Falsely Accused/Racial Controversy - Research Paper

Introduction

Over the last two decades, the United States justice departments have been on the limelight for wrongful conviction or ignoring evidence that would otherwise have proved the innocence of the convicts. According to the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, research carried out from 714 sexual assault, and murder cases across 56 circuit courts found that wrongful convictions that would be proven through DNA and other evidence-based proved was at 11.6 percent (Walsh, Hussemann, Flynn, Yahner, & Golian, 2017). This essay, therefore, endeavors to critically analyze the state of Georgia v. Marcus Dwayne Dixon, 2003 case and bring to light how Mr. Dixon was wrongly convicted due to racial differences issues.

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The State of Georgia v. Marcus Dwayne Dixon, 2003

On May 3, 2004, the Supreme Court of Georgia found Marcus Dixon, an eighteen-year-old student of Pepperell High School in Rome, guilty on the charges of aggravated child molestation and statutory rape and sentenced to ten years imprisonment. However, the convict was acquitted of rape, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, and sexual battery (State of Georgia v. Marcus Dwayne Dixon, 2003).

On February 10, 2003, the prosecutor accused the convict or raping a 15-year old white female in a trailer after school on the school premises of Preferred High School. The complaint was three years younger than the defendant who was eighteen at the time. According to the defense, the victim fabricated the accusations to avoid quarreling with her racist father. The jury also determined that the sexual intercourse was consensual as the victim admitted (State of Georgia v. Marcus Dwayne Dixon, 2003, p. 2). However, the complaint had bruises on her arms, and she suffered vaginal injuries, that resulted to the preferable assumption that she was forced into the act.

Child molestation and statutory rape statutes are part of the legal framework designed to protect children under sixteen years of age against sexual abuse and exploitation. About the subject matter evidenced in the case above, the statutes should have been construed together as a coordinated scheme, to aid in determining as well as justify the decision of the legislature. Under the State of Georgia code title 16, criminal offenses 16-6-1 (a) an individual commits rape offense when he is aware of (1) the female forcibly and not in consent; or (2) A female whose age is ten years or younger (Thomson Reuters, 2019). Similarly, under the section 3(a), an individual is accused of statutory rape felony, "if the victim engaged in the sexual act is under sixteen year of age and that the offender has no marital relationship whatsoever" (Thomson Reuters, 2019). The offense, in this case, was categorized as a misdemeanor if "since the complaint was only three months to her sixteenth birthday which made her a minor and the convict was eighteen years of age, three years older" (section 3b).

Child molestation felony under OCGA 16-6-4(a) according to the Georgia State laws, is committed when an individual of any age commits indecent or immoral acts in the presence of or with a person under sixteen years with the intention to satisfy or arouse sexual desires either of the person or child" (Thomson Reuters, 2019). In the article (c), a person is considered guilty of child molestation felony if there are physical injuries on the child or sodomy was involved (Thomson Reuters, 2019).

Critically looking at the above statutes, it is clear that the legislative intention to prosecute the defendant was determined the jury is classifying the case as a misdemeanor statutory rape. However, the tribunals ruling strongly suggest that the panel considered the child molestation in making his decision rather than the statutory rape that had more convincing evidence. Consequently, it is arguable that the court ruling did not fully follow all procedures before making the final decision. As Colb (2004) argues that, the United States law is facing a severe problem to perceiving the statutory rape laws as salutary. For instance, in the In Re Winship, the Supreme Court required the complaint to prove every element of the crimes alleged beyond any reasonable doubt before a ruling is constitutionally valid (Colb, 2004).

In Dixon's case, however, even after the prosecutor interviewed multiple eyewitnesses who confirmed that the victim's bruises were present also before the attack was not considered. In an article published by the New York Times, presented several instances that would have otherwise proved that the offender did not molest the victim as the prosecutor claimed. As Mr. Dixon has told the reporter, his client's prosecution was faulty, and his ten years imprisonment was unusually cruel (JACOBS, 2004). The attorney further argued that under the state law, his client should have been convicted under the lesser punishment for statutory rape.

The 1996 amended under OCGA 16-6-3 aimed to address and streamline the intent of eliminating any discretion over the punishment conducted on whether to treat misdemeanor statutory rape as a merely a misdemeanor statutory rape or felony (State of Georgia v. Marcus Dwayne Dixon, 2003). Legal professionals argued that legislature's intent would be defeated if the state retained full discretion of prosecuting the same offense as either felony child molestation or misdemeanor statutory rape (State of Georgia v. Marcus Dwayne Dixon, 2003).

Secondly, in a case where two or more statutes overlap, under the state law the statute addressing the lower range of offense usually dominates more than the general statute. In this case, the misdemeanor statutory rape law was more direct and specific as compared to the child molestation statute (JACOBS, 2004).

Thirdly, the misdemeanor statutory rape statute shows a more recent legislative judgment in regards to the most appropriate and lawful sentencing for Dixon's offenses. Lastly, referencing the conflict of the two laws, Dixon was entitled to receive the lesser sentence of the two codes (State of Georgia v. Marcus Dwayne Dixon, 2003).

The fact that Dixon was a black could have resulted in the theoretical possibility of the unusual cruel conviction. As Jacobs argues, after Georgia's legislature amendments in 1995 that classified child molestation as one of 'states deadly sins," Mr. Dixon conviction was to some degree unfair because consensual sex is not aggravated child molestation (JACOBS, 2004). Colb (2004) further suggested that the general opinion of consensual sex cases is unconstitutional and unacceptable. Thus, juries and Prosecutors, on this matter, have no option of accusing a person of being guilty of rape or child molestation in the absence of 'force,' regardless of the availability of the opportunity, consensual sex is not rape (Colb, 2004).

People of color in the US fall most victims of sexual harassment. Kimberle Crenshaw suggested that these barriers are caused and made stronger by peoples' imposition of allowing the pre-existing vulnerabilities to create a disempowerment (Crenshaw, 1991). Gender-based violence is all over the globe, and the number of women facing this violation keeps rising. According to World Health Organization statistics, one in every three women is a victim of assault and sexual violence. This is because of being a weaker gender and therefore the chances of defending oneself are very low. This kind of impunity drives fear in the female species and thus ends up harming the victim and the females around them (United Nations Population Fund).

This case suffer several unaddressed issues that have contributed to the cruel punishment of the defendant. For instance, the court did not fully consider easing burden of proof at trial stages by demanding the prosecutor proves the 'force' sexual intercourse for the action to be defined as rape. The department of justice, defines rape as "penetration of the either virginal, anus or both, not matter how slight, with an object or any part of the body, or oral penetration by another person's sex organs forcibly and without consent of the victim" (Office of Public Affairs, 2012).

Nevertheless, although the case attracted huge attention on media changes and civil rights advocates, several factors justify the court ruling. For instance, the defendant had be in juvenile twice. In both accounts, he was accused of sexual related misbehaving. One account, one of the witnesses who testified against the convict, claimed that Dixon flashed his gentiles to her and exposed his body. The second witness claimed the Mr. Dixon placed his hands inside her undergarments and touched her genital area (JACOBS, 2004). Based on these two accounts, it was evident to the court that the defendant's commission to similar actions show that he always that the motive and thus engaging in sex with a minor was not an experiment to him but rather something he contended. As result, the law has to play it role in protecting the minor against sexual harassment. As a result, rule of lenity is not likely to apply in this case, since a more significant sentence was authorized when the crime involved an injury to the victim (Thomson Reuters, 2019).

However, racial judgment remains to be concern in the legislation and justice practices. As Colb states, discrimination is more likely to arise in situations where the officials have high levels of discretion (Colb, 2004). In Georgia v. Dixon case, one the witnessed testimony that victim fabricated the accusations to avoid quarreling with her racist father should have raised an alarm and a the court order for further investigations before making the final ruling.

References

Colb, S. F. (2004, February 11). A Ten Year Sentence for Marcus Dwayne Dixon: The Pros & Cons of Statutory Rape Laws. Retrieved from Findlaw: https://supreme.findlaw.com/legal-commentary/a-ten-year-sentence-for-marcus-dwayne-dixon.html

Crenshaw, K. (1991). Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color. Stanford Law Review , 1241. Retrieved from Stanford Law Review 43.6 (1991): 1241. Web. .

JACOBS, A. (2004, January 22). Student Sex Case in Georgia Stirs Claims of Old South Justice. Retrieved from The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/22/us/student-sex-case-in-georgia-stirs-claims-of-old-south-justice.html

Office of Public Affairs. (2012, January 12). An updated Defination of Rape. Retrieved from Department of Justice archives: https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/blog/updated-definition-rape

State of Georgia v. Marcus Dwayne Dixon, S04A0072. (The Supreme Court of Georgia February 10, 2003).

Thomson Reuters. (2019). Georgia Code Title 16. Crimes and Offenses 16-6-1. Retrieved from Findlaw: https://codes.findlaw.com/ga/title-16-crimes-and-offenses/ga-code-sect-16-6-1.html

Walsh, K., Hussemann, J., Flynn, A., Yahner, J., & Golian, L. (2017). Estimating the Prevalence of Wrongful. Washinton, DC: Office of Justice programs. Retrieved from https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/251115.pdf