A young woman testified that she was out with two male friends when they decided to drink at the home of one of the men.<\/p>\n
She became ill and one of the men helped carry her to a bed. As she drifted in and out of consciousness, she testified that both men and a third man who came into the room took turns having sex with her as she murmured, \u201cI just want to go home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prosecutors in Westchester County argued it was clear that the woman had not consented and that she had been raped. Richard Ferrante, a lawyer for one of the men, said his client believed \u201cthere was nothing done without consent.\u201d But jurors could not agree on a verdict, resulting in a mistrial. The men pleaded guilty to lesser charges that helped them avoid prison.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors say cases like this might have turned out differently under a bill pending in the New York Legislature that would change the state\u2019s rape law<\/a>, which has made it difficult to charge people with rape if the accuser chose to become intoxicated.<\/p>\n The current law excludes people who were voluntary intoxicated from claiming they were \u201cmentally incapacitated\u201d during an assault and therefore unable to consent, according to prosecutors. Defense attorneys argue someone could still say they were \u201cphysically helpless,\u201d meaning they were either unconscious or physically unable to communicate consent at the time of the act. <\/p>\n But that definition leaves out people who were semiconscious, slurring their words, or unable to stand or walk steadily before they were assaulted, according to those that back the new bill.\u201d<\/p>\n A significant number of victims who were clearly intoxicated cannot meet the \u201cvery high burden\u201d of proving physical helplessness, said Joe Muroff, chief of the Special Victims Unit at the Bronx district attorney\u2019s office.<\/p>\n If the bill passed, those victims \u201cwould be able to seek their day in court,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n With at least 90 sponsors, the bill has bipartisan support from more than half of the State Assembly. But with less than two weeks before the session ends on June 4, the bill appears doomed to die without even a vote.<\/p>\n The first version of the bill was introduced in 2019 by Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, a Democrat representing the Bronx, but it has never been brought to the floor for a vote.<\/p>\n Some supporters have blamed the Assembly speaker, Carl E. Heastie, a Democrat representing the Bronx whose role is to bring bills for a vote. Last month, a dozen people, including sexual assault survivors and their advocates, protested outside Mr. Heastie\u2019s office in the Bronx, calling on him to support the bill.<\/p>\n Kerri Bich\u00e9, a spokeswoman for Mr. Heastie, declined to state his position on the bill. But she said that generally the speaker wants to have the support of 76 Democrats before bringing a bill to the floor. There are 103 Democrats and 47 Republicans in the Assembly.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s not yet sufficient support to bring the measure to the floor,\u201d Ms. Bich\u00e9 said. \u201cWe are continuing to discuss the bill with our majority members.\u201d<\/p>\n Under the proposed legislation<\/a>, third-degree rape could be charged in cases where a person who was under the influence of drugs or alcohol and was unable to control or understand their behavior was assaulted by someone who should have \u201creasonably\u201d understood the condition of the victim.<\/p>\n