackson County, statistics show you have a one-in-four chance of having your case ever getting to trial.
It’s because those are the cases prosecutors believe they can prove beyond a reasonable doubt. A rape victim from neighboring Clay County illustrates the problem prosecutors in Jackson County and elsewhere face, the public’s unrealistic perception of the rape victim.
Eight years ago Diana Meyer was drugged and raped by her best friend’s husband at a party in Liberty.
“I remember him locking himself in the bathroom with me and going in and out I remember him attacking me,” Meyer recalls of the attack.
From the moment she reported it, her story and character were questioned.
“He accused me of having a consensual affair with my best friend’s husband and just getting caught,” Meyer explained of the police officer who first took her report.
Meyer fought to get her day in court.
She said Dan White, Prosecuting Attorney in Clay County told her, “He said, ‘I believe you and I’m going to go to bat for you but the truth of it is I cannot give you any guarantees.'”
But her real fight was with the jury of her Clay County peers.
As Jackson County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Alison Dunning knows all too well, convincing the panel beyond a reasonable doubt is not always easy.
“I think people have misconceptions of what a sexual assault will look like or what a victim looks like or how they present,” Dunning said.
In Diana’s case she didn’t fit the mold and without one juror, her rapist might have gotten away with it.
“There was one woman who according to jurors later, put on my dress that was soiled, she put it on, she reenacted my assault and portrayed me in order for this woman to visually accept what happened,” Meyer explained.
The stereotype of what people believe is rape is what both Diana and Dunning want people to drop.
“I think people expect there is going to be DNA in every case and there’s not. I think people expect people to be injured if they are assaulted and that doesn’t always happen,” said Dunning.
“It’s really easy to believe that rape happens on the wrong side of the tracks or to people making bad decisions because that makes you feel safe, that it wouldn’t happen to you but the truth is, it could happen to anyone,” said Meyer.
Diana would like to meet the female juror who believed and stood up for her to say thank you. For Jackson County Prosecutors, they say the most important thing a victim can do to help their case is report right away and don’t be afraid to be upfront and honest about everything that happened.